What is the best heatmap and A/B testing tool in 2026?
Five tools ranked to see where visitors click, then test what makes them convert, with or without a second subscription.
A heatmap shows where people click and how far they scroll. An A/B test tells you whether the new version actually converts better. Most teams need both, yet few vendors sell them in one plan. If you have a product and a developer, PostHog covers replays, heatmaps and experiments, free to start. On a marketing site with no budget, Microsoft Clarity plus GrowthBook costs $0. Hotjar is still the go-to for behavior insight, but A/B testing only comes with Pro and Enterprise, on a custom quote: on Free or Growth, you add a second tool. VWO puts everything under one vendor, quote only. And Crazy Egg is the simplest mainstream tool that does both, from $99 a month billed annually.
Some links may be affiliate links. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best heatmap and A/B testing tool for your team
Replays, heatmaps and experiments in one account, free to start
Behavior insightGrowth from $39/month billed annually, pair it for A/B
Free heatmaps, no traffic capFree forever, no traffic limits
One vendor for everythingTesting and behavior analytics, custom quote
Fixed-price two-in-oneUnlimited A/B from Plus, 75 heatmap reports
5 heatmap and A/B testing tools side by side
The "What it does" column does the first sort: heatmaps only, A/B only, or both in one subscription. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page, in US dollars.
| Best for | What it does | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PostHog | Product teams | Both: replays, heatmaps, experiments | 4.2/5 | Free, then usage-based | ✓ | Startups and SaaS with a developer | Visit → |
| 2 | Hotjar | Behavior insight | Heatmaps, replays; A/B on Pro and Enterprise | 4.1/5 | Growth $39/mo billed annually | ✓ | SMBs and marketing teams | Visit → |
| 3 | Microsoft Clarity | Free, unlimited | Heatmaps and replays, no A/B | 4.0/5 | Free | ✓ | Any site, pair it for A/B | Visit → |
| 4 | VWO | Full suite | Both, modules priced separately | 3.9/5 | Custom quote | — | High-traffic CRO teams | Visit → |
| 5 | Crazy Egg | Simple two-in-one | Both from the Plus plan | 3.6/5 | Plus $99/mo billed annually | ✓ | SMBs without a developer | Visit → |
Prices before tax as listed by vendors in 2026. "Custom quote": the vendor publishes no figure.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and ranked
Most top-ranking lists mix heatmap tools and A/B testing tools without saying which ones do both. We started from that question because it drives the bill: one tool means one subscription, two tools mean two, plus the time it takes to connect them. For each tool we read the official pricing page, what each plan includes (heatmaps, replays, A/B, data retention) and the trial and payment terms. Then we priced out four traffic profiles.
We also went through user reviews, where the real friction shows up: replays capped at a small share of sessions, a consent banner that breaks recordings, a test that makes the page flicker. Quote-only tools are ranked when they matter (VWO), with "custom quote" written as is: we never print a price we did not read on the vendor's site. Scores for Hotjar, VWO and Crazy Egg match our full reviews.
- Heatmaps and A/B togetherDoes the tool do both, on which plan, or do you need a second subscription?Heaviest
- Total costThe price of the full setup at your traffic, trial and commitment included.Heavy
- Free plan limitsShare of sessions recorded, data retention, number of pages tracked.Heavy
- Getting startedCan you launch a test without a developer, and how fast?Medium
- Privacy and consentWhat still works when a European visitor declines cookies.Medium
- User feedbackThe recurring complaints: pricing, flicker, sales follow-ups.Light
Some links may be affiliate links. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
PostHog
PostHog is the only tool here that puts session recordings, heatmaps and experiments in one account that starts free. The first 5,000 recordings each month cost nothing, then you pay $0.005 per recording. Feature flags and experiments share a free tier of 1 million requests a month, then $0.0001 per request. Heatmap data is free to ingest and does not add to your bill.
