Short answer
Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, sold by monthly sessions through its own Shopify app. If you want another tool to watch sessions with, look at Microsoft Clarity (free), Lucky Orange (Shopify-native), Mouseflow (forms) or Crazy Egg (A/B tests). If you want to stop watching and get answers, Shopsicle is built for that: ranked findings tied to your products, with confidence, and follow-up after you act.
Key takeaways
- New Hotjar customers now sign up to Contentsquare; there are no separate Hotjar plans to buy.
- Most alternatives are the same kind of tool: recordings and heatmaps, with AI that answers when you ask.
- Shopsicle is built to investigate on its own and tie each finding to the product, variant and stock involved.
- It also states its confidence, suggests how to check, and follows up after you make a change.
We make Shopsicle, so it’s first on this list. What changed: Hotjar’s site now says “Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare”, and sign-ups go to Contentsquare (Hotjar). On Shopify, the official route is the Contentsquare app, with a free plan listed at up to 20k sessions a month and Growth plans from $49/month for 7k sessions (Shopify App Store). Everything below was checked on the vendors’ own pages on September 30, 2026.
| ShopsicleEarly access | Contentsquare (Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity | Lucky Orange | Mouseflow | Crazy Egg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where you start each day | A short, ranked list of findings about your store | Analytics suite; Sense AI on paid plans | Recordings, heatmaps and dashboards; Copilot answers when you ask | Recordings, heatmaps and funnels; Discovery AI answers questions | Recordings, heatmaps and funnels; Mina AI | Heatmaps, recordings and A/B tests; AI analysis per recording |
| Investigates without being asked | Runs on its own across your sessions and store data | Sense Analyst, announced in beta | Copilot runs when you ask or open a session | Discovery AI surfaces insights when you log in | Mina: background analysis plus chat | AI analysis on recordings, and which ones to watch |
| Ties behavior to your catalog: variant, stock, price | Each finding names the product and variant, and whether it was in stock | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Says how sure it is, what else could explain it, and how to check | Confidence, other possible causes and a way to verify on every finding | Not listed | Not listed (Microsoft notes Copilot can get things wrong) | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Follows up after you make a change | Mark a finding done and it keeps watching that step and those shoppers | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Learns from what you dismiss | Dismiss a finding with a reason and the next investigation uses it | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
1. Shopsicle: the alternative that does the watching for you
If you’re looking past Hotjar because cost rises with traffic, because you want a tool built for stores, or because there’s no time to watch recordings, another recorder only addresses the first reason. Shopsicle is built to change the job:
- It investigates without being asked. Most AI in this category answers when you ask: Microsoft describes Copilot as a way to “ask questions” and summarize the session you open (Clarity Copilot). Shopsicle is built to run on its own across all your eligible sessions and bring you the few things worth your time, ranked.
- It knows your catalog, not just your pages. Recording tools see clicks on a page. Shopsicle is built to see what was on that page for that shopper: the product, the variant they picked, whether it was in stock, the price. So a finding can point to a sold-out size, a variant with no photo or a price change on one product, instead of “people leave the product page”.
- It shows its work. Every finding is designed to state how sure it is, what else could explain the pattern, and how to check it. Microsoft itself notes that Copilot can misinterpret data (Clarity Copilot), and none of the AI features compared here list a confidence level.
- It checks back after you act. Mark a finding as done and Shopsicle is built to keep watching that step and those shoppers, then tell you what the evidence shows, with a before and after labeled as a hint, not as proof.
- It learns from you. Dismiss a finding with a reason (“we already have a size chart”) and the next investigation is designed to use it, so you don’t get the same generic advice twice.
2. Microsoft Clarity: the free recording alternative
Free with no traffic limits, and an official Built for Shopify app (Shopify App Store). Recordings, heatmaps, funnels and Copilot summaries (Copilot). The closest free replacement for Hotjar’s recordings and heatmaps.
Versus Shopsicle: Clarity’s Copilot answers when you ask about a session or a heatmap. Shopsicle is built to investigate without being asked and bring you findings tied to your products.
3. Lucky Orange: the Shopify-native alternative
A Built for Shopify app with recordings, heatmaps, surveys, live chat and funnels, from a free tier (100 sessions a month) to paid plans from $19/month (Shopify App Store). Discovery AI answers in plain language with links to the recordings behind it (Lucky Orange).
Versus Shopsicle: Lucky Orange doesn’t list tying insights to variants, stock or price, or following up after a change. Both are how Shopsicle is built.
4. Mouseflow: the forms and friction alternative
Free for 500 sessions a month, paid from $25/month for 5,000 (Mouseflow pricing). Strong on form analytics and friction detection, with Mina AI. No official Shopify app: you paste a script into your theme (Mouseflow Help).
Versus Shopsicle: Mouseflow analyzes pages and forms. Shopsicle is built to analyze a store, from traffic source to product to order, and to say how sure it is.
5. Crazy Egg: the alternative with A/B tests
Heatmaps, recordings and built-in A/B testing, from $29/month billed annually; the free plan covers heatmaps only (Crazy Egg pricing). Official Shopify app (Shopify App Store).
Versus Shopsicle: a test needs a hypothesis. Every Shopsicle finding is built to come with one, the other possible causes, and a way to check.
6. Staying on Contentsquare
If your team knows Hotjar and has an analyst, Contentsquare keeps you in the same family with more depth: zoning, journeys, frustration scoring, and Sense AI on paid plans (Shopify App Store), plus the Sense Analyst agent announced in beta (Contentsquare).
Versus Shopsicle: Contentsquare is built for teams. Shopsicle is built for the merchant who wants the answer in a sentence, tied to the product, and checked after the change.
Comparing more tools? Read the full comparison of recording and heatmap apps, or start with the Shopify reports you already have.
Questions
- What happened to Hotjar?
- Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare. New customers sign up to Contentsquare, which has its own Shopify app (Hotjar).
- What is the best Hotjar alternative for a Shopify store?
- If you want to be told what to change, Shopsicle, which is built to investigate your store on its own. For recordings to analyze yourself: Microsoft Clarity (free) or Lucky Orange (Shopify-native).
- Is there a free Hotjar alternative for Shopify?
- Microsoft Clarity is free with no traffic limits and has an official Built for Shopify app (Shopify App Store).
- Does Shopsicle replace session recordings?
- It’s built to turn recordings into evidence instead of work: each finding links to the moments that prove it, so you watch seconds, not hours.
Sources
- Contentsquare Analytics (Shopify App Store)Shopify App Store, 2026-09-30
- Enhanced Contentsquare plansContentsquare, 2025-12-11
- Hotjar is now part of ContentsquareHotjar
- Contentsquare rolls out AI agent Sense AnalystContentsquare, 2025-09-30
- Microsoft Clarity: AI Insights (Shopify App Store)Shopify App Store, 2026-09-30
- Clarity FAQ (pricing, limits, retention, masking)Microsoft Learn
- Clarity Copilot overviewMicrosoft Learn
- Clarity consent modeMicrosoft Learn
- Lucky Orange Heatmaps & Replay (Shopify App Store)Shopify App Store, 2026-09-30
- Discovery AILucky Orange
- Lucky Orange for ShopifyLucky Orange
- Mouseflow pricingMouseflow, 2026-09-30
- Install Mouseflow on your Shopify siteMouseflow Help Center
- Mouseflow AI (Mina)Mouseflow
- Crazy Egg pricingCrazy Egg, 2026-09-30
- Crazy Egg (Shopify App Store)Shopify App Store, 2026-09-30
- AI analysis for session recordingsCrazy Egg, 2025-10-29