Compare Hotjar and nilly on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: Google Analytics
France· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist for Contentsquare-owned heatmaps and replay with a public DPA and Ireland defaults. Skip if you need an independent recorder or no US-group cloud. Consider Mouseflow.
Switzerland· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist nilly when you want Swiss-entity, cookieless, ultra-light site analytics with realtime dashboards, city geo, custom events, unlimited sites, and an API—without GA4 consent weight. Skip when you need self-host/open source, enterprise audit packs, or deep marketing-suite analytics; consider Plausible Analytics, Simple Analytics, or etracker instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Hotjar | nilly |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | France | Switzerland |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hosted | No | No |
| Headquarters | France | Switzerland |
| Legal entity | Content Square SAS, Paris (EU Hotjar contractor). Historical Hotjar Ltd Malta merged 1 July 2025. | Lyo GmbH, Europaallee 41, 8004 Zürich (CHE-417.675.763) |
| Governing law | Not listed | Switzerland (terms) |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Medium | Medium |
| Hosting / residency | Visitor data: AWS and Azure Ireland for Free/Growth and VoC Observe/Surveys. Pro/Enterprise may pick Ireland or Virginia. Defaults: EU/Japan to EU; US and most other APJ to US. Support: Content Square, Inc. and Zendesk (USA), Atlassian (Australia). Sense AI on AWS Bedrock/Azure; survey AI on Azure OpenAI France. Engage: Twilio, Daily.co, Postmark, Tremendous. | Vendor FAQ: analytics servers in Switzerland (multiple locations). Public site reverse-DNS: KreativMedia/METANET Zürich. Customer-account subprocessors named in privacy policy: Stripe (US payments), Mailerlite (email). Avatars via Gravatar. No full public subprocessor list for backups/monitoring/CDN. |
| Summary | Contentsquare-owned heatmaps, session replay, and on-site surveys. French-group SaaS with default EU hosting on AWS and Azure Ireland, not an independent Maltese startup. | Swiss privacy-first web analytics (Lyo GmbH): cookieless, sub-1kB tracking with realtime dashboards, city-level geo, custom events, unlimited sites, and a REST API as a lightweight Google Analytics alternative. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | Hotjar | nilly |
|---|---|---|
| Current HQ / entity | Content Square SAS, Paris, France | Not listed |
| Origin | Founded in Malta in 2014 (vendor history) | Not listed |
| Ownership | Contentsquare group (acquired 2021, merged 1 July 2025) | Not listed |
| Hosting (public) | AWS/Azure Ireland default for EU Free/Growth; Virginia optional on higher plans | Not listed |
| Deployment | SaaS JavaScript tag; not self-hosted; not open source | Not listed |
| Commercial model | Free tier plus paid Growth, Pro, and Enterprise (see vendor site for current terms) | Traffic-based plans; trial; no permanent free tier |
| HQ | Not listed | Zürich, Switzerland (Lyo GmbH) |
| Legal entity | Not listed | Lyo GmbH (CHE-417.675.763) |
| Product model | Not listed | SaaS web analytics (not self-hosted) |
| Tracking | Not listed | Cookieless; no IP/fingerprint claims |
| Hosting (claimed) | Not listed | Switzerland (multi-site) |
| Live site note | Not listed | kandur.one (nilly branding; nilly.io DNS failed at research) |
| Key capabilities | Hotjar | nilly |
|---|---|---|
| EU-operated (Contentsquare) | Yes | Not listed |
| Heatmaps + session replay | Yes | Not listed |
| Surveys and feedback | Yes | Not listed |
| Public B2B DPA | Yes | Not listed |
| ISO 27001 (claimed) | Yes | Not listed |
| Cookieless tracking | Not listed | Yes |
| Swiss-hosted (claimed) | Not listed | Yes |
| Swiss entity | Not listed | Yes |
| Sub-1 kB script | Not listed | Yes |
| REST API | Not listed | Yes |
| SaaS only | Not listed | Yes |
Click, move, and scroll heatmaps with Attention Maps
Aggregated overlays show where visitors click, hover, and scroll. Contentsquare documents Attention Maps (engagement, not only clicks) and, on the wider platform, zone-based heatmaps that attach conversion context to page elements. Use this when a page-level bounce rate does not explain the layout. Coverage is limited to sessions the tag actually captures and to pages the recorder can reconstruct.