The catch: on the free plan, heatmap data is collected for three pages you choose. More pages require pay-as-you-go with a card on file. PostHog also needs some engineering: a developer adds the snippet and the events. In return, everything is connected, so you can open the replays of visitors who saw variant B without exporting a thing.
- Replays, heatmaps and A/B in one account
- Generous free tier, then usage-based
- Heatmap data free to ingest
- ✓The only free-to-start two-in-one
- ✓Public, line-by-line pricing
- ✓Test and behavior data side by side
- ✗Heatmaps limited to three pages on free
- ✗Needs a developer
- ✗Bill moves with traffic
Our pick for product teams that want a single tool. A startup under 5,000 recordings and 1 million requests pays $0. At 15,000 recordings and 2 million requests, expect $150 a month. No developer? Go with Crazy Egg.
Hotjar
Hotjar, now part of Contentsquare, is still the reference for seeing what visitors do. The free plan tracks up to 200,000 sessions a month but records only 5% as replays, 10,000 at most, and keeps data for one month. Growth costs $49 monthly or $39 a month billed annually, raises capture to 15% of sessions and keeps analytics data for 13 months and replays for 2 months.
Hotjar does offer A/B testing, but only on Pro and Enterprise, on a custom quote ("A/B testing & outcomes analysis"). Free and Growth do not include it: on those plans you add a second tool, for example through the AB Tasty, Kameleoon or Optimizely integrations. The 20% annual discount is card or PayPal only. In reviews, the pricing model change pushed some customers to VWO, and refund complaints come up.
- Heatmaps the whole team can read
- Growth trial without a card
- 13 months of analytics data on Growth
- ✓Free plan useful for heatmaps
- ✓Quick to pick up
- ✓30-day refund window
- ✗No A/B on Free or Growth
- ✗Only 5% replays on free
- ✗Annual discount by card or PayPal only
A great observation tool, but only half the job. Hotjar Growth plus GrowthBook Pro is $79 a month. For a single tool, look at PostHog or Crazy Egg. Our full review scores it 4.1 out of 5.
Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity gives you heatmaps, session recordings and automated insights with no paid plan at all. Microsoft states plainly that it is free forever, with no traffic limits and no push to upgrade. That is why nearly every roundup lists it as the default free choice.
Two limits matter. Clarity has no A/B testing, so you pair it with GrowthBook or another testing tool. And data is kept for 30 days after recording. For visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, consent is required: without it, sessions are fragmented and full replays are unavailable. It is the classic mistake: install Clarity without wiring the cookie banner, then decide the tool records badly.
- Free with no traffic cap
- Unlimited heatmaps and replays
- Ideal partner for an A/B tool
- ✓$0 at any traffic level
- ✓No forced upgrade
- ✓No invoice, no card on file
- ✗No A/B testing
- ✗30-day data retention
- ✗Fragmented replays without consent in Europe
The best free foundation. Paired with GrowthBook Starter, it makes a complete $0 setup. Wire up consent on day one and export useful sessions before the 30 days run out.
VWO
VWO, from Wingify, covers both jobs: testing and behavior analytics (heatmaps, recordings). But it no longer has public plans. Its pricing page says there are no fixed plans, just a custom proposal built around your goals and scope, based on factors like traffic volume. Behavior analytics is priced on monthly tracked users, separately from testing.
The Growth, Pro and Enterprise tiers differ on workspaces and domains (1, 3 or 5), support (24x5, then 24x7 on Enterprise) and, for behavior analytics, 100, 250 or 1,000 saved recordings kept 1, 2 or 3 months. AB Tasty now runs through the same pricing. In reviews, the learning curve is steep, some tests flicker, and sales follow-ups are a common complaint.
