# Hotjar vs Fullstory: which do AI models recommend for session replay, October 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Session replay and heatmaps. Five of fourteen models named Hotjar first on the direct prompt; two named Fullstory. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/gtm-data/session-replay-and-heatmaps/hotjar-vs-fullstory/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotjar | 16% | #2 of 10 | 23% | 62 | 14 of 14 |
| Fullstory | 9% | #3 of 10 | 42% | 53 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Grok 4.1 Fast: hotjar first (first choices: Hotjar) (alternatives: LogRocket, Microsoft Clarity, Mouseflow)
- Mistral Small: hotjar first (first choices: Hotjar, Lucky Orange) (alternatives: Fullstory, PostHog, UXCam)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: hotjar first (first choices: Hotjar) (alternatives: LogRocket, Matomo)
- Kimi K2: hotjar first (first choices: Hotjar) (alternatives: LogRocket, Mouseflow, Smartlook)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: hotjar first (first choices: Hotjar) (alternatives: Crazy Egg, Fullstory, Microsoft Clarity, Mouseflow)
- Perplexity Sonar: fullstory first (first choices: Fullstory) (alternatives: Hotjar, LogRocket)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: fullstory first (first choices: Fullstory) (alternatives: Contentsquare, Heap, Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, PostHog, VWO)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Mouseflow) (alternatives: Hotjar)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: PostHog) (alternatives: Hotjar, LogRocket, Microsoft Clarity, Mouseflow)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (first choices: Smartlook) (alternatives: Adobe Analytics, Fullstory)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Mixpanel) (alternatives: Fullstory, PostHog, UXCam)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: PostHog) (alternatives: Fullstory, Hotjar)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Contentsquare, Mouseflow) (alternatives: LogRocket)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Pendo) (alternatives: LogRocket, Mouseflow, PostHog)

## What the models said about Hotjar

- "Hotjar was merged into Contentsquare on 1 July 2025; ... By default Hotjar starts session recording as soon as the script loads, which means it can capture visitor activity before consent is given." (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Tools to Avoid or Use with Extreme Caution... Hotjar: Most popular heatmap tool, but criticized for capturing more PII than expected" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Collects more personal data than most teams realize; has faced significant legal challenges; default settings may not adequately mask PII" (Kimi K2, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Pick heatmap-first tools like Hotjar or Clarity if you mainly want quick UX insights and broad behavior patterns." (Perplexity Sonar, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Best for: Beginners and small-to-mid-sized teams doing user experience research ... Strength: Fastest setup, easiest to use" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Very popular for UX research and product teams... Strong on heatmaps, recordings/session replay, surveys, and feedback" (GPT-5.4 mini, comparative prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Fullstory

- "Captures enormous amounts of data; privacy and compliance concerns under GDPR/CCPA; may collect more data than teams can realistically act on" (Kimi K2, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Skip FullStory/Quantum Metric: While excellent, these tools are generally priced for large enterprises" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, direct prompt, hard negative)
- "If you need high-fidelity replay + search/queryable session intelligence and SOC2-grade compliance: FullStory." (Muse Glimmer 30B, direct prompt, first choice)
- "FullStory and PostHog mask all text by default ... the "mask by default" approach is significantly safer" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt, first choice)
- "Go with FullStory or Contentsquare for deep session replay and journey analytics." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, comparative prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.