Heatmap and replay tools show where visitors click, scroll and give up, and they are metered by sessions, pageviews or recordings rather than seats.
This guide ranks twelve products on setup effort, what the bill becomes at real traffic, how long recordings survive, and whether you can run the tool without a sales call.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this page. It never changes what an entry
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vendor. How that works.
In short
What heatmap and session replay tools software does
Heatmap and session replay software records how visitors move through a website or app and presents clicks, scrolls and replayed sessions so teams can find friction and fix it.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each heatmap and session replay tool is built for. One rule sits on top of those tests:
Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Free plan to 10,000 sessions; Growth estimated after install; higher tiers quoted
Yes
Product teams that prefer automatic capture over writing event code
Buyers who want a price list before installing anything
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
Danish session replay and heatmaps with a permanent free tier
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Mouseflow records sessions, builds click, scroll and attention heatmaps, and adds funnels, form analytics and friction detection on one dashboard. Sessions are the only meter: 500 on the free tier, 5,000, 25,000 and 100,000 on the paid ones.
Data lives in Belgium or Iowa, chosen by where you sign up. Retention rises from one month to twelve, so long seasonal comparisons need the upper tiers.
What stands out
Danish company
EU or US data centre
Session-metered
Where it costs you
The free tier covers 500 sessions and one funnel, so a busy page exhausts it within days.
Plans are sold by session volume, so a traffic spike moves you to a higher tier rather than slowing the meter.
Right for
Small European shops wanting replay and heatmaps with a clear session ladder
Wrong for
Teams that need warehouse access or product analytics
DenmarkFree plan up to 500 sessions a month; four paid tiers published; 14-day trial
Session replay you can run on your own servers at no licence cost
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePricing on requestEurope
OpenReplay pairs session replay with developer tooling such as network and console panels, plus funnels, heatmaps and co-browsing.
Three deployment routes are priced: free self-hosting, a Dedicated virtual machine managed by the vendor in a region of your choice, and a usage-based Serverless cloud. Because most of the repository is AGPL, you can read and audit what the tracker sends before it ships.
What stands out
Open source
Self-hosted or managed
Developer tools
Where it costs you
Running the self-hosted edition makes you responsible for servers, upgrades and storage growth.
Single sign-on with SAML and SCIM belongs to the Enterprise edition under a separate commercial licence.
Right for
Engineering-led teams that want recordings to stay on their own infrastructure
Wrong for
Marketers wanting a hosted heatmap tool with no engineering involved
FranceSelf-hosted edition at no licence cost; managed Dedicated instance billed hourly; 7-day trial
Heatmap-first tool on four published plans with hard caps
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Heatmap reports are the core unit here, capped per plan from five up to two hundred, with recordings on a separate allowance. Web analytics, conversion reports and surveys are included at every level.
A/B tests and calls to action arrive from the second tier, and test targeting widens with each higher plan. The hard cap means no surprise invoice but also a gap in data when you hit it.
What stands out
Annual billing
Hard monthly caps
A/B testing
Where it costs you
The entry tier allows five heatmap reports and fifty recordings a month, which suits one page, not a site.
Plans are billed annually, so changing your mind mid-year means waiting for a downgrade to take effect.
Right for
Owners of a few key pages who want heatmaps and simple tests
Wrong for
Teams that need long recording history on a small budget
Not stated by the vendorFour tiers published, billed annually; 30-day trial; no overage charges
Free recordings and heatmaps with no traffic limit, from Microsoft
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Clarity records sessions, builds click and scroll heatmaps, and adds AI summaries and a chat interface over the data. Setup is a single script that loads asynchronously, and the vendor states it does not slow the page.
Retention is the practical limit: thirty days for ordinary recordings. Teams that must keep evidence for audits or year-on-year comparisons need an export routine or another tool.
What stands out
No traffic limit
MIT-licensed script
30-day recordings
Where it costs you
Recordings expire after thirty days apart from favourites and a sample, so older behaviour is gone.
Sites targeting users under eighteen are excluded by the usage rules, and data is stored in Microsoft's cloud.
Right for
Any site wanting recordings and heatmaps at zero cost and unlimited traffic
Wrong for
Buyers who need a contractual support tier or long-term archives
Recordings, heatmaps and live chat on one plan ladder
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
One subscription bundles dynamic heatmaps, session recordings, conversion funnels, form analytics, surveys, announcements and a live chat widget, with a live view of who is on the site.
Unlimited team members are included. Scale is the pricing lever: sessions climb from 3,500 to custom volumes above 700,000, and storage can be extended to 90, 180 or 365 days against a fee.
