PostHog vs Hotjar | by Contentsquare

by Gralio Jan 31, 2025

PostHog and Hotjar | by Contentsquare offer distinct approaches to user behavior analysis. PostHog offers a broader suite of product development tools, including A/B testing and feature flagging, while Hotjar | by Contentsquare specializes in website user experience analytics with heatmaps and session recordings. Choose PostHog for a holistic product development approach and Hotjar | by Contentsquare for focused website UX optimization.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 863 reviews and 60 websites, saving 5 hours, 17 minutes of reading.

PostHog

Hotjar | by Contentsquare

About

PostHog is an all-in-one product development platform. It helps you understand user behavior, run A/B tests, and manage features. With tools like session recording and product analytics, PostHog helps you build better products. It's open-source, scalable for any size team, and offers a generous free tier.

Hotjar | by Contentsquare helps you understand user behavior on your website. It provides visual heatmaps showing where users click, scroll, and move their mouse. This helps identify popular content, areas of interest, and potential usability issues. By understanding how visitors interact with your website, you can optimize design, content, and user experience to improve conversions and achieve business goals.

Summary

Main difference

PostHog is a comprehensive, open-source product analytics platform ideal for developers and product teams seeking in-depth analytics, A/B testing, and feature flags. Hotjar | by Contentsquare focuses on website user experience analytics, providing heatmaps and session recordings to visualize user behavior and identify usability issues.

Relative strengths of PostHog (compared to Hotjar | by Contentsquare)

Comprehensive product analytics suite beyond website analytics.
Open-source with self-hosting options and customization.
Generous free tier allows broader access and experimentation.

Relative weaknesses of PostHog (compared to Hotjar | by Contentsquare)

Can have a steeper learning curve for non-technical users.
Self-hosting can require technical expertise and maintenance.
Community support may not be as responsive as dedicated customer support.

Who should use PostHog VS. Hotjar | by Contentsquare

PostHog is a popular open-source product analytics platform ideal for product teams seeking to understand user behavior and improve their products. It offers session recording, A/B testing, and feature management tools. Users praise its easy setup and insightful session recordings, while some find the self-hosted version limiting and documentation inconsistent.

Hotjar helps businesses understand website user behavior through heatmaps and session recordings. Users love the insights from heatmaps and the user-friendly interface. However, some find session recordings slow and glitchy. Ideal for businesses wanting to optimize their websites for better user experiences and conversions.

Best for small to medium-sized businesses.
Suitable for product-focused software teams.

Best for small to medium-sized businesses.
Ideal for e-commerce, consumer goods, education, software, and marketing companies.

PostHog and Hotjar | by Contentsquare features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Customer Journey Analysis

Supported

PostHog supports customer journey analysis via features like events, funnels, session replays, and cohorts.

Partially supported

Hotjar integrates with Contentsquare for a more complete customer journey analysis.
User Behavior Visualization

Supported

PostHog supports user behavior visualization via heatmaps, session recordings, and autocapture.

Supported

Hotjar supports user behavior visualization with heatmaps, scrollmaps, and clickmaps.
Session recordings

Supported

PostHog offers session recordings to replay user interactions.

Supported

Hotjar provides session recordings to see how users interact with the website.
Funnel analysis

Supported

PostHog supports funnel analysis, allowing tracking of user progress and identification of drop-off points.

Supported

Hotjar allows tracking user progress through a series of steps and identifying drop-off points.
User behavior tracking

Supported

PostHog supports user behavior tracking, including clicks, scrolls, mouse movements, and form submissions.

Supported

Hotjar supports tracking user interactions like clicks, scrolls, mouse movements, and form submissions through heatmaps, session recordings, and its Events API.
Analytics tools integration

Partially supported

PostHog integrates with other analytics tools and has API access for custom integrations.

Supported

Hotjar integrates with Google Analytics and Mixpanel.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

+0.67

Rather positive sentiment

+0

Neutral sentiment
Customer Service

+0.5

Rather positive sentiment

-0.2

Neutral sentiment
Ease of Use

+0.77

Strongly positive sentiment

+0.54

Rather positive sentiment
Reliability and Performance

+0.34

Rather positive sentiment

-0.67

Rather negative sentiment
Ease of Implementation

+0.84

Strongly positive sentiment

+0.6

Rather positive sentiment
Scalability

-0.14

Neutral sentiment

No data

PostHog and Hotjar | by Contentsquare Pricing

PostHog offers usage-based pricing with a generous free tier that includes a monthly quota for each product. Users only pay for usage that exceeds the free tier limits. The platform offers various add-ons, including Teams, Person profiles, Group Analytics, and Data Pipelines. Discounts are available for startups and non-profits.

