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Hotjar Free Plan: Getting Maximum Value From 35 Daily Sessions and 20 Survey Responses

Updated 30 March 2026

Hotjar's free Basic plan is genuinely useful for small sites and teams just starting with behavior analytics. Here is exactly what you get, practical strategies to maximize your limited session recordings, and clear signals for when upgrading makes sense.

What the Free Plan Includes

Observe (Heatmaps + Recordings)

  • ✓35 daily session recordings
  • ✓Heatmaps (click, move, scroll)
  • ✓Automatic data capture
  • ✓365-day data retention
  • ✗No funnels
  • ✗No event-based filtering
  • ✗No console tracking

Ask (Surveys + Feedback)

  • ✓20 survey responses per month
  • ✓3 active surveys simultaneously
  • ✓Feedback widget
  • ✓365-day data retention
  • ✗No logic branching
  • ✗No custom branding
  • ✗Hotjar branding shown

Setup Guide: First 30 Minutes

1

Install the tracking snippet

Add the Hotjar tracking code to your site's <head> tag. Works with any platform: WordPress, Shopify, Next.js, or plain HTML. Takes 2 minutes if you have access to your site's code or Google Tag Manager.

2

Create your first heatmap

Go to Observe and create a heatmap for your most important page (usually homepage, pricing page, or top landing page). Hotjar starts collecting data immediately. You will see meaningful heatmap data within 24 to 48 hours depending on traffic.

3

Set up a 1-question exit survey

Go to Ask and create a survey targeting your key conversion page (checkout, signup, demo request). Use a single question: 'What almost stopped you from [converting]?' Target it to show when users move to leave the page. With 20 responses per month, focus on one high-impact question.

4

Watch your first 10 recordings

After 24 hours, watch 10 session recordings from your key pages. Note patterns: where users hesitate, what they click that does not work, where they scroll past important content. These qualitative insights are immediately actionable.

Maximizing 35 Daily Sessions

With only 35 session recordings per day, every recording counts. Here are strategies to get the most actionable data from your limited quota.

Focus on one page at a time

Rather than recording sessions site-wide, configure Hotjar to prioritize recordings on your most important page. If 35 sessions per day all include visits to your checkout page, you get 35 checkout recordings. If sessions are spread across 50 pages, you might get only 1 to 2 recordings per page, which is not enough to identify patterns.

Analyze in weekly batches

Instead of watching recordings daily, wait until you have a full week of data (245 sessions). This gives you enough recordings to identify real patterns rather than one-off behaviors. Set a weekly 30-minute review session where you watch 15 to 20 recordings focused on one specific user flow.

Use heatmaps for broad patterns, recordings for details

Heatmaps aggregate all 35 daily sessions into a single visual, making them more statistically useful than individual recordings at this sample size. Use heatmaps to identify problem areas (dead clicks, low scroll depth), then watch specific recordings to understand why users are behaving that way.

Pair with Microsoft Clarity for unlimited recordings

Run Microsoft Clarity alongside Hotjar for free. Clarity gives you unlimited session recordings and heatmaps with no caps. Use Clarity for general session review and Hotjar specifically for its surveys and feedback widgets. This combination gives you the best of both: unlimited quantitative recordings plus Hotjar's qualitative feedback tools.

When to Upgrade

Upgrade to Plus ($39 + $59/mo) when...

  • ▲You exceed 500 daily visitors and 35 sessions feels inadequate
  • ▲You need more than 20 survey responses per month
  • ▲You want to remove Hotjar branding from surveys
  • ▲You need unlimited active surveys

Upgrade to Business ($99 + $79/mo) when...

  • ▲You need conversion funnels for multi-step flows
  • ▲You exceed 2,000 daily visitors and need 500 sessions/day
  • ▲You need logic branching in surveys
  • ▲You want console tracking for debugging

Free Plan FAQ

How many sessions does Hotjar free record per day?▼
Hotjar's free Basic plan for Observe records 35 sessions per day. A session is one unique user visit, regardless of how many pages they view. Sessions are randomly selected from your daily traffic. If you have 100 daily visitors, you capture 35% of them. At 1,000 daily visitors, you capture only 3.5%.
How many survey responses does Hotjar free allow?▼
The free Ask plan allows 20 survey responses per month across all active surveys. You can have up to 3 surveys active simultaneously. This means roughly 5 responses per week, which is enough for micro-surveys on critical pages but not enough for statistically significant quantitative research.
Can I use Hotjar free for my business website?▼
Yes. Hotjar's free plan is a real product, not a time-limited trial. You can use it on any website including business sites. The limitations are session count (35 per day) and survey responses (20 per month). For small business sites with fewer than 200 daily visitors, the free plan captures a meaningful sample of user behavior.
Does Hotjar free include heatmaps?▼
Yes. The free plan includes full heatmaps (click maps, move maps, scroll maps) for any page on your site. Heatmaps aggregate data from your recorded sessions, so they are based on 35 sessions per day. For high-traffic pages, this creates accurate heatmaps within a few days. For low-traffic pages, you may need a week or more to collect enough data.
When should I upgrade from the free plan?▼
Upgrade when 35 sessions per day is not enough to draw conclusions about specific pages (usually when you exceed 500 daily visitors), when you need more than 20 survey responses per month, when you need URL-based filtering or event triggers for recordings, or when you need funnels which require the Business plan at $99 per month.