Microsoft Clarity is completely free, with effectively unlimited sessions and recordings, heatmaps, and an AI copilot included. There is no paid tier. Microsoft gives it away because the aggregate data helps its advertising and Bing products — which is a fair trade a lot of teams are happy to make.
That reframes this comparison: the question isn't "which is cheapest," it's "what does Hotjar or FullStory do that's worth paying for when Clarity is free?"
| Price | Data retention | What it adds over Clarity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | free, unlimited | 30 days | nothing costs money |
| Hotjar | ~$32–39/mo, up to €200+ for full suite | varies by plan | surveys, feedback widgets, funnels (the "Ask" and "Engage" tools) |
| FullStory | free tier: 30,000 sessions, 12-mo retention; paid from ~€200/mo | 12 months+ | deep product analytics, longer retention, enterprise DXA |
Hotjar's answer is that it's not just session replay — it bundles on-site surveys, feedback polls and conversion funnels, so you get the "why" alongside the "what." Since its Contentsquare acquisition, the full suite runs €200+/month and legacy customers have reported price increases, so it's drifted upmarket.
FullStory's answer is depth and retention. Its free tier is genuinely more generous than Clarity's on retention — 30,000 sessions with 12 months of history versus Clarity's 30-day window — and its paid product is a full digital-experience analytics platform for enterprises, priced accordingly at ~€200/month and up.
For most small and mid-size teams: use Clarity, it's free and it's good, and the 30-day retention limit rarely bites for day-to-day debugging. Add Hotjar specifically when you want surveys and feedback tools integrated with the replays. Look at FullStory when you need long data retention or genuine product analytics and have the budget for an enterprise tool.