AmplitudevsHotjar

Saas

Score Comparison

Overall

Pricing

Usability

Performance

Support

Reliability

Onboarding

Mobile

Security

Integrations

AmplitudeHotjar

Signals Comparison

Pricing

Amplitude

Massive pricing jump from free to paid - sticker shock(9/10)
Event and MTU limits hit unexpectedly fast(8/10)

Hotjar

Over 800% price increase after acquisition(9/10)
Confusing split pricing across three separate products(7/10)
Free plan only 35 sessions/day - useless for real sites(7/10)
No refunds if you cancel on renewal day(7/10)

Usability

Amplitude

Steep learning curve - takes weeks to master(8/10)
Features siloed - can't transfer queries between sections(6/10)
UI constantly changing - hard to keep up(5/10)
No month-to-date or week-to-date selection(5/10)
Too complex for non-technical users(6/10)

Hotjar

Session recordings miss key interactions and dynamic content(6/10)
Heatmap page height limited to 1500px(5/10)
Only 3 heatmaps at a time on lower plans(5/10)

Performance

Amplitude

Reports load slowly with unnecessary details(6/10)

Hotjar

Website slows down by 500ms-1 second after install(8/10)
Ad blockers break site functionality when Hotjar installed(5/10)

Integrations

Amplitude

Multi-device session tracking merges users incorrectly(7/10)
Data export limitations prevent AI analysis(5/10)

Hotjar

Removed cross-domain tracking - critical feature gone(7/10)

Support

Amplitude

Support provides generic, unhelpful responses(7/10)

Hotjar

No human support - chatbots and gatekeeping(7/10)

Reliability

Amplitude

Significant user overcounting due to MTU tracking(7/10)
Session replay stopped working without fix(7/10)

Hotjar

Daily session limits stop recording mid-day(8/10)
Heatmaps buggy between desktop and mobile views(6/10)
Conversion funnel tracking inaccurate(6/10)

Onboarding

Amplitude

Event taxonomy planning takes 4-6 weeks(6/10)

Hotjar

No signals

Pricing Comparison

Amplitude

Starter

Free

Users: 50K MTUs

Storage: N/A

Limits: No custom dashboards, No advanced behavioral analysis, Limited support (online only), No A/B testing, No causal insights

1,000 events per MTU limit - excess converted to MTUs, Account blocked after exceeding limits 3 times, Basic features only

Plus

Popular

$49/mo

Users: 1K-300K MTUs

Storage: N/A

Limits: No A/B testing, No causal insights, No real-time streaming, No advanced governance, Under 300K MTUs only

Pricing scales with MTU tier, 20% discount requires annual commitment, Higher tiers significantly more expensive

Growth

Free

Users: 300K+ MTUs

Storage: N/A

Limits: No SSO/SAML on base plan, No dedicated CSM, Complex procurement process

Starts at ~$22,400/year, Can reach $254,100+ annually, Requires sales call, Long-term commitments expected

Enterprise

Free

Users: Custom

Storage: Custom

Limits: Complex procurement, Enterprise-only features create vendor lock-in

Custom pricing (expensive), Must negotiate with sales, Long-term commitment, Complex implementation support extra

Hotjar

Basic (Free)

Free

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 35 sessions/day cap, No advanced filters, No rage click detection, 3 heatmaps max, No funnels

Most features locked, Very limited sessions, No API access, Limited integrations

Plus (Observe)

$32/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 100 sessions/day still restrictive, No funnels on entry plan, Limited to 100 daily sessions

$39/month if billed monthly, Still limited sessions, Need separate Ask/Engage subscriptions for surveys

Business (Observe)

Popular

$80/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 500 sessions/day may not be enough for high-traffic sites, No dedicated support

$99/month if billed monthly, Sessions scale pricing separately, Ask/Engage products extra

Scale (Observe)

$171/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: Starts at 500 sessions, scales up with additional cost per session tier

$213/month if billed monthly, Can scale to much higher costs based on session volume

Ask Plus

$48/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 250 responses/month limit, Separate subscription from heatmaps/recordings

$59/month if billed monthly, Separate from Observe pricing, Response limits scale separately

Engage Plus

$280/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: Only 15 interviews/month at this price, Most expensive tier

$350/month if billed monthly, Very expensive for limited interviews, Separate from other products

Feature Comparison

Feature	Amplitude	Hotjar
Analytics
Event Analytics Core feature, very powerful
Heatmaps Click, scroll, and move heatmaps
Funnel Analysis Industry-leading
Session Recordings Daily limits apply per plan
Retention Analysis Industry-leading
Conversion Funnels Business plan and above
Behavioral Cohorts Plus plan and above
Form Analytics Basic only, Mouseflow better
User Journeys Pathfinder feature
Session Replay Available on all plans but can be buggy
Live Visitor View Not available, Lucky Orange has this
Real-time Data Growth plan for streaming
Feedback
Surveys Requires separate Ask subscription
Feedback Widgets Requires Ask subscription
User Interviews Requires expensive Engage subscription
Experimentation
A/B Testing Growth plan and above
Feature Flags Unlimited on all plans
Reporting
Custom Dashboards Plus plan and above
Tracking
Cross-domain Tracking Recently removed
Data Collection
Autocapture Manual event tracking required
Integrations
Google Analytics Integration Available on paid plans
Web SDK Well supported
Slack Integration For sharing insights
iOS SDK Well supported
Android SDK Well supported
React Native SDK Available
Data Warehouse Sync Available on paid plans
Security
SAML SSO Scale plan only
GDPR Compliance Fully compliant with consent tools
SSO/SAML Enterprise only
Data
Data Retention 365 days, better than Clarity's 30
Deployment
Self-hosting SaaS only, no self-hosting
Developer
API Access Available on all plans
Collaboration
Team Collaboration Shared dashboards and analyses

