Plausible vs Hotjar: Analytics Comparison (2026)

An independent side-by-side comparison of Plausible and Hotjar for analytics buyers — pricing, features, integrations, and how often each is cited by major AI engines.

AI Citation Scorecard

How often each is cited by major AI engines when buyers ask analytics questions. Last 90 days across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.

Too early to call — probes still building data.
ChatGPT
Plausible
Tracking…
No data yet
Hotjar
16 / 163 probes
10%
Below average
Perplexity
Plausible
Tracking…
No data yet
Hotjar
86 / 163 probes
53%
Excellent
Gemini
Plausible
Tracking…
No data yet
Hotjar
72 / 163 probes
44%
Good
Claude
Plausible
Tracking…
No data yet
Hotjar
17 / 163 probes
10%
Below average
Copilot
Plausible
Tracking…
No data yet
Hotjar
81 / 348 probes
23%
Average
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.

Pricing

Plausible
Starting price
$9/month
Free tier
Yes
plausible.io
Hotjar
Starting price
€0
Free tier
Yes
hotjar.com

Key Features

Plausible
  • Privacy-focused web analytics
  • Real-time dashboard
  • Codeless goals tracking
  • Custom events tracking
  • Automatic scroll depth tracking
  • Built-in bot filtering
  • API access
  • Team management
Hotjar
  • 200k monthly sessions
  • 1 project
  • Replays, Heatmaps + Funnels
  • Basic surveys
  • Error & performance monitoring

When to choose Plausible

Choose Plausible if your team prioritizes its strengths over Hotjar's. Full guidance populates as Plausible's feature data is indexed.

When to choose Hotjar

Choose Hotjar if your team prioritizes its strengths over Plausible's. Full guidance populates as Hotjar's feature data is indexed.

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