What stands out
Session tiers
All features on all plans
Live chat
Where it costs you
The trial runs only seven days, which is short for a site with low weekly traffic.
Storage beyond the base sixty days and each extra website are billed on top of the plan.
Right for
Small stores wanting recordings, heatmaps and visitor chat from one vendor
Wrong for
Sites over several hundred thousand sessions needing a tight budget
United StatesFour published plans by session volume; every feature on every plan; 7-day trial
Conversion toolkit with heatmaps, videos, pop-ups and an SEO audit
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Plerdy groups conversion tools: heatmaps, session videos, funnels, pop-ups, e-commerce tracking and an SEO audit module.
Limits are stated for each tier, such as daily heatmap counts, video totals and months of storage, which rise from one month on the free plan to twelve on higher tiers. Error monitoring and an AI connector are listed too. Optional add-ons are sold separately.
What stands out
Free plan
CRO and SEO bundle
Daily limits
Where it costs you
Free storage is one month, and most limits are counted per day, which complicates planning.
The bundle includes SEO audit and pop-up modules that a replay-only buyer would not use.
Right for
Marketing teams that want heatmaps, pop-ups and a basic SEO audit together
Wrong for
Product teams needing event analytics or developer debugging
UkraineFree plan with daily limits; paid tiers published monthly or yearly; 14-day trial
Veteran replay tool with a free plan that has no time limit
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Inspectlet's free plan holds 2,500 sessions per month on up to three sites and includes replay, heatmaps and A/B testing. Paid plans can be switched or cancelled at any time, with downgrades taking effect at period end, and an annual toggle saves 15 percent.
Retention depends on the plan: a month on the free tier, up to two years on Enterprise. AI insights and session scoring are listed as newer additions.
What stands out
Free plan
Monthly or yearly
No long-term contract
Where it costs you
Recording stops once the monthly session limit is reached, leaving a gap until the cycle resets.
Free-plan data lasts one month, and the plan page shows no prices without scripting enabled.
Right for
Small sites wanting replay across three websites at no cost to start
Wrong for
Enterprises needing SSO documentation and detailed price lists
United StatesFree plan of 2,500 sessions a month; paid plans monthly or yearly; Enterprise quoted
Replay inside a product analytics suite, metered per recording
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingNorth America
The first ninety days depend on scope: pageview analytics alone is quick, while replay, flags and experiments each add decisions. The pricing page lists a monthly free allowance for every product and a billing limit per product that you can set, so cost is capped by choice.
Paid use lifts projects from one to six and retention from one year to seven. EU Cloud runs in Frankfurt. The vendor's docs say self-managed deployments are unsupported.
What stands out
Free tier
Open source (MIT)
Per-product meter
Where it costs you
Each product is metered on its own, so the invoice has many lines
The free plan limits you to one project and one year of data
Right for
Product and engineering teams who want analytics, replay and flags in one tool
Wrong for
Marketers who want a single-page traffic report with no setup
United StatesFree tier each month including 5,000 recordings; usage billing once a card is added
Frontend replay joined to errors and performance for engineers
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Self-hostablePublished pricingNorth America
LogRocket joins session replay to frontend error events, logs, performance data and path analysis. Core covers fewer than 100,000 sessions a month; above that the Pro plan applies, and Enterprise adds unlimited seats, streaming export and a self-hosted option for regulated sectors.
Pro brings AI session summaries and an assistant. Sessions scale with a slider, while analytics, errors and logs stay unlimited.
What stands out
Engineering focus
Unlimited events
Self-hosted at Enterprise
Where it costs you
The final price depends on seats, retention length and add-ons, so the calculator figure is a starting point.
Self-hosted deployment is offered only on the Enterprise plan.
Right for
Frontend teams that need to tie replays to console errors and performance
Wrong for
Marketers seeking cheap heatmaps without engineering involvement
United StatesSession-based pricing published from a calculator; trial without a card; Enterprise quoted
Behavioural data platform with a free tier and quoted paid plans
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Fullstory captures every interaction and layers session replay, heatmaps, scroll maps and funnels over it. The free plan permits 30,000 sessions and ten users, but dashboards and the StoryAI layer need a paid plan.
Plans differ in segmentation, journeys, retention analysis and governance controls such as role-based access and SAML SSO. Retroactive data history comes from the capture-everything approach, which also makes masking rules important.
What stands out
Free plan
Quoted plans
Add-on modules
Where it costs you
Paid plans show no prices, so budgeting needs a sales conversation.