- Testing and behavior under one vendor
- 30-day trial without a card
- 24x5 support from Growth
- ✓The most complete suite here
- ✓One contract for everything
- ✓24x7 support on Enterprise
- ✗No public pricing
- ✗Behavior analytics billed separately
- ✗Steeper learning curve
The right call when you run several tests a month and want one vendor. Use the 30-day trial to measure your tracked users, then compare the quote with Crazy Egg Enterprise or a Hotjar and GrowthBook pair. Our full review scores it 3.9 out of 5.
Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg is the simplest mainstream tool that does both. Plus, Pro and Enterprise include unlimited A/B testing on top of heatmaps and recordings. Plus is $99 a month billed annually for 150,000 tracked pageviews, Pro $249 for 500,000, Enterprise $599 for 1 million. Starter, at $29 for 5,000 pageviews, has no A/B testing. A/B tests are unlimited, but heatmaps are counted in reports: 5 on Starter, 75 on Plus, 100 on Pro, 200 on Enterprise.
Crazy Egg never bills overages on top of your plan; if you need more reports or recordings, you buy an add-on without changing plans. Good for the budget, but it leaves a gap in your data if traffic spikes. The 30-day trial needs a card. There is also a free plan, no card required, with Instant Heatmaps and no A/B testing. Our full review flags average value for money, hence 3.6 out of 5, despite the easiest learning curve in this ranking.
- Unlimited A/B from Plus, heatmaps counted in reports
- No overage fees, ever
- No-code visual editor
- ✓One tool, one price
- ✓Easiest to pick up
- ✓Public price at every tier
- ✗No A/B on Starter
- ✗Tracking stops at the cap
- ✗Average value for money
The right fit for a small business that wants one tool and no developer: $1,188 a year on Plus. If you have a developer, PostHog does the same for free to start.
One tool for everything, or a pair of tools: how to decide
This is the question other roundups skip, and it rules out half the options before you look at a price. If you want the broad list of heatmap and A/B testing tools, our main heatmap and A/B testing ranking has it. This page settles the one-tool-or-two question.
You have a developer and a live product
PostHogPostHog bundles replays, heatmaps, feature flags and experiments. The free tier covers 5,000 recordings and 1 million flag requests a month. Everything sits in one place, so you can watch replays of the visitors who saw variant B, no export needed.
Tip: on the free plan, heatmap data is collected for three pages you pick. Pick your three highest-converting pages first.
- Starting cost
- $0
- You need
- A developer
You run marketing without a developer
Crazy Egg or VWOCrazy Egg gives you unlimited A/B testing from the Plus plan, $99 a month billed annually, with a visual editor; heatmaps are counted in reports: 75 on Plus, 100 on Pro, 200 on Enterprise. VWO goes further, but everything is quoted and behavior analytics is priced separately from testing.
Tip: Crazy Egg Starter has no A/B testing. Do not buy it assuming you will "upgrade later" without checking the price jump to Plus.
- Crazy Egg Plus
- $99/mo billed annually
- VWO
- Custom quote
You have zero budget
Clarity + GrowthBookMicrosoft Clarity gives free heatmaps and replays with no traffic cap. GrowthBook Starter gives free experiments for three users. The pair costs $0, but you need a developer to ship GrowthBook tests.
Tip: Clarity keeps recordings for 30 days. Flag the useful sessions for each variant while the test runs, not after.
- Cost
- $0
- Limit
- 30 days of Clarity data
You already pay for Hotjar and want to test
Hotjar + an A/B toolFree and Growth have no A/B testing; it only comes with Pro and Enterprise, on a custom quote. On Growth, Hotjar points to integrations (AB Tasty, Kameleoon, Optimizely). Hotjar Growth at $39 a month billed annually plus GrowthBook Pro on one seat at $40 comes to $79 a month.
Tip: keep Hotjar only if the team actually opens it every week. Otherwise a single tool that does both is often cheaper.
