How to Connect Google Analytics with Hotjar (2026)

Integration Overview

Hotjar and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) are designed to answer different types of questions. GA4 tells you what users do on your website through quantitative data: page views, conversion rates, bounce rates, and traffic sources. Hotjar tells you why users behave the way they do through qualitative data: heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback surveys.

Hotjar has a native Google Analytics integration that allows you to filter Hotjar session recordings using data from GA4. This means you can use GA4 to identify a problematic pattern (for example, a high drop-off rate on a checkout page), then jump into Hotjar to watch recordings of users who experienced that exact behavior.

What the Native Integration Does

The Hotjar-GA integration works by connecting Hotjar to your Google Analytics property so that GA data is available as a filter within Hotjar's recordings dashboard. Specifically, it enables you to:

• Filter recordings by GA traffic source: Watch only recordings from users who arrived via organic search, paid ads, social media, email campaigns, or direct traffic.
• Filter recordings by GA referral: Narrow down to users who came from a specific referring website.
• Filter recordings by GA landing page: View sessions that started on a particular page.
• Filter recordings by GA device and location data: Isolate mobile users from a specific country, for example.

This integration pulls metadata from GA into Hotjar's filtering system. It does not send Hotjar data back to GA.

Prerequisites

Before setting up the integration, confirm that you have:

1. A Hotjar account on a Business or Scale plan (the GA integration is not available on the free Basic plan)
2. A Google Analytics 4 property with data actively being collected
3. The Hotjar tracking code installed on the same pages where GA4 is running
4. Admin access to your Hotjar account
5. Access to the Google account associated with your GA4 property

Setting Up the Hotjar-GA4 Integration

Step 1: Open Hotjar Integration Settings

Log in to Hotjar and navigate to Integrations from the left sidebar. Find Google Analytics in the integrations list. Click Connect.

Step 2: Authenticate with Google

Hotjar will prompt you to sign in with your Google account. Select the Google account that has access to your GA4 property. Grant the requested permissions for Hotjar to read your GA data. This is a read-only connection; Hotjar does not modify any data in your GA property.

Step 3: Select Your GA Property

After authentication, Hotjar will display a list of GA properties associated with your Google account. Select the GA4 property that corresponds to the website where your Hotjar tracking code is installed. Make sure the GA4 property and the Hotjar site match the same domain.

Step 4: Verify the Connection

Once connected, Hotjar will confirm the integration is active. You can verify it by going to the Recordings section and checking that GA-based filters (like traffic source and landing page) are now available in the filter panel. It may take a short time for data to start appearing in the filters.

Using GA4 Events to Trigger Hotjar Recordings

Beyond the native integration filters, you can use GA4 event data to control when Hotjar captures recordings. This is useful for reducing the volume of recordings and focusing on specific user behaviors.

Method: Using the Hotjar Events API

Hotjar provides a JavaScript Events API that lets you tag recordings with custom events. You can tie this to GA4 events by firing a Hotjar event whenever a specific GA4 event occurs. The approach is:

1. Identify the GA4 event you want to use as a trigger (for example, begin_checkout or form_submit).
2. In Google Tag Manager, create a trigger that fires on that event.
3. Create a Custom HTML tag in GTM that calls hj('event', 'your_event_name') when the trigger fires.
4. In Hotjar, filter recordings by this custom event to watch only sessions where the target behavior occurred.

This allows you to bridge GA4's event tracking with Hotjar's recording system. For example, if GA4 shows a 40% drop-off at the payment step, you can tag that step with a Hotjar event and then watch recordings of users who reached that point.

Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Data

The real value of using Hotjar and GA4 together is the workflow of moving between numbers and behavior. Here is a practical framework:

Step 1: Identify the Problem in GA4

Use GA4 to spot anomalies or underperformance. Common examples include:

• A landing page with a high bounce rate compared to similar pages
• A funnel step with an unexpectedly high drop-off rate
• A traffic source that converts at a much lower rate than others
• A specific device type (mobile, tablet) with poor conversion performance

Step 2: Investigate with Hotjar

Once you have identified the quantitative problem, switch to Hotjar:

• Heatmaps: Place a heatmap on the problematic page to see where users click, how far they scroll, and what they interact with. This reveals whether users are confused by the layout, missing the call-to-action, or getting distracted by other elements.
• Recordings: Watch session recordings filtered to the relevant segment (using the GA integration filters or Hotjar events). Look for patterns like rage clicks, hesitation, back-and-forth scrolling, or form abandonment.
• Feedback: Deploy a Hotjar feedback widget or survey on the problematic page to ask users directly what is preventing them from completing the action.

Step 3: Implement Changes and Measure in GA4

After Hotjar reveals the qualitative insight (for example, users cannot find the checkout button on mobile), make the change and track the impact in GA4. Compare the conversion rate or drop-off rate before and after the change using GA4's date comparison features.

User Identification Across Both Tools

For deeper analysis, you can link user sessions between Hotjar and GA4 using a shared user identifier:

• Hotjar User Attributes: Hotjar allows you to pass custom user attributes using its Identify API (hj('identify', userId, attributes)). You can pass the same user ID that you send to GA4.
• GA4 User-ID: If you set a user_id in GA4 for logged-in users, send the same value to Hotjar's Identify API.
• Practical use: This allows you to find a specific user's recording in Hotjar after seeing their behavior in GA4 (or vice versa). Search for their user ID in Hotjar's recordings filter to find their sessions.

Note that identifying users in Hotjar requires their Business plan or above, and you must comply with privacy regulations when passing user data to either platform.

Practical Use Cases

Limitations and Considerations

• One-directional data flow: The native integration only pulls GA data into Hotjar for filtering. You cannot view Hotjar data within GA4. There is no way to create GA4 segments based on Hotjar recordings or heatmap data.
• Plan requirements: The GA integration in Hotjar requires a paid Business plan. The free Hotjar plan does not include this integration.
• Sampling in both tools: GA4 samples data in reports at high volumes, and Hotjar captures a sample of sessions (based on your plan's recording quota). The recordings you watch may not be statistically representative, so look for repeated patterns rather than drawing conclusions from individual recordings.
• Privacy compliance: Both tools collect user behavior data. Ensure you have appropriate consent mechanisms (cookie banners, privacy policies) that cover both GA4 and Hotjar tracking. Hotjar has built-in data masking for sensitive form fields, but you should verify this is configured correctly.
• No retroactive filtering: The GA integration filters in Hotjar only apply to recordings captured after the integration was set up. You cannot retroactively apply GA filters to older recordings.
• Tag Manager complexity: If you use GTM to manage both tools, ensure that Hotjar and GA4 tags load in the correct order and that consent mode is configured consistently for both.

Alternative Approaches

If you need tighter integration between quantitative and qualitative analytics, some alternatives exist. Microsoft Clarity is a free heatmap and session recording tool that has a native GA4 integration with deeper filtering capabilities. FullStory and Heap combine quantitative analytics with session replay in a single platform, eliminating the need for two separate tools. However, the Hotjar plus GA4 combination remains popular because both tools have generous free or affordable tiers and each excels in its respective category.