Software advice
Best AI Heatmap and Session Replay Software in 2026
AI heatmap and session replay software is a tool that records how visitors click, scroll and move through a website or app, draws that behavior as heatmaps and replayable sessions, and uses AI to summarize recordings and point at friction. It differs from web analytics, which counts visits without showing them, and from product analytics, which tracks defined events.
Quick answer
Mouseflow ranks first because it prints every plan, limit and retention period and states EU storage. OpenReplay fits teams that want to self-host with SOC 2 stated. Contentsquare fits larger sites that want a free 200,000-session start.
Someone who owns a checkout, a signup form or a docs site usually wants to see why visitors stop, and recordings answer that better than charts. The difficulty is the meter. Vendors count sessions, pageviews or recordings, cap retention at one month on free plans, and now add AI summaries that sit in a higher tier or an add-on. Because recordings can capture typed text, where the data lives and how fields are masked matter as much as the heatmap itself. We read vendor pages in November 2026 and tested no replay engine, so claims about AI insight quality belong to the vendors. The order below rewards printed limits, stated hosting and clear AI scope.
The 9 best AI heatmap and session replay software in 2026, ranked
There is no score. Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. How we rank.
| # | Tool | Best for | Free plan | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mouseflow | Marketing and UX owners who want printed session limits, retention periods and EU storage in one tool | Yes | $25 per month for Essential, with a free plan at 500 sessions |
| 2 | OpenReplay | Engineering teams that want recordings on infrastructure they control, with a stated SOC 2 report | Yes | Free open source, or $199 per month for Dedicated |
| 3 | Contentsquare | Larger or multi-market sites that want replay, journeys and Sense AI under one contract | Yes | Free up to 200,000 sessions, then $49 per month for Growth |
| 4 | Microsoft Clarity | Teams with no replay budget that accept less published detail on retention and hosting | Yes | Quoted |
| 5 | LiveSession | Small SaaS and web teams that want a free start and a mid-priced upgrade path | Yes | $54 per month for Basic, with a free plan at 1,000 sessions |
| 6 | Crazy Egg | Small marketing teams that want heatmaps on a few pages with a clear price ladder | Trial | $29 per month for Starter, billed annually |
| 7 | Lucky Orange | Small ecommerce sites that want recordings, surveys and live view in one script | Trial | $32 per month for Build, billed annually |
| 8 | LogRocket | Frontend and product engineers who want sessions linked to errors, logs and network calls | Trial | From $176 per month, annual plan |
| 9 | Fullstory | Product organizations that want a large free replay allowance and AI agents later | Yes | Quoted |
- 1
Mouseflow
Mouseflow ranks first because its pricing page prints four plans with session caps and retention, from 500 sessions and one month on Free to 100,000 and twelve months on Premium. Its privacy policy states EU storage, and the pricing grid lists Ask Mina AI and an MCP link. Weak spots are the missing certification names and an AI feature list that does not say which tier gets what.
Strong on
- Free plan with 500 sessions and a 14-day trial that needs no credit card
- Privacy policy states personal data is stored and processed within the EU
- Unlimited users on every plan and a 14-day refund window for first-time annual buyers
Weak on
- Pricing page names no SOC 2 or ISO certification, only AES-256 encryption and GDPR claims
- Mina AI Insights is labeled beta and the tier it belongs to is not stated
Skip it if: Engineering teams that need recordings tied to console and network traces, or teams that require a named security certification. Prices are printed for four plans. Session caps run from 500 on Free to 100,000 on Premium.
- 2
OpenReplay ranks second because it is the only tool here that lets you keep recordings on your own servers at no license cost, and its pricing page states SOC 2 Type II across plans. Dedicated runs on AWS, GCP or Azure in 50 regions. The trade-off is operations: self-hosting needs staff, and the usage-based Serverless tier shows no price.
Strong on
- Open-source edition is free and can run entirely on your own infrastructure
- Dedicated runs on AWS, GCP or Azure across 50 regions and has a 7-day trial
- MCP server is included on all plans and AI agents are available on Open-Source and Dedicated
Weak on
- Serverless tier is usage-based with no printed price on the pricing page
- Entity naming differs between pages, Asayer SAS in terms and Asayer, Inc. in the footer
Skip it if: Marketers who want a point-and-click heatmap tool with no engineering help, or teams with nobody to run servers. Open-Source runs on your own servers at no license fee. Dedicated is managed and billed hourly.
