Best Heatmap Tools & Software

What is Heatmap software? Technically, you can use a heatmap to visualize almost any type of data – it’s data analytics software. The heatmap turns higher values red, while lower values are yellow or green.

In practice, however, heatmap software almost exclusively provides data visualizations of how visitors interact with websites and mobile apps. It records and compiles visit data and overlays colors on top of your site or app. Areas with a lot of mouse clicks or mouse-overs turn red, while areas with less mouse activity turn orange, yellow, green or no color at all.

In most cases, vendors package heatmap software with other tools designed to help organizations analyze their traffic. Those tools might include recordings, A/B testing capabilities, funnel analysis, form analysis and many other kinds of analytics.

The ultimate goal of heatmap software is to help you convert more visitors into customers. It aims to increase sales by helping you identify problems with your website or app and make it more compelling to prospects.

How to Select Heatmap Software

If you are in the market for heatmap software, keep these tips in mind:

• Decide which questions you want to answer. Do you want to know why prospects are abandoning shopping carts? Do you want to know which of two page designs results in more sales? Do you want to know how different segments of customers interact with your site differently? All of the above? Before you can decide whether or not a tool meets your needs, you need to fully understand your your plans.
• Determine which features will help you answer those questions. Once you know which questions you are trying to answer, you will have a better idea of what features you need to accompany heatmap capabilities. For some use cases, recordings might be really useful, while others might be served best by polls and feedback mechanisms.
• Consider your integration needs. Heatmap software doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You will need to see if the tool you choose integrates with the web platform, analytics, business intelligence, customer relationship management (CRM), marketing analytics or other applications that you use regularly.
• Calculate your total cost of ownership. Vendors price their heatmap software in a lot of different ways. Some price by the seat. Some by the pageview. Some by the website. Some by the features that you use. You may be in very different pricing tiers for different products, so make sure you do your due diligence.

With those tips in mind, here are ten heatmap applications you might want to consider:

Jump to:

• Clicktale/Contentsquare
• Crazy Egg
• FigPii
• FullStory
• Hotjar
• Inspectlet
• Lucky Orange
• Matomo
• Mouseflow
• SmartLook

Best Heatmap Software

Clicktale/Contentsquare

Recently acquired by Contentsquare, Clicktale is an Israel-based Web and mobile analytics vendor founded in 2006. Customers of the combined company include T-Mobile, Walmart, Clarks, The North Face, Rakuten, Go Pro, Dell and others. It has received a number of industry accolades and has very high ratings from customers.

Features of the Clicktale/Contentsquare platform include zone-based heatmaps, customer journey analysis, lookback analysis, form analysis, impact quantification, merchandising analysis, struggle analysis, and more. Its heatmap tool overlaps metrics on key areas of the website, as well as color-coding them, making it easy to understand which parts of your site are of interest to users. It also includes A/B testing capabilities to compare different versions of your site.

A demo and pricing are available on request.

Pros

• • • Contentsquare gets high marks for its heatmap visualizations, which are particularly easy to understand.
    • The ability to replay a customer’s interactions with the site adds more dimension to the heatmap functionality.
    • The interface is very easy to use.

Cons

• • • Poor integration with other analytics tools.
    • Contentsquare doesn’t provide as much in-depth data as some other tools.
    • It is more expensive than some of the other options available.

Crazy Egg

Used by more than 300,000 websites, Crazy Egg focuses on heatmaps and A/B testing. It has been around since 2006, and its customers include WallMonkeys, Intuit, and Radio Free Europe.

Crazy Egg makes it really easy to sign up for the service—in fact, most of the links on the website take you to the page that allows you to sign up for the free trial. Key features include heatmaps, scrollmaps, click reports, A/B testing and website recordings. It also integrates with ecommerce and content management tools like WordPress, Wix, Shopify and AWeber.

Crazy Egg offers a free 30-day trial, and a demo is available on its website. It has four pricing tiers: Basic ($24/month), Standard ($49/month), Plus ($99/month), and Pro ($249/month). In addition, it has Enterprise plans with pricing upon request.

Pros

• • • Crazy Egg makes it very, very easy to get started with the service.
    • The online demo shows you exactly how the tool works.
    • The upfront pricing is transparent and affordable.

Cons

• • • Crazy Egg doesn’t have as many different kinds of analytics as some of the other tools.
    • Some users complain that the A/B testing interface is a bit clunky.
    • Some users say that using the snapshot feature can be difficult.

