Session replay and heatmaps · October 2026 Edition
Hotjar vs Smartlook
Five of fourteen models named Hotjar first on the direct prompt; one named Smartlook. Hotjar was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Smartlook by twelve and Hotjar carries 62 labels and Smartlook 17, so the shares are not directly comparable.
By Contentsquare, Paris, France, founded 2008. Named in nine categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share16%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate23%29%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#8A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.
Labels6217A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Hotjar reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Microsoft Clarity vs Hotjar · Microsoft Clarity vs Smartlook · Hotjar vs Fullstory
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; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the session replay and heatmaps page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
HotjarFirst choices, of fourteen modelsSmartlook
Direct511 against Hotjar
Paraphrase30
Comparative40
Budget-constrained002 against Hotjar
Scale-constrained10
Negative0011 against Hotjar · 5 against Smartlook
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Hotjar and Smartlook stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | ||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | |||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | | |
Hotjar Smartlook first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Hotjar on the left and Smartlook on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Hotjar and Smartlook stood in it.
Hotjar first, Smartlook an alternative
5 of 14 modelsSmartlook was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.1 FastHotjar alternatives: LogRocket, Microsoft Clarity, Mouseflow
Mistral SmallHotjar, Lucky Orange alternatives: Fullstory, PostHog, UXCam
Qwen 3.7 FlashHotjar alternatives: LogRocket, Matomo
Kimi K2Hotjar alternatives: LogRocket, Mouseflow, Smartlook
GLM 4.7 FlashXHotjar alternatives: Crazy Egg, Fullstory, Microsoft Clarity, Mouseflow
Smartlook first, Hotjar not the choice
1 of 14 modelsHotjar was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Llama 4 MaverickSmartlook alternatives: Adobe Analytics, Fullstory
Neither was the first choice, one was named
5 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Mouseflow alternatives: Hotjar
Perplexity SonarFullstory alternatives: Hotjar, LogRocket
DeepSeek V4 FlashPostHog alternatives: Hotjar, LogRocket, Microsoft Clarity, Mouseflow
GPT-6 LunaPostHog alternatives: Fullstory, Hotjar
Muse Glimmer 30BFullstory alternatives: Contentsquare, Heap, Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, PostHog, VWO
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.GPT-5.4 miniContentsquare, Mouseflow alternatives: LogRocket
Gemini 3.5 FlashPendo alternatives: LogRocket, Mouseflow, PostHog
MiniMax M2.5Mixpanel alternatives: Fullstory, PostHog, UXCam
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Mid-marketThe figures above
Enterprise
What the models said about Hotjar
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“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 Smartlook
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“avoid or exercise extreme caution with Hotjar, FullStory, Mouseflow, LogRocket, and Smartlook” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Listed together with Hotjar and FullStory as tools selling the legitimate interest no-consent narrative.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“Microsoft Clarity, Hotjar, FullStory, Mouseflow, LogRocket, and Smartlook all share common issues” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Smartlook is a popular choice for mid-market companies, offering session replay and product analytics for web and mobile apps.” Llama 4 Maverick · direct prompt · first choice
“Smartlook is budget-friendly with the best mobile app recording in the mid-market, with a generous free tier of 1,500 sessions a month” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · alternative
“Other budget-friendly options include Smartlook, which offers the best mobile app recording in the mid-market.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · alternative
Also compared
Microsoft Clarity vs HotjarMicrosoft Clarity vs SmartlookHotjar vs FullstoryHotjar vs PostHogHotjar vs MouseflowHotjar vs LogRocketHotjar vs ContentsquareFullstory vs SmartlookPostHog vs SmartlookMouseflow vs SmartlookLogRocket vs SmartlookContentsquare vs SmartlookAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full session replay standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.