Contentsquare vs MonsterInsights (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Contentsquare grades higher than MonsterInsights: 2.8 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Contentsquare grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Contentsquare
Heatmaps, session replays and surveys, formerly sold as Hotjar
MonsterInsights
Google Analytics reports inside the WordPress dashboard
Which one is for you
Pick Contentsquare if
- Fits if you're a marketer who wants to see where visitors click and scroll
- Works for small sites that fit in 200k sessions and don't need every visit recorded
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want every visit recorded for free, which Clarity does
- Pricey if you want lots of survey answers, as more than 100 a month is a plan from $79 a month
- Tight if you're on Growth, which records only 15% of sessions and starts at 7k sessions for $39 a month
- Watch out: recording every session, APIs, alerts and form analysis need Pro or Enterprise, priced through sales
- Watch out: the free plan keeps 1 month of data for 1 project, and new Hotjar accounts can't be created
Pick MonsterInsights if
- Fits if your site is on WordPress and you already use Google Analytics
- Works for a store on WooCommerce that wants sales numbers in the WordPress admin
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't WordPress, as it runs only inside it
- Not for you if you want a free plan or trial, as there isn't one
- Pricey if you renew: the advertised prices are introductory and every renewal is at full price
- Watch out: Plus covers 1 site; you need Pro or Elite for 5
- Watch out: it needs a Google Analytics account, so you're still tied to Google
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAContentsquareGood | 1.8GPAMonsterInsightsWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$0: the free plan covers up to 200k sessions, so a 10,000-visitor site fits, but it records only 5% of visits. Recording more starts with Growth at $39 a month billed yearly for just 7k sessions, fewer than this site has. Graded against Clarity, which records everything free, that's a B. | B$199 a year for 1 site at renewal, about $16.58 a month, which is where the cheaper quarter of analytics tools ends. The first year is half that, at $99.50. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree forever up to 200k sessions, with heatmaps, funnels, error monitoring and basic surveys, enough for one person to run on. The limits: 5% of sessions recorded, up to 10k, 1 project and 1 month of data. | FNo free plan and no trial. A 14-day money-back guarantee is the only way to try it, and that isn't a trial. |
| Features | BHeatmaps, attention maps, replays, funnels, journeys, error and Core Web Vitals monitoring, surveys and Sense AI summaries. That's the whole experience analytics job, though Free and Growth record only a share of visits and APIs need Pro. | CReports in WordPress, custom dashboards, ecommerce and form tracking, AI question credits. But it reads Google Analytics and collects nothing itself. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. A snippet starts the heatmaps and replays, but Hotjar now sits inside Contentsquare's bigger platform, new users sign up there, and journeys, projects and surveys take some learning. | CNo store rating on record. You install a plugin and then connect a Google Analytics account. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. It connects to Google Analytics, Jira, HubSpot, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Unbounce, Optimizely and AB Tasty, and AI assistants can plug in through MCP on every plan. | CRuns inside WordPress only. It links to WooCommerce, WPForms, MemberPress, Yoast SEO and similar plugins. |
| Best for | heatmaps and replays of a marketing site | Google Analytics inside WordPress |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Contentsquare and MonsterInsights. How we grade
Price against what you get
Contentsquare starts at $39 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. MonsterInsights starts at $16.58 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Contentsquare scores higher, and starts $22.42 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, none scores higher than Contentsquare for less, and 9 score higher than MonsterInsights for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Contentsquare also covers session replay.
- MonsterInsights also covers reports and dashboards.
At a glance
| Contentsquare | MonsterInsights | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $39 per month for up to 7k sessions, billed yearly ($49 billed monthly) | $199 per year for 1 site at renewal, after a first-year price of $99.50 |
| Free plan | Free forever: up to 200k sessions a month with replays of 5% of them (max 10k), heatmaps, funnels, error monitoring, basic surveys, 1 project and 1 month of data. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Contentsquare | MonsterInsights |
| Price read from | contentsquare.com | monsterinsights.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Contentsquare
- New Hotjar accounts can no longer be created; new users sign up for Contentsquare, and existing Hotjar users log in there.
- Free and Growth record only a share of sessions (5% up to 10k, and 15%); recording every session needs Pro or Enterprise.