Session replay with claimed automatic masking
Replays mouse movement, clicks, taps, and scrolls so UX and engineering can watch a single journey. Official pages describe event-triggered recording, comments, and jump-to-replay from heatmaps or surveys. Contentsquare states that card and bank details are masked automatically. You still must suppress other personal data with blocking scripts or field exclusion. This is a browser reconstruction, not a server-side log archive.
Surveys, feedback widgets, and Engage research
On-site surveys and feedback widgets (Ask) plus user interviews and unmoderated tests (Engage). The DPA treats this as Voice of Customer. Observe and survey visitor data is hosted on AWS Ireland. Interview and user-test recordings are retained for 2 years per the DPA. Engage adds extra subprocessors (Twilio, Daily.co, Postmark, Tremendous). Response volume is plan-gated.
Funnels that open the matching recordings
Build step funnels and open sessions that converted or dropped at a step. That pairing is the reason teams keep a recorder next to GA-style charts. Advanced journey and multi-session funnel work sits on Contentsquare product analytics (Heap lineage), not on the classic Hotjar-only recorder. Funnel depth and comparison features are plan-dependent.
Error and speed context on the Contentsquare platform
The unified platform adds JavaScript error lists ranked by impact and speed analysis tied to behavior. Classic standalone Hotjar was weaker here. Full network-waterfall debugging is a platform capability. If you refuse the DXA transition you may not get this layer. Errors are only as good as what the browser tag can see.
Sub-1 kB cookieless tracking script
Vendor documents a client script under 1 kB with no cookies, no IP tracking, and no fingerprinting for site visitors. Suited to teams that want aggregate traffic metrics without analytics cookie banners; still get counsel for your jurisdiction and CMP setup.
Realtime dashboard with geo, tech, and campaigns
Dashboards cover live visitors, overview metrics, top pages, referrers, UTM campaigns, geography from continent to city, and device/browser/OS breakdowns—enough for content and acquisition decisions without a full product-analytics suite.
Custom events, CSV export, and email reports
Define custom events for conversion-style actions, export statistics as CSV, and receive email reports. Fits operators who need lightweight conversion signals and offline analysis rather than session replay or multi-step funnels.
REST API for stats, websites, and account
Documented API endpoints (Bearer API key) manage stats queries (pageviews, visitors, referrers, events, geo, devices, and more), websites, and account objects—useful for internal dashboards or automations on traffic-based plans that include API access.
Unlimited websites on traffic-based plans
Public pricing model is pageview-tier SaaS with unlimited websites per account and a short free trial—not a permanent free tier. Good for agencies or multi-brand operators who outgrow per-site free plans elsewhere; confirm current tiers on the vendor site.
| Assurance & compliance | Hotjar | nilly |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | On request / NDA Vendor claims annual external penetration tests and publishes a Trust Portal with pentest reports behind access. No public independent no-logs audit (this is a recorder, not a no-logs VPN). | Not found No public third-party audit report found for tracking claims. |
| ISO 27001 | Vendor claimed Contentsquare states it is ISO 27001 certified (also claims ISO 27017, 27018, 27701). Certificates are on the Trust Portal; not independently downloaded for this draft. | Not found No vendor ISO 27001 certificate published on product site (underlying Swiss host DCs may be certified separately). |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Vendor claimed Trust portal and security pages claim a SOC 2 Type II report. Report not independently downloaded. | Not found |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Vendor claimed EU parent and contracting entity for non-Americas Hotjar Services. Public DPA, SCCs, and GDPR language. Customer is controller and must supply a lawful basis for visitor capture. | Vendor claimed Swiss entity; privacy policy includes GDPR rights language; cookieless visitor tracking claimed. Confirm DPA for B2B. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Partial Assessment, not a vendor slogan. French parent and no known US parent, but AWS and Azure host visitor data, Content Square, Inc. and Zendesk process support data, and US regions exist. Not legal advice. | Partial Swiss operator, no known US parent, Swiss-claimed analytics hosting; US SaaS subprocessors Stripe (payments) and Gravatar (avatars) on customer path. Not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Vendor claimed Public Contentsquare DPA incorporated by the MSA. Execution of the MSA or an order form is treated as execution of the DPA and SCCs. | Not found No public DPA download found; request from vendor. |