- 3
Contentsquare ranks third because it combines a free tier of 200,000 sessions with a printed Growth price, a trust portal listing ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II, and Sense AI summaries of replays. It also absorbed Hotjar and Heap. Hosting regions are not stated on the pages read, and Pro and above move to quotes, so cost at scale stays unknown.
Strong on
- Free plan covers up to 200,000 sessions a month with replays, heatmaps and funnels
- Trust portal lists ISO/IEC 27001, 27701 and SOC 2 Type II
- Sense AI chat and replay summaries start on Growth, while Free includes limited MCP calls
Weak on
- Free plan keeps data for one month and allows only one project
- Hosting regions were not stated on the pages read, only AWS and Azure as providers
Skip it if: Small sites with one marketer that need a flat monthly price, or buyers who want a Hotjar account that no longer exists. Growth is $49 monthly or $39 billed yearly. Pro and Enterprise are custom quotes.
- 4
Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity ranks fourth because it costs nothing and states no traffic limits, with AI summaries of recordings and heatmaps plus an AI chat over your data. It loses ground to the paid tools on verifiability: the page names no retention period, no hosting region and no certification, and says only that the product is GDPR and CCPA ready.
Strong on
- Free forever with no traffic limits stated on the product page
- AI summaries of recordings and heatmaps, plus a chat to ask questions about your data
- Microsoft documents the data fields collected and masks privacy-sensitive fields in playback
Weak on
- Retention period for recordings is not stated on the pages we read
- The page does not say how its AI features handle or train on your data
Skip it if: Companies that need a vendor with contractual support, a named hosting region or a stated certification for the replay tool. Free with no traffic limits stated. No paid plan exists on the page we read.
- 5
LiveSession
LiveSession ranks fifth because its pricing is printed for three tiers and a free plan, and its policy gives a Wroclaw address with processing primarily in Poland. It loses points for two reasons: the pricing page mentions no AI features, and its policy also routes data through Google servers in Iowa, so EU-only storage cannot be assumed.
Strong on
- Free plan with 1,000 sessions, 3 team members and 2 projects, plus a 14-day Pro trial
- Basic and Pro include unlimited team members and projects
- Notifies you at 80 percent of quota before recording stops
Weak on
- Pricing page does not mention AI features and lists no certification beyond GDPR and CCPA
- Policy says Google servers in Iowa, United States, are used alongside processing in Poland
Skip it if: Buyers who need AI session summaries today or a guarantee that recordings never leave the EU. Prices are for annual billing. Basic scales from 5,000 up to 15,000 sessions, Pro from 10,000 up to 150,000.
- 6
Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg ranks sixth because its four plans are printed with pageview, recording and retention figures, and AI analysis is listed on every plan. The recording quotas are small, 50 on Starter, and no hosting region or certification is named. Its privacy policy says nothing about AI or machine learning, so data use by the AI feature is unclear.
Strong on
- Four annual plans from $29 to $599 with printed pageview, recording and heatmap limits
- AI analysis column shows Yes on all four plans
- Recording retention is two years on Plus and above
Weak on
- Starter allows only 50 recordings a month and 6 months of retention
- Privacy policy names no server location and does not mention AI
Skip it if: Product teams that need thousands of recordings on a modest plan or a vendor that states its data center region. All plans bill annually with no overage charges. Starter allows 5,000 pageviews and 50 recordings.
- 7
Lucky Orange
Lucky Orange ranks seventh because the pricing page contradicts itself: the plan cards show Build at $32, while the comparison section shows $39, and Discovery AI appears as both included and an add-on. A 7-day trial covers every feature and unlimited team members are allowed. Neither hosting location nor certification appears on the pages read.
Strong on
- Unlimited team members and surveys on every plan, with a 7-day trial of all features
- Discovery AI links its answers to supporting recordings and heatmaps
- Storage starts at 60 days and can be extended to 90, 180 or 365
Weak on
- Pricing page lists two sets of prices, so confirm the figure before budgeting
- Hosting location and certifications are not stated on the pages read
Skip it if: Teams that need a free plan, or buyers who require a single unambiguous price and a stated security certification. Annual prices run $32 to $839 a month. The page lists a second set of higher monthly figures.