FigPii

Describing itself as a “conversion optimization platform,” FigPii aims to help websites turn more visitors to buyers. It was created by conversion optimization consultants and released to the public in 2020. Its customers include eBay, 3M, The Special Olympics and other companies in 52 different countries.

The FigPii platform encompasses four different types of services: heatmapps, A/B testing, video recording and polls. It complies with GDPR and CCPA, and it receives very high reviews from users. Its capabilities are more advanced and in-depth than many of the other tools on this list.

FigPii offers four pricing tiers: Starter ($49.99/month), Small ($99.99/month), Medium ($199.99/month) and Large ($339.99/month). All plans have a free 14-day trial and a 30-day money back guarantee.

Pros

• • • FigPii has very advanced targeting and A/B testing capabilities.
    • The upfront pricing makes it easy to estimate costs.
    • This tool incorporates polling capabilities, which is not common among heatmap software.

Cons

• • • FigPii is more expensive than some of the other tools on this list.
    • Customers have to buy a separate plan for each of their websites.

FullStory

Founded in 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia, FullStory offers “intuitive digital experience analytics.” Its customers include Hudsons Bay Company, Younique, Forbes, KeyBank, Travelers, jetBlue, Hyatt, Icelandair and others.

This startup’s claim to fame is its analytics engine, which tracks sales and other business metrics as well as engagement metrics. Its features include engagement heatmaps, session replay, machine learning, frustration heuristics, automatic alerts and more. It has advanced privacy features and is GDPR-compliant. It also integrates with many other applications and can help you optimize mobile apps as well as websites.

FullStory offers a free 14-day trial, a free tier, and Business and Enterprise plans. Pricing and a demo are available on request.

Pros

• • • FulllStory’s advanced analytics set it apart from less comprehensive heatmap tools.
    • It can analyze mobile apps, as well as websites.
    • Thanks to open APIs, it easily integrates with many other tools and business intelligence (BI) software.

Cons

• • • FullStory is more expensive than some other heatmap software.
    • Performance can get slow, particularly when searching large datasets.
    • Because the product has so many features, it can overwhelm users, although the search-driven interface can help.

Hotjar

One of the most popular heatmap tools available, HotJar boasts more than 900,000 customers, including Air Canada, Adobe, HubSpot, TomTom, and many others. It was founded in 2014 and currently does business in more than 180 countries.

The HotJar platform is more focused than some other tools and does not offer advanced analytics. Its capabilities include heatmaps, recordings, surveys and customer feedback. It is easy to install, easy to use and easy to understand.

HotJar has a lot of different pricing tiers for individuals and businesses: Basic (free), Plus ($39/month), Business ($99/month) and Scale ($398/month). All include unlimited users. It also makes it easy for agencies to use the service for clients. It also offers a 15-day free trial.

Pros

• • • The HotJar interface is one of the most user-friendly available.
    • Pricing is very affordable.
    • The user feedback can be very helpful, and is somewhat unusual among heatmap tools.

Cons

• • • HotJar is not good at tracking dynamic content.
    • It is not a robust analytics tool.
    • Some users have complained about bugs with the session recording capabilities.

Inspectlet

Designed to work alongside Google Analytics, Inspectlet aims to help companies figure out why website visitors are doing the things they are doing. It has more than 90,000 customers including The New York Times, Salesforce, Cisco, ABC, eBay and others.

In addition to heatmaps, this software offers session recording, A/B testing, form analytics and error logging. Key features including powerful filters, conversion funnels, javascript tagging, easy setup and easy integration with other tools.

Inspectlet’s pricing tiers are as follows: Free, Micro ($39/month), Startup ($79/month), Growth ($149/month), Accelerate ($299/month) and Enterprise ($499/month). Annual subscriptions come with a 15% discount. A demo is available.

Pros

• • • Inspectlet gets rave reviews for being easy to use.
    • This tool’s form analytics are very helpful in showing where users hesitate when completing forms.
    • It can also track errors that users are encountering on your site.

Cons

• • • You need to use Google Analytics alongside Inspectlet to get a full picture of your website engagement.
    • Some customers complain that the higher-price tiers are too expensive for the value provided.
    • Customization can be time-consuming.

Lucky Orange

Used by more than 100,000 websites, Lucky Orange is a conversion optimization suite that includes heatmap capabilities. Founded in 2010, the company behind the software is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Its customers include KB works, You & Co, SmartBug Media, GLM Display and others.