- Hotjar alone
- $39/mo billed annually
- Hotjar + GrowthBook Pro
- $79/mo
What the full setup costs at your traffic level
Vendors do not meter the same thing: pageviews at Crazy Egg, sessions at Hotjar, tracked users at VWO and Zoho, recordings and requests at PostHog. PostHog meters session recordings, not pageviews: to place yourself on its pricing, start from your monthly sessions. Here is the cost at public annual prices for four situations.
Small site, zero budget
Getting startedClarity plus GrowthBook Starter: $0, with no traffic cap on the Clarity side. Or PostHog free: 5,000 recordings, 1 million experiment requests and heatmaps on three pages. Hotjar Free also works for heatmaps: it covers up to 200,000 sessions but records only 5% as replays, 10,000 at most.
Tip: run heatmaps for a month before your first test. You will know what is worth testing.
- Clarity + GrowthBook
- $0
- PostHog
- $0
Small business, up to 150,000 pageviews a month
Most commonCrazy Egg Plus does both for $99 a month billed annually, $1,188 a year, up to 150,000 tracked pageviews. Hotjar Growth ($39, the entry price for the smallest session tier, rising with your traffic) plus GrowthBook Pro on one seat ($40) is $79 a month, $948 a year, but you run two tools. Clarity plus GrowthBook Pro: $40.
Tip: Crazy Egg bills no overages, but every plan has a tracked-pageview cap, so pick the plan above your real traffic.
- Crazy Egg Plus
- $1,188/yr
- Hotjar + GrowthBook Pro
- $948/yr
Established site, up to 500,000 pageviews
GrowthCrazy Egg Pro, $249 a month billed annually, covers 500,000 pageviews: $2,988 a year. As a pair, Clarity plus GrowthBook Pro on three seats is $120 a month, $1,440 a year, with no traffic cap on the Clarity side. On PostHog, 15,000 recordings and 2 million requests come to $150 a month: $50 for the 10,000 recordings above the free tier, $100 for the second million requests.
Tip: at this level, put a VWO quote next to your two-tool setup. With two tools, you also pay for the time spent connecting them.
- Crazy Egg Pro
- $2,988/yr
- Clarity + GrowthBook Pro (3 seats)
- $1,440/yr
High traffic, over 1 million pageviews
EnterpriseCrazy Egg Enterprise costs $599 a month billed annually for 1 million pageviews, $7,188 a year. Beyond that, everything is quoted: VWO, Hotjar Pro and Enterprise (custom, up to 100% of sessions captured), Optimizely.
Tip: start VWO's 30-day trial, no credit card required, to measure your real tracked users before the quote lands.
- Crazy Egg Enterprise
- $7,188/yr
- VWO, Optimizely
- Custom quote
What skews your heatmaps, and what breaks your tests
User reviews keep landing on the same surprises: fewer replays than expected, data that expires, a page that flickers during a test. Check these before you pick.
Consent breaks replays in Europe
Clarity requires consent for visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Without it, sessions are fragmented and full replays are unavailable. Wire up your consent platform before judging the tool.
Free does not mean everything is recorded
Hotjar Free tracks 200,000 sessions but records only 5% as replays. Growth raises that to 15%. Heatmaps hold up, replays do not.
Data does not stick around
Clarity keeps recordings 30 days, Hotjar Free one month. Flag or export the sessions you need before they go.
Flicker skews the result
A client-side test can show the original version for a split second. Load the A/B script synchronously in the page head, as VWO's help docs recommend.
Modules are billed separately
At VWO, behavior analytics is billed on tracked users, separately from testing. At Zoho PageSense, A/B testing is Enterprise only.
Payment method matters
Hotjar's 20% annual discount is card or PayPal only, no invoicing. Plan for it if finance needs a purchase order.
- Heatmaps and A/B on the same plan
- Share of sessions recorded as replays
- Data retention period
- What works without cookie consent
- Traffic cap and what happens past it
- Card, PayPal or invoice payment
Six more tools, and why they are not ranked
These tools show up in search. They are solid in their niche, but each one lacks a public price, A/B testing or heatmaps. GrowthBook, a strong A/B tool with no heatmaps, is listed here as half of a pair.