Plans

User sentiment

Rather positive

+0.67

See full Pricing page

No data

See full Pricing page

PostHog and Hotjar | by Contentsquare review insights

823 reviews analysed from

Users love

Easy to set up and integrate with websites.
Excellent session recording for understanding user behavior.
The generous free tier makes it accessible for various projects.
Open-source nature allows for self-hosting and customization.

Heatmaps are incredibly valuable for understanding user behavior.
User-friendly interface, easy to navigate.
The recordings are very helpful to see exactly how users navigate the site.
Hotjar’s support team has been responsive and helpful.

Users dislike

The self-hosted version lacks some features, like multi-domain monitoring.
Documentation can have duplicate or outdated information.
Community support could be more responsive.
Large JS bundle size impacts website performance.

Session recordings can be slow to load.
Inconsistent session recording - some organic traffic sessions are not captured.
The session recording feature sometimes glitches and does not render CSS properly.
Recordings are limited to single pages and do not capture full user journeys.

PostHog and Hotjar | by Contentsquare Ratings

G2

4.4/5

(517)
Glassdoor

5.0/5

(5)

G2

4.3/5

(306)
TrustPilot

2.6/5

(40)

Company health

Employee growth

45% increase in the last year

31% decrease in the last year

Web traffic

31% increase in the last quarter

No data

Financing

March 2021 - $27M

No data

How do PostHog's A/B testing features compare to Hotjar's feedback tools?

PostHog offers A/B testing as a core feature, allowing users to experiment with different versions of their product and measure the impact on user behavior. Hotjar, while not having A/B testing functionality itself, provides feedback tools like heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys that can inform A/B test design and help understand user behavior *after* a test is conducted in another platform like PostHog. Essentially, they serve different, but complementary, purposes in product development.

Which product best suits a team prioritizing open-source flexibility vs. ease of use?

PostHog better suits a team prioritizing open-source flexibility. Its open-source nature allows for self-hosting and customization, a key feature for teams valuing flexibility. While Hotjar may be easier to use initially, PostHog's control and adaptability make it the preferred choice for those prioritizing open-source benefits.

What are the advantages of PostHog?

PostHog offers a broader range of features beyond user behavior analysis, including A/B testing and feature management, making it a more comprehensive product development platform. Its open-source nature allows for self-hosting, customization, and greater control over data, which is a significant advantage for privacy-conscious organizations or those with specific security requirements. Furthermore, PostHog's generous free tier makes it more accessible for smaller teams or projects with limited budgets.

What are the disadvantages of PostHog?

PostHog's self-hosted version has limitations, lacking features like multi-domain monitoring. The documentation can be inconsistent with outdated or duplicated information, and community support responsiveness needs improvement. Additionally, a large JS bundle size can negatively impact website performance.

Alternatives to PostHog and Hotjar | by Contentsquare

Branch

Branch helps businesses understand what marketing campaigns are driving app downloads and user actions. Its tools help create links that work seamlessly across different platforms, giving users a smooth experience. Branch also provides insights into campaign performance so you can invest in what works.

Heap | by Contentsquare

Heap | by Contentsquare is a digital insights platform that helps businesses understand their customers' online journeys. It provides data on customer behavior, such as where users struggle or abandon their experience. Heap offers session replay, allowing you to see exactly what your customers see, and helps identify areas for improvement. This data-driven approach helps businesses optimize their websites and apps to enhance customer experience, improve conversion rates, and make better product decisions. Heap caters to a range of businesses, from SaaS companies to e-commerce and financial institutions.

Statsig

Statsig is a comprehensive platform that helps businesses make data-driven decisions about their products. It offers tools for feature flagging, A/B testing, and product analytics, all in one place. This means you can test different versions of features and see how they perform with your users, making it easier to iterate and improve your product. Statsig is designed to be used by various teams, including engineering, product management, and data science, making it a versatile tool for mid-sized companies. They offer a free plan to help you get started.

Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is a free tool that helps you understand how people use your website. It provides insights through heatmaps showing where users click and scroll, and session recordings of their journeys. Clarity also uses AI to summarize key takeaways from user sessions. You can integrate it with Google Analytics and even track mobile app usage.

VWO Testing

VWO Testing is a comprehensive platform that helps businesses improve their websites and mobile apps through testing and personalization. It offers A/B testing, user behavior analysis tools (like heatmaps and session recordings), and personalization features. VWO is designed to be user-friendly, even for non-technical teams, and it integrates with various data sources. Trusted by major brands, VWO promises to help you optimize your digital experiences to increase conversions and deliver what your customers want.

Glassbox

Glassbox is a digital customer experience analytics tool for large companies in retail, finance, and other industries. It captures customer interactions on websites and mobile apps, analyzes them to understand customer behavior, and identifies areas for improvement. This helps businesses optimize digital experiences, reduce customer support issues, and increase revenue. Glassbox prides itself on its AI-powered insights, security, and ease of use.

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