- 8
LogRocket
LogRocket ranks eighth because it prints only a starting price and a conditional-recording example, with the final figure set by seats, retention and add-ons. Its page lists AI session summaries, issue detection and Ask Galileo in the Pro tier, and many industry certifications. It is built for debugging, so marketers get less heatmap value for the cost.
Strong on
- Errors, logs and analytics are unlimited on every plan, plus a 14-day trial
- Pro tier adds AI session summaries, issue detection, funnel and heatmap insights
- Enterprise tier offers self-hosted deployment, aimed at regulated industries, and lists several industry certifications
Weak on
- Retention periods and a flat price per tier are not printed on the pricing page
- Privacy policy says data is processed in the United States and does not address AI training
Skip it if: Marketers who only want heatmaps, or teams that need a printed price for each plan before talking to sales. Priced by captured sessions. Final cost depends on seats, retention and add-ons such as data export.
- 9
Fullstory
Fullstory ranks last because no paid price is printed, StoryAI is a separate paid add-on, and no SOC 2 or ISO claim appears on the pages read. Against that, its permanent free plan is generous at 30,000 sessions with 12 months of retention, and its policy offers a US or EU data center choice at signup.
Strong on
- Permanent free plan with 30,000 sessions, 12 months retention and up to 10 users
- Customers pick a US or EU data center when they sign up
- StoryAI summaries, agents and an MCP server are available as upgrades
Weak on
- Paid tiers and StoryAI are quote-only with no printed amounts
- Policy does not say whether customer data trains AI models
Skip it if: Buyers who want to compare printed prices before a sales call, or those who require named security certifications on the public page. Paid tiers are quote-only. FullstoryFree allows 30,000 sessions a month and up to 10 users.
How these AI heatmap and session replay software were judged
How useful is the AI in heatmap and session replay software?
The useful AI work here is reading hours of recordings so a person does not have to. Mouseflow lists Ask Mina AI and an MCP connection, Contentsquare describes one-click replay summaries under Sense AI, and Microsoft Clarity offers AI summaries of recordings and heatmaps plus a chat over your data. LogRocket places session summaries and issue detection in its Pro tier, and Fullstory sells StoryAI as a paid add-on. None of these pages publish an accuracy figure. Test by picking ten sessions you already watched by hand and checking whether the summary surfaced the same friction. A summary that only says users scrolled and clicked is decoration.
What do heatmap and session replay tools cost?
As of November 2026, Mouseflow prints Free at 500 sessions, Essential at $25, Advanced at $109 and Premium at $319 a month. Crazy Egg lists $29 to $599 a month billed annually, LiveSession shows Basic at $54 and Pro at $83, and Lucky Orange shows Build at $32 up to Scale at $839, though its own page lists two sets of figures. Microsoft Clarity is free. Contentsquare prints Growth at $49 monthly. OpenReplay Dedicated starts at $199 a month. LogRocket starts at $176 a month, and Fullstory prices by quote. Check which tier carries the AI before comparing.
Where is session recording data stored and is it used for AI training?
Recordings can hold typed text and page content, so storage location comes first. Mouseflow's privacy policy says it stores and processes personal data within the EU. OpenReplay's policy names AWS servers in the EU, and its pricing page states SOC 2 Type II. Fullstory lets customers pick a United States or EU data center. LiveSession says data is processed primarily in Poland but also uses Google servers in Iowa. Contentsquare's trust portal lists ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II. Crazy Egg and Lucky Orange name no server location, and most vendors' policies were not checked for AI training use.
How hard is it to switch session replay software?
Switching costs little in data and a fair amount in history. Recordings are bulky and rarely portable, so a new tool starts with an empty archive, and the old one's retention window decides how much you can still review. Free plans keep recordings for as little as one month, while Crazy Egg lists two years on its upper plans. Heatmap settings, funnels and tagged events must be rebuilt by hand. OpenReplay, being open source, lets you keep recordings on your own storage. Before signing an annual plan, ask whether a download of recordings or only of reports is possible.
Which heatmap and session replay tool fits my team?
