The best heatmap tool depends on your website and team. Microsoft Clarity suits businesses that want a free tool to start with, Hotjar suits small businesses that want heatmaps, recordings and surveys together, Crazy Egg suits heatmaps plus A/B testing, Mouseflow suits funnels and form analytics, Lucky Orange suits heatmaps with live chat, FullStory and Contentsquare suit larger teams that want deep experience analytics, and Smartlook suits websites and mobile apps.
Analytics tells you how many people visited a page. A heatmap shows you what they did there: where they clicked, how far they scrolled and what they ignored. It's often the quickest way to see why a page that gets traffic doesn't get enquiries.
The tools below are well known and widely used. Most combine heatmaps with session recordings, so you can watch anonymised visits as well as see the overall pattern. I've focused on what each one is known for, so shortlist two and run them on your most important page for a few weeks.
What should you look for in a heatmap tool?
- Heatmap types. Click, scroll and move heatmaps each show something different.
- Session recordings. Watching real visits shows where people get stuck.
- Privacy controls. Check it masks personal data and works with your cookie consent setup.
- Site speed. A lightweight tracking script won't slow your pages down.
- Filters and segments. Compare mobile with desktop, or new visitors with returning ones.
- Extra tools. Surveys, funnels, form analytics and A/B testing add context.
Heatmap tools compared
| Tool | Best for | Stand-out feature |
|---|---|---|
| Hotjar | Small businesses | Heatmaps, recordings and surveys |
| Microsoft Clarity | Getting started for free | Free heatmaps and recordings |
| Crazy Egg | Heatmaps plus testing | A/B testing alongside heatmaps |
| Mouseflow | Funnels and forms | Form and funnel analytics |
| Lucky Orange | Heatmaps plus live chat | Live chat and dynamic heatmaps |
| FullStory | Product and digital teams | Detailed experience analytics |
| Contentsquare | Larger businesses | Enterprise experience analytics |
| Smartlook | Websites and mobile apps | Recordings for web and apps |
Plans and features change often, so check each vendor's current plans before you commit.
The best heatmap tools for websites
1. Hotjar
Hotjar, now part of Contentsquare, is one of the best-known heatmap tools. It combines heatmaps, session recordings, surveys and feedback widgets in one place.
Who it suits: small businesses that want to understand visitor behaviour and ask visitors questions too.
What stands out: combining what people do with what they tell you.
Watch out for: check how many sessions your plan captures if your site is busy.
2. Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity is a free tool with heatmaps, session recordings and insights such as rage clicks, where people click repeatedly in frustration. It also connects with Google Analytics.
Who it suits: small businesses that want heatmaps without spending anything to start.
What stands out: it's free and copes well with busy sites.
Watch out for: it has fewer extras, such as on-site surveys and testing, than some other tools.
3. Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg was one of the early heatmap tools. It offers click and scroll heatmaps, recordings and A/B testing, so you can test changes based on what you see.
Who it suits: businesses that want to spot a problem and test a fix in the same tool.
What stands out: testing alongside heatmaps.
Watch out for: its testing tools are simpler than dedicated testing platforms.
4. Mouseflow
Mouseflow offers heatmaps, session recordings, funnels and form analytics, showing where people drop out of a process or abandon a form.
Who it suits: businesses with sign-up forms, enquiry forms or checkouts to improve.
What stands out: form analytics, which show which fields cause people to give up.
Watch out for: you'll get more from it if you have a clear funnel to analyse.
5. Lucky Orange
Lucky Orange combines heatmaps and session recordings with live chat, surveys and conversion funnels.
Who it suits: small businesses and online shops that want to watch behaviour and talk to visitors.
What stands out: live chat alongside heatmaps, so you can help someone who looks stuck.
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Watch out for: if you already have a live chat tool, you may not need every feature it includes.
6. FullStory
FullStory is a digital experience analytics platform that captures how people use websites and apps, with session replay, heatmaps and searchable behaviour data.
Who it suits: product and digital teams that want detailed insight.
What stands out: search. You can find sessions where something specific happened, such as an error.
Watch out for: it's built for larger teams, so it's more than most small sites need.
7. Contentsquare
Contentsquare is an experience analytics platform for larger businesses, with heatmaps, journey analysis, session replay and AI insights. It also owns Hotjar.
Who it suits: larger businesses and ecommerce brands with lots of traffic.
What stands out: the depth of its journey and page analysis.
Watch out for: small businesses will usually find Hotjar, from the same company, a better fit.
8. Smartlook
Smartlook records sessions and builds heatmaps for websites and mobile apps, with funnels and event tracking.
Who it suits: businesses with a website and a mobile app.
What stands out: mobile app recordings as well as web.
Watch out for: if you only have a website, compare it with web-focused tools such as Hotjar or Clarity.
How to choose the right heatmap tool
Start with Microsoft Clarity if you've never used heatmaps. It's free and shows you quickly whether visitors are missing your call to action, scrolling past your offer or clicking on things that aren't links. If you want more, Hotjar adds surveys, Crazy Egg adds testing, Mouseflow adds form analytics and Lucky Orange adds live chat.
Then use it with a question in mind, not just to watch recordings. Pick your most important page, such as your services page or checkout, ask why it isn't converting and look for patterns over a few hundred visits. Check your cookie banner and privacy policy cover the tool, and mask any personal data in forms.
For more on turning visits into enquiries, read my guide on how to improve your conversion rate and the most effective way to improve the user experience. My post on the Hotjar marketing strategy looks at how one of these tools built its brand.
Building a tool in this space? Here's how tools get considered for my roundups.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best heatmap tool?
Hotjar is a strong all-rounder for small businesses, Microsoft Clarity is a free place to start, Crazy Egg adds A/B testing and Mouseflow adds form analytics.
Is Microsoft Clarity free?
Yes. Microsoft Clarity is free and includes heatmaps, session recordings and insights such as rage clicks.
What is a heatmap on a website?
A heatmap shows where visitors click, move and scroll on a page, with warmer colours where there's more activity.
Can heatmap tools be used under GDPR?
Yes, if you mask personal data, cover the tool in your privacy policy and cookie consent and choose a tool that supports these settings.