Mobile capture, guides and surveys and multi-organisation management are priced as add-ons.
Right for
Product teams that outgrow a free tier and want deeper analytics
Wrong for
Buyers who need a published price list before talking to sales
United StatesFree plan of 30,000 sessions a month; Business, Advanced and Enterprise by quote
Paris platform that now carries the Hotjar and Heap products
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Contentsquare includes session replay, heatmaps, funnels, surveys and error monitoring at every tier, and the free plan adds attention maps and basic surveys. Growth adds zone-based heatmaps, journey analysis, AI summaries and thirteen months of data.
Pro raises project count to six and adds event-based journeys and real user monitoring. The vendor says Hotjar has merged into this platform, and Heap carries its parentage too.
What stands out
Free tier
Includes Hotjar users
Session bands
Where it costs you
The free tier keeps data for one month and one project only.
Pro and Enterprise show no prices, and the Hotjar brand is no longer open to new sign-ups.
Right for
Growing sites wanting a large free session quota with a quoted route above it
Wrong for
Buyers who want published prices for every tier
FranceFree tier to 200,000 sessions; Growth published by session band; Pro and Enterprise quoted
Autocapture product analytics with replay sold as an add-on
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Heatmap and Session Replay Tools in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Heap's pitch is automatic capture: the vendor says one snippet records the whole experience, which should shorten first-ninety-day instrumentation. The cost lies in sessions and tiers: Free keeps six months of history, Growth twelve, and Pro and Premier are priced by session volume on request.
Ownership matters too, since Heap now sits inside Contentsquare and its privacy policy has moved there. Check roadmap and contract terms with the new parent before committing.
What stands out
Free plan
Replay as add-on
Part of Contentsquare
Where it costs you
The Growth price appears only after the snippet is installed
Warehouse integration and region-specific storage need the top tier
Right for
Product teams that prefer automatic capture over writing event code
Wrong for
Buyers who want a price list before installing anything
United StatesFree plan to 10,000 sessions; Growth estimated after install; higher tiers quoted
How to choose heatmap and session replay tools software
Heatmap and session replay software records how visitors move through a website or app and presents clicks, scrolls and replayed sessions so teams can find friction and fix it. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
11 of the 12 tools here publish what they cost; the other 1 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: Mouseflow, Crazy Egg, Microsoft Clarity, Lucky Orange, Plerdy, Inspectlet, PostHog, LogRocket, FullStory, Contentsquare, Heap.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 12 vendors are established in 5 countries across 3 regions (North America 7, Europe 4, Elsewhere 1). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
2 of these are open source: OpenReplay, PostHog. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Sessions, pageviews or recordings: what each meter really counts
The quoted entry price hides a counting rule. Mouseflow counts sessions and offers 500 on its free tier, then 5,000, 25,000 and 100,000. Lucky Orange also counts sessions, starting at 3,500. Crazy Egg counts tracked pageviews and gives each plan a separate cap on heatmap reports and recordings, so a plan can run out of one before the other.
PostHog meters recordings on their own, with 5,000 free every month. Before comparing, convert your traffic into the unit each vendor uses: sessions per month, pageviews, and the share you want recorded. A shop with many short visits behaves very differently from an app with long sessions.
Pull last month's sessions and pageviews from your analytics before you read any price table.
Ask whether heatmap reports and recordings share one allowance or have two.
Check what the tool does at the limit: pause, stop recording or bill extra.
Retention is the quiet limit on every free plan
Replays are only useful while they exist. Microsoft Clarity keeps ordinary recordings for thirty days and favourites plus a sample for up to nine months. Mouseflow keeps one month on its free tier and up to twelve on the third paid tier. Contentsquare gives one month on its free tier and thirteen on Growth.
Plerdy stores one month on free and twelve on higher plans, and Inspectlet runs from one month to twenty-four on Enterprise. If you compare quarter against quarter, or investigate a complaint from last spring, a thirty-day window answers nothing. Export or star the sessions that matter.
Write down how far back you will need to look, such as one season or one year.
Find out which plan first reaches that window.
Ask whether favourite or tagged sessions are kept longer than the rest.
Hosted heatmaps against self-hosted OpenReplay
Most tools here are hosted by the vendor, which means recordings leave your control. OpenReplay offers the opposite route: its repository is mostly AGPL v3, you can run it free on your own servers, and the Dedicated managed instance is billed hourly from a stated figure. LogRocket offers self-hosting only on Enterprise. Mouseflow lets you choose between a Belgian and an Iowa data centre by sign-up location.
