Compare pricing, deployment, product fit, integrations, and capabilities side by side.
All website owners, from small businesses to enterprises
Important considerations: GA4 has a steep reporting and consent-configuration learning curve; Analytics 360 pricing is not public and standard properties have lower limits.
Marketers, product teams, and UX researchers who need qualitative behavior data and feedback workflows
Important considerations: Hotjar is now sold through Contentsquare packaging; session allowances, retention, and feature access vary by product and tier.
| Attribute | Google Analytics (GA4) | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | Google's mainstream analytics platform for web and app measurement, built around GA4 events, attribution, advertising integrations, and BigQuery-connected reporting for larger deployments. | A behavior analytics and user feedback product, now positioned within Contentsquare, focused on session replay, heatmaps, surveys, interviews, and journey optimization for UX and growth teams. |
| Pricing | GA4 standard is free; Google Analytics 360 is enterprise-priced via Google sales | Contentsquare Free is available; Digital Experience Analytics Growth starts at $49/month, with 20% off annual billing; higher tiers are custom |
| Deployment | Vendor-hosted cloud | Vendor-hosted cloud |
| Best for | All website owners, from small businesses to enterprises | Marketers, product teams, and UX researchers who need qualitative behavior data and feedback workflows |
| Operator | Google LLC Subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. | Hotjar Limited Subsidiary of Content Square SAS |
| Company base | Mountain View, United States · United States | St Julian's, Malta · European Union |
| Organization scale | 190,820 employees · parent company, as of 31 Dec 2025 | at least 190 team members · operator, as of 1 Sep 2021 |
| Recent direction | marketing attribution Recent official evidence shows a focus on marketing attribution. | suite consolidation Recent official evidence shows a focus on suite consolidation. |
| Key features |
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| Important considerations | GA4 has a steep reporting and consent-configuration learning curve; Analytics 360 pricing is not public and standard properties have lower limits. | Hotjar is now sold through Contentsquare packaging; session allowances, retention, and feature access vary by product and tier. |
| Integrations | Google Ads, BigQuery, Shopify | Shopify, WordPress |
| Fact check | We checked this information against official vendor sources on 2026-08-08. | We checked this information against official vendor sources on 2026-08-08. |
This matrix shows capabilities recorded in our catalog. Not listed means we have not confirmed the capability here. Check the linked vendor sources for plan, deployment, and usage limits.
| Attribute | Google Analytics (GA4) | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| AI insights | Listed | Listed |
| App analytics | Listed | Not listed |
| Audience insights | Listed | Listed |
| Behavior analytics | Listed | Listed |
| CCPA compliant | Not listed | Listed |
| Cohort analysis | Listed | Not listed |
| Cross-device tracking | Listed | Not listed |
| Custom reports | Listed | Listed |
| Data export | Listed | Listed |
| E-commerce tracking | Listed | Listed |
| Enterprise | Listed | Not listed |
| Event tracking | Listed | Listed |
| Free plan | Listed | Listed |
| Funnels | Listed | Listed |
| GDPR compliant | Not listed | Listed |
| Goals | Listed | Listed |
| Heatmaps | Not listed | Listed |
| Integrations | Listed | Listed |
| Polls | Not listed | Listed |
| Real-time data | Listed | Listed |
| Retention analytics | Listed | Not listed |
| Revenue tracking | Listed | Listed |
| Session recordings | Not listed | Listed |
| Surveys | Not listed | Listed |
| User feedback | Not listed | Listed |
| User segments | Listed | Listed |