AI Experience Analytics
Smartlook
SF 7.4Session replay across web and mobile
Contact sales
AI Experience Analytics
Hotjar
SF 8.8Heatmaps and recordings for UX insight
Free · PaidFree plan available; paid plans now align with Contentsquare packaging.
Quick decision guide
Choose based on your workflow
Smartlook may fit better if...
- Session Recordings
- Event Tracking
- Crash Reports
Hotjar may fit better if...
- Heatmap Reports
- AI Surveys
- Feedback Widgets
Overview
How each tool is described
Smartlook
What is Smartlook?
Smartlook is a digital behavior analytics platform for websites and mobile apps that combines session recordings with automatically tracked events, funnels, heatmaps, behavior flows, and mobile crash analysis to show how users navigate digital products and where experiences break down. Smartlook is now in an announced end-of-life process following its acquisition by Cisco.
- Behavioral role: session recordings provide individual interaction context, while automatically captured events and heatmaps reveal clicks, navigation, scrolling, rage clicks, and recurring behavior across users. Behavior Flows visualize the paths users take between pages and can link teams back to recordings from particular journey points.
- Diagnostic workflow: funnels identify conversion drop-offs and let teams play sessions associated with individual funnel steps. For supported mobile applications, Smartlook Crash Reports can capture crashes and open the preceding session so teams can inspect what happened before the failure.
- Implementation checks: existing customers should assess web and mobile SDK coverage, privacy masking, consent requirements, project structure, session limits, integrations, API/export requirements, and how historical Smartlook data will be handled during migration. Smartlook masks potentially sensitive inputs and IP addresses by default unless explicitly configured otherwise.
- Commercial considerations: Cisco ended new Smartlook sales on May 31, 2026. The last date to renew or add to an existing subscription is August 31, 2026, and the official last date of subscription support is August 31, 2027. Cisco identifies Splunk Observability Cloud RUM + Digital Experience Analytics as the migration product for affected Smartlook subscriptions.
Smartlook remains relevant mainly to existing customers managing active deployments and migration. Organizations selecting a new behavior-analytics platform should evaluate the Splunk successor or other currently supported alternatives rather than starting a new Smartlook implementation.
Hotjar
What is Hotjar?
Hotjar is the behavioral analytics and user-feedback product that is now part of Contentsquare. Its core tools, including heatmaps, session replay, surveys, feedback, and user research, have been incorporated into the wider Contentsquare experience analytics platform, which is now the destination for new sign-ups.
- Behavioral analysis: heatmaps show where visitors click, move, and scroll, while session replay reconstructs individual journeys so teams can investigate hesitation, repeated actions, errors, and abandonment. Contentsquare now extends these workflows with Funnels, Journey Analysis, Error Monitoring, and other experience analytics capabilities.
- AI and feedback: surveys collect direct customer input and include AI-assisted question generation, sentiment analysis, and response summaries. Contentsquare's Sense AI adds replay and heatmap summaries, natural-language analysis through Sense Chat, and deeper automated investigations through Sense Analyst.
- Implementation checks: teams should assess tracking deployment, privacy and masking configuration, session volumes, survey requirements, integrations, user permissions, and which web or app journeys require behavioral capture before rollout.
- Commercial considerations: new customers now choose among Contentsquare Free, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise plans rather than the former standalone Hotjar packages. Session allowances, surveys, integrations, advanced analytics, and Sense AI availability differ by plan and add-on.
Hotjar remains relevant for buyers searching for its familiar heatmap, replay, and feedback workflows, but those capabilities should now be evaluated as part of the broader Contentsquare platform rather than as a separate new-customer analytics product.
Side-by-side
Key differences
Criteria
AI Experience AnalyticsSmartlook
AI Experience AnalyticsHotjar
Best for
AI Experience Analytics
AI Experience Analytics
Score
7.4/10
8.8/10
Pricing
Contact sales
Free · Paid
Category / audience
AI Analytics Software › AI Experience Analytics
- heatmaps
- session replay
- mobile analytics
AI Analytics Software › AI Experience Analytics
- heatmaps
- session replay
- UX analytics
OVERLAP
Where Smartlook and Hotjar are similar
Both tools cover similar catalog signals. The deciding factor is usually workflow fit, implementation needs, and ecosystem fit.
1 capabilities0 workflows
Shared capabilities
Capability overlap
Feature check
Side-by-side feature check
Feature
Smartlook
Hotjar
Session RecordingsShows web and mobile user journeys
-
Event TrackingDefines actions without heavy engineering work
-
Crash ReportsConnects crashes with replayed user sessions
-
Heatmap ViewsVisualizes clicks taps and page engagement
-
Mobile AnalyticsTracks app behavior across supported platforms
-
Heatmap ReportsShows clicks, movement, and scroll behavior
-
11 capabilities compared.10 differentiating rows are shown first.
Use cases
Who they're built for
Smartlook
- Review mobile app user journeysWatch sessions to understand onboarding and feature adoption issues.
- Investigate funnel drop off pointsConnect dropped users to recordings for faster diagnosis.
- Analyze website events without developersDefine actions in the interface for clearer reporting.
Hotjar
- Review landing page user behaviorFind where visitors hesitate before submitting forms or leaving.
- Analyze checkout funnel friction quicklyReplay sessions to understand confusing steps during purchase flows.
- Collect feedback after page visitsAsk visitors why they did not complete key actions.
The trade-offs
Pros & cons of each tool
Trade-offs
Smartlook
Pros
- Combines recordings events funnels and crash context
- Useful replay coverage across web and mobile
- Event creation reduces repeated developer dependency for teams
Cons
- End of Sale timing creates serious buyer risk
- Long-term roadmap should be confirmed before purchase
- Less suitable for fresh public launch recommendations
Trade-offs
Hotjar
Pros
- Fast setup for heatmaps recordings and feedback
- AI survey summaries reduce manual analysis effort
- Good entry point for lightweight UX research
Cons
- Not built for full enterprise metric governance
- Session caps can limit high traffic investigations
- Contentsquare packaging requires careful buyer review today
Final verdict
Hotjar has the stronger catalog fit
Current catalog data gives Hotjar more decision signals for this pair. Verify pricing, setup effort, and ecosystem fit before committing.
Shared catalog overlap
Smartlook and Hotjar share 1 catalog signal, so the decision should focus on fit rather than broad capability alone.
Differentiators available
Smartlook has 4 visible decision signals and Hotjar has 4.
Score signal
Hotjar has the higher SoftFinders Score in the current catalog data.
Choose Smartlook if…
- Review mobile app user journeys
- Investigate funnel drop off points
- Analyze website events without developers
- Session Recordings
Choose Hotjar if…
- Review landing page user behavior
- Analyze checkout funnel friction quickly
- Collect feedback after page visits
- Heatmap Reports
TRY THEM YOURSELF
See which one fits your workflow
Both tools have their strengths, the best way to decide is to spend a few minutes inside each.