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Plan a move Radar no. 82 · Falling behind

Hotjar

By Hotjar

What it does: Adds Hotjar visitor tracking to a site.

Why it’s listed: An official vendor plugin can still go quiet. It was last updated in 2023 and is tested only up to WordPress 6.0. Its latest reviews average 2.3 stars, and 7 of the latest 10 gave 1 or 2 stars.

View on WordPress.org ↗ Checked Reviewed by Abhishek Deshpande

Active installs
60k+
Last updated
2023-10-25
Tested up to
6.0.18
Rating
2.9 / 5 (18)
Version
1.0.16
Maintainers
1

Is Hotjar still maintained?

It has gone over two years without an update.

Falling behind: WordPress or a service it relies on has moved on.

Placements are our opinion, based on public evidence. Risk here means a plugin may not get a fix if a problem appears. It doesn’t mean we found a flaw, unless we show an advisory. Going quiet alone never puts a plugin in Replace now.

Updates No release since 2023-10-25. That was 3 yr before our check. WordPress.org plugin directory · checked 2026-10-31
Compatibility Tested up to WordPress 6.0.18. WordPress 7.1.4 was current on 2026-10-31. WordPress.org plugin directory · checked 2026-10-31
Security 1 public advisory on record. Details are below. wpvulnerability.net · checked 2026-10-31
Reviews The latest 10 reviews average 2.3 stars, against 2.9 overall. 7 of them gave 1 or 2 stars. Newest activity: 2024-06-06. These reviews are clearly lower than the overall score. WordPress.org reviews · checked 2026-10-31
Maintainers 1 listed contributor. 0 of 1 recent support threads are marked resolved. WordPress.org plugin directory · checked 2026-10-31
Usage 3,184 downloads in the last 30 days, including updates. 100% of sites run version 1.0. WordPress.org stats · checked 2026-10-31

What to do next

  1. Back up the site, and use a staging copy for any change.
  2. Check Hotjar’s current install guidance.
  3. One of the alternatives below may be enough.

If it works today, no need to panic. Plan the change around your next update.

Recommended alternatives to Hotjar

WPCode ↗

Add the tracking snippet without a Hotjar plugin.

3M+ installs · 4.9 stars · Updated 2026-10-29 · Tested 7.1.4

Header Footer Code Manager ↗

Manage header and footer code.

600k+ installs · 4.9 stars · Updated 2026-07-15 · Tested 7.0.8

Microsoft Clarity ↗

A separate behavior analytics service.

200k+ installs · 4.5 stars · Updated 2026-10-23 · Tested 7.0.8

Each listed plugin was updated in the last six months, is tested with WordPress 7.0 or newer, and had no open advisory in WPVulnerability when we checked. We have not tried them ourselves. No one pays to appear here.

Security record

AdvisorySeverityFixed in
CVE-2023-1259 ↗
Cross-site scripting
Medium (5.5) 1.0.16

wpvulnerability.net · checked 2026-10-31

A listed advisory does not mean the current version is exploitable.

Latest reviews

Dates show last activity. Titles are written by WordPress.org users.

Also on this radar: Visitor analytics

No one can pay to appear on the radar or to change a placement. How we stay independent

Something wrong, or updated since we checked? Suggest a correction

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