| EU AI Act | Not applicable Core product is analytics and replay, not an AI system sold as such. Sense AI and survey LLMs exist as optional features. Confirm AI Act role if you enable those modules. | Not applicable Web analytics product; not marketed as an AI system. |
| CSA STAR | Vendor claimed Security page displays a STAR badge. Scope and level not independently verified. | Not listed |
| Swiss Made Software / Swiss Web labels | Not listed | Vendor claimed Cited on About and Swiss Union member page as recognition/labels—not a security audit. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Hotjar | nilly |
|---|---|---|
| No longer an independent Maltese company | High Acquired in 2021 and described as merged into Contentsquare on 1 July 2025. New contracts are Contentsquare entities. A scheduled DXA transition from 18 August 2026 can move data and retire the old UI unless you elect to stay. Practical impact: vendor risk, product roadmap, and DPA counterparty are the French group, not Hotjar Ltd. | Not listed |
| US-group cloud and US support path | Medium Visitor data sits on AWS and Azure. Zendesk (USA) and Content Square, Inc. handle support. US regions are default for some geographies. Practical impact: an Ireland region does not remove US-group infrastructure from a CLOUD Act discussion. | Not listed |
| Session replay can capture extra personal data | Medium The vendor asks customers to block non-permitted personal data and claims card masking. Misconfigured tags still record inputs or on-screen PII. Practical impact: you need a suppressions review and a consent story before go-live. | Not listed |
| SaaS tag only | Low No official self-hosted or open-source edition. Practical impact: skip this product if residency rules require your own servers. | Low Cannot run on your own infra or audit server code from a public repo. Hard limit for sovereignty programs that require self-host. |
| Optional LLM features add extra processors | Low Sense AI and survey AI use AWS Bedrock and Azure OpenAI. Practical impact: disable those features or map their regions if procurement treats LLMs as a separate transfer. | Not listed |
| Brand/domain transition (nilly.io vs kandur.one) | Not listed | Medium Product still branded nilly, but the live marketing/API host is kandur.one; nilly.io did not resolve in DNS during research. Verify tracking domains, docs, and status before production cutover. |
| US SaaS on customer account path | Not listed | Medium Stripe (payments) and Gravatar (avatars) are US-group services. Visitor metrics are claimed Swiss-hosted and non-personal, but account/billing data is not Switzerland-only end-to-end. |
| Thin public assurance pack | Not listed | Medium No public ISO 27001/SOC 2, independent security audit, or DPA page found. Fine for many SMB shortlists; friction for regulated enterprise questionnaires. |
| Small independent operator | Not listed | Low Founder-owned Swiss GmbH without VC narrative—positive for independence, but buyers should assess support SLAs, roadmap continuity, and single-vendor concentration. |
When: You want session replay and heatmaps from an independent European vendor, not the Contentsquare group
Consider: Mouseflow
Danish SaaS with selectable EU or US Google Cloud residency and a public DPA.
When: You only need page or privacy-oriented analytics without replaying mouse paths and form fields
Consider: Plausible Analytics or etracker
Lighter measurement. Not a substitute for session replay.
When: You want a no-contract recorder and will accept a US vendor
Consider: Microsoft Clarity
Free Microsoft product. Different jurisdiction and contract posture than Content Square SAS.
When: You need a US-native event warehouse more than qualitative replay
Consider: Mixpanel or Amplitude
Product analytics incumbents. Pair with a recorder only if you still need heatmaps.
When: You want open-source and/or self-host privacy analytics with a larger community
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Pirsch Analytics
nilly is proprietary SaaS only.
When: You want another European cookieless SaaS with a simple product story
Consider: Simple Analytics
Dutch peer; compare geo depth, API, and residency claims side by side.
When: You need deeper marketing, shop, and tag/consent analytics for EU enterprises
Consider: etracker
German suite-oriented alternative; heavier than nilly's lightweight dashboard.
When: You depend on free unlimited scale and Google ads/ecosystem integration
Consider: Google Analytics (GA4)
Different privacy and residency tradeoffs; not a sovereignty shortlist.