Signals Comparison

Pricing

Amplitude

Massive pricing jump from free to paid - sticker shock(9/10)
Event and MTU limits hit unexpectedly fast(8/10)

Hotjar

Over 800% price increase after acquisition(9/10)
Confusing split pricing across three separate products(7/10)
Free plan only 35 sessions/day - useless for real sites(7/10)
No refunds if you cancel on renewal day(7/10)

Usability

Amplitude

Steep learning curve - takes weeks to master(8/10)
Features siloed - can't transfer queries between sections(6/10)
UI constantly changing - hard to keep up(5/10)
No month-to-date or week-to-date selection(5/10)
Too complex for non-technical users(6/10)

Hotjar

Session recordings miss key interactions and dynamic content(6/10)
Heatmap page height limited to 1500px(5/10)
Only 3 heatmaps at a time on lower plans(5/10)

Performance

Amplitude

Reports load slowly with unnecessary details(6/10)

Hotjar

Website slows down by 500ms-1 second after install(8/10)
Ad blockers break site functionality when Hotjar installed(5/10)

Integrations

Amplitude

Multi-device session tracking merges users incorrectly(7/10)
Data export limitations prevent AI analysis(5/10)

Hotjar

Removed cross-domain tracking - critical feature gone(7/10)

Support

Amplitude

Support provides generic, unhelpful responses(7/10)

Hotjar

No human support - chatbots and gatekeeping(7/10)

Reliability

Amplitude

Significant user overcounting due to MTU tracking(7/10)
Session replay stopped working without fix(7/10)

Hotjar

Daily session limits stop recording mid-day(8/10)
Heatmaps buggy between desktop and mobile views(6/10)
Conversion funnel tracking inaccurate(6/10)

Onboarding

Amplitude

Event taxonomy planning takes 4-6 weeks(6/10)

Hotjar

No signals

Pricing Comparison

Amplitude

Starter

Free

Users: 50K MTUs

Storage: N/A

Limits: No custom dashboards, No advanced behavioral analysis, Limited support (online only), No A/B testing, No causal insights

1,000 events per MTU limit - excess converted to MTUs, Account blocked after exceeding limits 3 times, Basic features only

Plus

Popular

$49/mo

Users: 1K-300K MTUs

Storage: N/A

Limits: No A/B testing, No causal insights, No real-time streaming, No advanced governance, Under 300K MTUs only

Pricing scales with MTU tier, 20% discount requires annual commitment, Higher tiers significantly more expensive

Growth

Free

Users: 300K+ MTUs

Storage: N/A

Limits: No SSO/SAML on base plan, No dedicated CSM, Complex procurement process

Starts at ~$22,400/year, Can reach $254,100+ annually, Requires sales call, Long-term commitments expected

Enterprise

Free

Users: Custom

Storage: Custom

Limits: Complex procurement, Enterprise-only features create vendor lock-in

Custom pricing (expensive), Must negotiate with sales, Long-term commitment, Complex implementation support extra

Hotjar

Basic (Free)

Free

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 35 sessions/day cap, No advanced filters, No rage click detection, 3 heatmaps max, No funnels

Most features locked, Very limited sessions, No API access, Limited integrations

Plus (Observe)

$32/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 100 sessions/day still restrictive, No funnels on entry plan, Limited to 100 daily sessions

$39/month if billed monthly, Still limited sessions, Need separate Ask/Engage subscriptions for surveys

Business (Observe)

Popular

$80/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 500 sessions/day may not be enough for high-traffic sites, No dedicated support

$99/month if billed monthly, Sessions scale pricing separately, Ask/Engage products extra

Scale (Observe)

$171/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: Starts at 500 sessions, scales up with additional cost per session tier

$213/month if billed monthly, Can scale to much higher costs based on session volume

Ask Plus

$48/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: 250 responses/month limit, Separate subscription from heatmaps/recordings

$59/month if billed monthly, Separate from Observe pricing, Response limits scale separately

Engage Plus

$280/mo

Users: Unlimited

Storage: N/A

Limits: Only 15 interviews/month at this price, Most expensive tier

$350/month if billed monthly, Very expensive for limited interviews, Separate from other products

Feature Comparison

Feature	Amplitude	Hotjar
Analytics
Event Analytics Core feature, very powerful
Heatmaps Click, scroll, and move heatmaps
Funnel Analysis Industry-leading
Session Recordings Daily limits apply per plan
Retention Analysis Industry-leading
Conversion Funnels Business plan and above
Behavioral Cohorts Plus plan and above
Form Analytics Basic only, Mouseflow better
User Journeys Pathfinder feature
Session Replay Available on all plans but can be buggy
Live Visitor View Not available, Lucky Orange has this
Real-time Data Growth plan for streaming
Feedback
Surveys Requires separate Ask subscription
Feedback Widgets Requires Ask subscription
User Interviews Requires expensive Engage subscription
Experimentation
A/B Testing Growth plan and above
Feature Flags Unlimited on all plans
Reporting
Custom Dashboards Plus plan and above
Tracking
Cross-domain Tracking Recently removed
Data Collection
Autocapture Manual event tracking required
Integrations
Google Analytics Integration Available on paid plans
Web SDK Well supported
Slack Integration For sharing insights
iOS SDK Well supported
Android SDK Well supported
React Native SDK Available
Data Warehouse Sync Available on paid plans
Security
SAML SSO Scale plan only
GDPR Compliance Fully compliant with consent tools
SSO/SAML Enterprise only
Data
Data Retention 365 days, better than Clarity's 30
Deployment
Self-hosting SaaS only, no self-hosting
Developer
API Access Available on all plans
Collaboration
Team Collaboration Shared dashboards and analyses