Match the tool to who watches the recordings. A marketer with a single site and under 25,000 sessions a month fits Mouseflow or LiveSession, where limits are printed. A team with no budget and no strict hosting rule can start on Microsoft Clarity. Engineering-led groups that want recordings next to errors look at LogRocket or Fullstory. A company with strict control over where data sits fits OpenReplay self-hosted. Large multi-market sites with several teams belong on Contentsquare. Hotjar no longer accepts new accounts, so anyone searching for it should read Contentsquare's pages instead.
How to choose an AI heatmap and session replay tool in three steps
- Count sessions before comparing prices. Pull last month's visits from your web analytics and note how many are sessions, not pageviews or users. Plans from Mouseflow, LiveSession and Lucky Orange count sessions, Crazy Egg counts pageviews and recordings separately, and LogRocket bills sessions captured. Recording every visitor is rarely needed, so decide whether sampling or conditional capture is acceptable. Then price two tiers above your count, since traffic spikes during campaigns would otherwise silently stop recording. LiveSession states that sessions beyond the limit are not recorded, and Crazy Egg states that its plans carry no overage charges.
- Test the privacy masking on a real form. Install the shortlisted tools on a staging page with a payment or login form and look at the replays. Check that typed text, emails and card fields are masked by default, and find where the vendor lets you exclude elements, URLs or whole countries. Confirm the cookie consent integration works, because recording before consent is a common failure. Read the vendor's hosting statement at the same time, and keep a note of which of them state a location in writing and which only describe a privacy policy.
- Judge the AI on sessions you already know. Choose ten sessions where you know the friction, such as a coupon field that confused buyers, and let each trial's AI summarize them. Score how many it caught, how many it invented and whether the summary links back to the moment in the recording. Also check where the AI sits in the plan, because Lucky Orange's page shows Discovery AI as both included and an add-on. Pick the tool whose AI is in the tier you will really pay for, not the trial tier.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI session replay software in 2026?
Mouseflow ranks first here because it prints its plans, session limits and retention, states EU storage in its privacy policy and lists AI features on its pricing page. OpenReplay suits teams that want to self-host, and Contentsquare suits larger sites that want a free start of 200,000 sessions. Microsoft Clarity is the pick when budget is zero.
Is Microsoft Clarity really free for session replay?
Microsoft's Clarity page describes the product as free forever with no traffic limits, and lists AI insights, summaries and a chat over your data. The page does not state a retention period for recordings or how AI features treat your data, so read the data and privacy pages before installing on a site that handles personal information.
What happened to Hotjar?
Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, and Contentsquare's page states that it is no longer possible to create a new account on Hotjar. New users sign up for Contentsquare instead, whose free tier covers up to 200,000 sessions a month with one month of data access. Existing Hotjar customers should ask about their migration path.
Can I self-host a session replay tool?
Yes. OpenReplay's pricing page lists an open-source edition that is free to run on your own infrastructure, and an Enterprise edition that also runs on-premises. LogRocket lists self-hosting on its Enterprise tier. Self-hosting moves the work of storage, scaling and upgrades to your team, so count that time as part of the cost.
Do session recordings capture passwords and card numbers?
They can capture typed text unless the tool masks it. Vendors such as Mouseflow state consent integration and restricted recording by location, and Microsoft's documentation says privacy-sensitive fields are masked in the playback data. Always test your own forms in staging, since custom inputs and unusual page builders are where masking tends to miss.
How long do heatmap and replay tools keep recordings?
It varies a lot by plan. Mouseflow lists one month on Free, three on Essential and twelve on Premium. Crazy Egg lists six months on Starter and two years above. LiveSession lists one month on Free and up to twelve on Enterprise. Check retention before relying on a tool for quarterly reviews, because older recordings simply disappear.
Do heatmap tools slow down a website?
Any script adds some weight, and none of the vendor pages we read publish a measured figure. Judge it yourself by loading the script through a tag manager, testing page speed before and after, and checking whether the vendor offers sampling so only a share of sessions is recorded. Do the test on your slowest template, not the home page.
Which replay tool is best for debugging errors?
LogRocket and Fullstory are the two built around that job. LogRocket lists unlimited errors and logs on every plan, with AI issue detection in its Pro tier, and Fullstory lists debugging tools in its free plan. Marketing-focused tools like Crazy Egg and Lucky Orange show behavior but are less suited to tracing a developer-side fault.