Choose self-hosting when a security review or a regulated sector demands it, and accept that you then run upgrades, backups and storage growth yourself. The managed Dedicated route sits between the two: the vendor operates a separate virtual machine, in your region or your own cloud account, and you keep the data boundary without the maintenance.
Ask your security team whether third-party recording of visitors is allowed at all.
Compare engineering hours for upkeep with the vendor's managed price.
Confirm which data centre holds recordings and whether it can be chosen.
Product analytics suites against single-purpose heatmap tools
Some buyers want a heatmap this week and event analytics next year. PostHog, Heap, FullStory and Contentsquare sit in that second group: PostHog bundles replay with analytics and feature flags, Heap sells replay as an add-on on Pro and Premier, and FullStory's free plan covers 30,000 sessions with a quoted climb above it.
Single-purpose tools such as Crazy Egg and Mouseflow are easier to learn but stop at behaviour reports. Note that Hotjar now redirects to Contentsquare and takes no new accounts, and Smartlook is ending sales, so check any older shortlist for discontinued names.
Decide whether you need event analytics in the next twelve months.
Check which paid tier first includes replay if it is sold as an add-on.
Verify the product on your shortlist still accepts new sign-ups.
What goes wrong most often when buying heatmap and session replay tools software
Comparing prices before converting your traffic into each vendor's meter, so a session plan and a pageview plan look equal when they are not.
Trusting a free tier's session count and ignoring its retention, then finding last season's recordings gone when a complaint arrives.
Installing a recorder without masking form fields and checking consent rules, which turns a design tool into a privacy problem.
Choosing a suite for its analytics roadmap and then using only the heatmap, which means paying for modules and sales calls you never needed.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best heatmap and session replay tools in 2026?
Mouseflow leads our ranking of 12. Mouseflow ApS is based in Copenhagen and prices by monthly sessions, with unlimited users on every plan.
The free tier records 500 sessions for one website project and keeps data for a month, which is enough to test a landing page, not to run a shop. Retention stretches to a year on the third paid tier, while the top published tier is sold through sales rather than a card checkout.
Which heatmap and session replay tools publish their pricing?
11 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Mouseflow: Free plan up to 500 sessions a month; four paid tiers published; 14-day trial.
Crazy Egg: Four tiers published, billed annually; 30-day trial; no overage charges.
Microsoft Clarity: Free of charge with no traffic cap.
Lucky Orange: Four published plans by session volume; every feature on every plan; 7-day trial.
Plerdy: Free plan with daily limits; paid tiers published monthly or yearly; 14-day trial.
Inspectlet: Free plan of 2,500 sessions a month; paid plans monthly or yearly; Enterprise quoted.
PostHog: Free tier each month including 5,000 recordings; usage billing once a card is added.
LogRocket: Session-based pricing published from a calculator; trial without a card; Enterprise quoted.
FullStory: Free plan of 30,000 sessions a month; Business, Advanced and Enterprise by quote.
Contentsquare: Free tier to 200,000 sessions; Growth published by session band; Pro and Enterprise quoted.
Heap: Free plan to 10,000 sessions; Growth estimated after install; higher tiers quoted.
The other 1 quote per organisation.
Is there a free heatmap and session replay tool?
Mouseflow, Microsoft Clarity, Plerdy, Inspectlet, PostHog, FullStory, Contentsquare, Heap offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these heatmap and session replay tool vendors established?
In 5 countries across 3 regions: North America 7, Europe 4, Elsewhere 1.
Mouseflow: Denmark.
OpenReplay: France.
Crazy Egg: Not stated by the vendor.
Microsoft Clarity: United States.
Lucky Orange: United States.
Plerdy: Ukraine.
Inspectlet: United States.
PostHog: United States.
LogRocket: United States.
FullStory: United States.
Contentsquare: France.
Heap: United States.
Which heatmap and session replay tools are open source?
OpenReplay, PostHog.
Which heatmap and session replay tools can you host yourself?
OpenReplay, LogRocket. The other 10 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of Mouseflow?
OpenReplay and Crazy Egg are the next two on this page. OpenReplay is for Engineering-led teams that want recordings to stay on their own infrastructure; Crazy Egg is for Owners of a few key pages who want heatmaps and simple tests.
Who should not buy Mouseflow?
Teams that need warehouse access or product analytics. The free tier covers 500 sessions and one funnel, so a busy page exhausts it within days..
If your heatmap and session replay tools product belongs among these 12, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
