Comparison
ThorStack vs Hotjar
Hotjar shows you how visitors behave, heatmaps, session recordings, surveys, and feedback widgets. ThorStack Growth includes heatmaps and session replay, then adds the conversion layer Hotjar doesn't: lead-capture popups, an AI chat concierge, funnels, behaviour segments, and A/B testing, with captured leads flowing into a CRM.
Why no free trial?
ThorStack is a dedicated deployment: your own database, your own app instance, your own data. A shared demo environment would defeat the point. Instead, we scope your exact stack on a 30-minute call and have you live in 5 business days.
- You want best-in-class heatmaps, recordings, and on-site surveys, and nothing more.
- You're adding qualitative insight on top of an existing analytics and marketing stack.
- You want a mature, focused tool your whole team already knows.
- You want heatmaps and replay plus the tools that act on what they reveal, popups, chat, A/B tests, from one embed.
- You want behaviour to convert into captured leads in a CRM, not just charts and clips.
- You'd rather not buy a heatmap tool, a popup tool, a chat tool, and a CRM separately.
Side by side
Reviewed 2026-05-28. Public sources only; see footer note.
| Feature | ThorStack | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| Behaviour insight | ||
| Heatmaps | Click density over auto-captured page screenshots | Click / move / scroll maps |
| Session recordings | Native (rrweb, opt-in, PII-masked) | Native (flagship) |
| Surveys & feedback widgets | Not offered | Native (flagship) |
| Funnels | Native, z-test, per-step drop-off | Funnels (limited) |
| Behaviour segments | Native, page, device, country, UTM, conversion | Filters on recordings |
| Conversion tooling | ||
| Lead-capture popups | Native, modal, inline, progressive | Not offered |
| AI chat concierge (RAG) | Native, grounded on your content | Not offered |
| A/B testing | Native, z-test + Wilson 95% CI | Not offered |
| AI recommendations | Native, benchmarked, ranked | Not offered |
| Beyond the embed | ||
| CRM (leads sync automatically) | Native | Not offered |
| Inbox, commerce, finance | Native, full business OS | Not offered |
| AI workforce | 8 specialist agents with approval gates | Not offered |
| Deployment & pricing | ||
| Deployment | Dedicated per-tenant | Multi-tenant SaaS |
| Pricing model | $300 / month platform (Growth included per plan) | Per-feature tiers, session-volume based |
| Compliance posture | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, ISO 27001 aligned | GDPR, CCPA; SOC 2 |
Comparison drawn from Hotjar's public pricing pages, documentation, and statements at the date above. We aim to be accurate; if a detail here is out of date, please email us and we'll fix it.
The real cost
What you actually pay each month
Hotjar + tools you still need
- Hotjar (heatmaps + recordings)£32/mo
- OptinMonster (lead-capture popups)£24/mo
- Typeform (on-site surveys)£19/mo
- Total£75/mo
ThorStack (all-in)
- ThorStack: all of the abovefrom £236.22/mo
- Included
- Included
- Totalfrom £236.22/mo
A focused behaviour-and-survey stack is inexpensive. ThorStack adds the conversion layer: popups, chat, A/B tests, and a CRM behind it.
Pairing tools and list prices are representative examples in GBP, drawn from public pricing pages. Your stack and prices will differ, so the calculator lets you enter your own.
When teams switch
From Hotjar to ThorStack
Teams move from Hotjar to ThorStack when watching behaviour stops being enough and they need to act on it, turn a heatmap insight into a popup test, an exit-intent capture, or a concierge answer, and see the lead land in a CRM. Hotjar remains a great fit for pure qualitative research; ThorStack Growth closes the loop from observation to conversion.
Ready for a stack
built around you?
Every ThorStack deployment starts with a 30-minute call. Tell us how you operate, and we'll show you what your stack would look like.