- Surveys beyond 100 responses a month are a separate Voice of Customer plan starting at $79 a month.
- APIs, alerts, form analysis and Adobe Analytics integration need Pro or Enterprise, priced through sales.
MonsterInsights
- It runs only inside WordPress and reads data from Google Analytics.
- The advertised prices are introductory; all renewals are at full price.
- Plus covers 1 site; Pro and Elite cover 5.
- A 14-day money-back guarantee is stated on the pricing page.
Key features
Contentsquare
- Heatmaps and attention maps
- Shows where visitors click, hover and scroll, with attention maps for engagement; zone heatmaps and side-by-side comparisons start on Growth.
- Session replays
- Replays of real visits to spot struggles and errors. Free records 5% of sessions and Growth 15%; Pro and Enterprise can record all of them.
- Funnels and journeys
- Funnels on every plan show where people drop off; Growth links funnels to replays and adds journey analysis and impact estimates.
- Error and performance monitoring
- Catches JavaScript errors and shows Core Web Vitals and how slow pages affect behavior, included on the free plan.
- Sense AI
- AI summaries of heatmaps and replays and a chat for questions about your data on Growth and up; every plan can connect AI assistants through MCP.
- Surveys and feedback
- Feedback widgets and surveys tied to replays, sold as Voice of Customer: 100 responses a month free, more from $79 a month.
MonsterInsights
- Reports in WordPress
- Visitors, pageviews, bounce rate, locations, referral sources and page insights are shown in the WordPress admin.
- Custom dashboards
- Dashboards built from more than 20 widgets, with date comparison and PDF export.
- eCommerce and form tracking
- On Pro and Elite: conversion rate, average order value and top products for stores, plus form conversion tracking.
- Plugin integrations
- Tracking for WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, WPForms, MemberPress and other WordPress plugins on the Pro plan.
- Surveys and heatmaps
- The Elite plan includes UserFeedback Elite, with surveys, NPS reporting and heatmaps.
- Credits for AI questions
- Plans include a yearly allowance of credits for asking questions about the data without reading reports.
Plans
Contentsquare
Free$0
Up to 200k monthly sessions, 5% recorded, 1 month of data, 1 project, 7 integrations and an MCP connection for AI assistants.
Growth$39
per month for up to 7k sessions, billed yearly ($49 billed monthly)
13 months of data, 3 projects, zone heatmaps, journeys, Sense AI chat; 15% of sessions recorded. $409 a month at 100k sessions, billed monthly.
ProCustom
Sold through sales: up to 6 projects, up to 100% of sessions recorded, APIs, alerts, form analysis, revenue attribution.
EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales: unlimited projects, real-time error troubleshooting, synthetic monitoring, A/B testing analysis, SLAs.
MonsterInsights
Plus$199
per year for 1 site, at renewal
Standard reports, realtime dashboard, custom dashboards and an EU compliance addon, with 5,000 credits. First year $99.50 (50% off); renews at full price.
Pro$399
per year for 5 sites, at renewal
Adds eCommerce, form conversion and custom dimension reports, enhanced tracking, WooCommerce and PPC ad tracking, and 10,000 credits. First year $199.50; renews at full price.
Elite$599
per year for 5 sites, at renewal
Adds exception reports, site note automations, multisite support, client license management and UserFeedback Elite, with 15,000 credits. First year $299.50; renews at full price.
Ways to pay less
Contentsquare
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
Paying yearly saves 20%: Growth at 7k sessions is $39 a month instead of $49.
MonsterInsights
- Other savings
Introductory first-year pricing
The pricing page shows 50% off the first year on each plan, with renewals at full price: Plus $99.50, Pro $199.50, Elite $299.50.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Contentsquare or MonsterInsights?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MonsterInsights is cheaper to start with: $16.58 a month when paid by the year, against $39 a month for Contentsquare. Contentsquare starts at $39 per month for up to 7k sessions, billed yearly ($49 billed monthly), and MonsterInsights starts at $199 per year for 1 site at renewal, after a first-year price of $99.50.
Which has a free plan, Contentsquare or MonsterInsights?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Contentsquare has a free plan. MonsterInsights does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.