The Lucky Orange suite includes a dashboard, recordings, dynamic heatmaps, chat, conversion funnels, form analytics and polls. Its visualizations are easy to understand, and it allows organizations to quickly determine where and why they are losing potential sales.

Pricing for Lucky Orange starts at just $10 per month for the Starter package. Other pricing tiers include Small Business ($20/month), Medium ($50/month), Large ($100/month) and Enterprise (pricing on request). It offers a free seven-day trial, and demos on request.

Pros

• • • Lucky Orange offers very good value with many different capabilities for a low price.
    • Customers say that Lucky Orange provides more detailed, accurate information than some other heatmap software.
    • It supports dynamic content and subscription-based websites.

Cons

• • • Some users complain that the lowest-priced plans should allow more users and websites.
    • Some users say the interface is a bit clunky.
    • It does not integrate well with many other tools.

Matomo

Formerly known as Piwik, Matomo brands itself as an alternative to Google Analytics with better privacy protection. Founded in 2007, it the company behind this analytics and heatmap software has its headquarters in New Zealand. It is used by more than 1 million websites, including the United Nations, Red Bull, Amnesty International, Huawei, NASA and the European Commission.

This tool really emphasizes data ownership, GDPR compliance and privacy as its claims to fame. It can track visitors, behavior, goals, funnels, tags and more, and it includes heatmaps, session recordings, form analytics, A/B testing, ad performance and more. It is one of the most full-featured tools available, and it comes at a low price.

The open source, on-premise version of Matomo is available for free with additional fees for features like the Activity Log, Funnels and heatmap and session recording. The cloud version, which stores data in Europe, starts at $29 per month with prices increasing based on the number of pageviews.

Pros

• • • Matomo offers the best privacy and data protection of any heatmap software on this list.
    • The base software is available for free with an open source license.
    • The cloud version is very affordable.

Cons

• • • It takes some technical expertise to deploy the free, open source version.
    • It isn’t as easy to use as some of the other heatmap software, and some features require use of the command line.
    • It does not integrate with Google tools, but the company views that as a feature, not a bug.

Mouseflow

Founded in 2010 and based in Denmark, Mouseflow aims to answer questions about why visitors don’t convert into customers. Its customer list includes more than 165,000 websites, including Dormando, Dyson, Vodafone, Eon and others.

Mouseflow’s tools include session replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, and feedback capabilities. It includes filtering and segmentation, and it complies with GDPR and CCPA.

Mouseflow pricing is based on the number of recordings per month and is free for up to 500 recordings. Other pricing tiers including Starter (5,000 recordings for $24/month), Growth (15,000 recordings for $79/month), Business (50,000 recordings for $159 per month), Pro (150,000 recordings for $299 per month) and Enterprise (price on request). A free trial and agency pricing are available. The site features a live demo.

Pros

• • • Mouseflow includes a long list of capabilities, including forma analytics and funnels.
    • This heatmap software is very affordable.
    • It is easy to set up and use.

Cons

• • • Its features are not as comprehensive as some of the other heatmap software.
    • Some users say the interface is dated, though usable.
    • Some users would like to see more detailed tracking available.

SmartLook

Smartlook offers website and mobile analytics and has received very high reviews from customers. Its customers include 4finance, Elitedate, Devono Cresa, ReobertNemec.com and others. The company was founded in 2016 in the Czech Republic.

SmartLook incorporates recordings, heatmaps, events, funnels, analytics, reporting and retention tables. Key features include advanced filtering, always-on recording, visitor journeys, segmented heatmaps, event statistics, customizable dashboards, one-click tables and more. It is GDPR-compliant, and it integrates with numerous tools, including Google Analytics, WordPress, Shopify, Zendesk, Magento, PrestaShop and others.

For websites, Smartlook costs $32/month for the Startup package and $79/month for the business version.. For mobile apps, the Startup version costs $53/month, and the Business version costs $108/month. Pricing for the Ultimate version for websites or apps is available on request. It is free for 10 days, and a demo is available.

Pros

• • • Smartlook records the activity of every single visitor to your website or app.
    • Pricing is very affordable.
    • It integrates with a lot of other popular tools for tracking websites and mobile traffic.

Cons

• • • Some users say its dashboards could be improved.
    • Some users say its pricing tiers are not very clear.
    • Some users wish its privacy controls were better.

Heatmap Software Comparison Table