GrowthBook
No heatmapsGrowthBook does feature flags and experiments, but no heatmaps: it misses the core criterion of this page, so it sits outside the ranking. It is, however, the cheapest A/B half of a pair. Cloud Starter is free, no credit card, for three users and one project; Pro is $40 per seat per month, up to 30 users; the self-hosted open source version is free. Clarity plus GrowthBook Starter costs $0, Hotjar Growth plus GrowthBook Pro $79 a month. You need a developer to set up tests.
- Starter
- Free, 3 users
- Pro
- $40/seat/month
Optimizely
Custom quoteAn experimentation platform for large companies. No plans or prices published. Pair it with a heatmap tool.
- Price
- Custom quote
Kameleoon
A/BA/B testing and personalization from a French vendor, listed by Hotjar among its integrations. No readable public price on its site: ask for a quote.
- Price
- No readable public price
AB Tasty
WingifyAB Tasty's pricing page redirects to Wingify's, the company behind VWO. It no longer compares separately on price: ask for the same quote.
- Price
- Quote, Wingify pricing
Mouseflow
BehaviorHeatmaps and replays. Its pricing page shows no currency and does not list A/B testing, so we publish no price.
- A/B
- Not listed
Lucky Orange
BehaviorHeatmaps and replays from $32 a month billed annually (Build, 3,500 sessions), 7-day trial, no free plan. A/B testing is not mentioned: pair it.
- Build
- $32/mo billed annually
Pick your next step based on what you need
Settled on a pair or a single tool? These pages go deeper on each one.
Our main ranking on the topic
You are weighing HotjarHotjar reviewOur full review, 4.1 out of 5
Hotjar or VWO?Hotjar vs VWOThe detailed comparison
You need VWO's priceVWO pricingWhat goes into the quote
You are looking at Crazy EggCrazy Egg reviewOur full review, 3.6 out of 5
You run a SaaS productHeatmaps and A/B testing for SaaSThe ranking for SaaS teams
Heatmap and A/B testing tools: FAQ
Which free tool does both heatmaps and A/B testing?
PostHog, on its free plan: 5,000 recordings a month, 1 million experiment requests, and heatmaps on three pages you choose. Clarity plus GrowthBook Starter also costs $0, but you need a developer to ship the tests. With no developer, the simplest tool that does both is Crazy Egg Plus, $99 a month billed annually.
Does Hotjar do A/B testing?
Yes, but only on Pro and Enterprise, on a custom quote. Free and Growth do not include it: with Growth at $39 a month billed annually, budget a second A/B tool, for example through the AB Tasty, Kameleoon or Optimizely integrations.
Is Microsoft Clarity really free?
Yes. Microsoft says it is free forever with no traffic limits. The trade-offs: 30-day retention, no A/B testing, and in Europe consent is required, or full replays stop working.
How much does VWO cost?
VWO publishes no figures: every offer is a quote based on your traffic, and behavior analytics is billed separately on tracked users. Use the 30-day trial, no card needed, to measure that volume before you negotiate.
Will an A/B testing tool slow down my site?
A client-side script can cause flicker, where the original page shows before the variant. Load the script synchronously in the head, and try it first on a high-traffic page to see the effect.
Is Crazy Egg enough for a small business?
Yes, if you want one simple tool and stay under 150,000 pageviews a month: Plus covers unlimited A/B testing and 75 heatmap reports for $99 a month billed annually. Starter, at $29, has no A/B testing.
Does AB Tasty still exist as a separate offer?
Its pricing page now redirects to Wingify, the company behind VWO, which shows a single quote-based offer. For a price, ask Wingify for a quote.
PostHog or Hotjar?
PostHog if you have a product and a developer to set up events: you get A/B testing in the same tool. Hotjar if your marketing team wants heatmaps and surveys with no code, even if that means adding a testing tool.