Hotjar User Management Overview

Introduction

Hotjar's user management system allows you to control who can access your sites, what they can do, and how they collaborate. Whether you're a solo freelancer sharing insights with a client or an enterprise team managing multiple properties, understanding roles and permissions is essential for secure, efficient collaboration.

Organizations vs Sites

Organizations

An Organization is your top-level account structure. It can contain multiple sites and users.

Key Characteristics:

• Billing is managed at the organization level
• Users can be granted organization-level or site-level access
• Organization Owners have full administrative control
• Can contain unlimited sites (depending on plan)

Example:

Organization: OpsBlu Digital
    ├── Site 1: bluefrogdigital.com
    ├── Site 2: client1.com
    └── Site 3: client2.com

Sites

A Site represents a single website or web application you're tracking with Hotjar.

Key Characteristics:

• Each site has its own Site ID
• Recordings, heatmaps, and surveys are site-specific
• Users can have different roles for different sites
• Data is isolated between sites

User Roles & Permissions

Hotjar offers different role types depending on the level of access:

Organization-Level Roles

Owner

Full administrative control over the organization.

Permissions:

• Manage billing and subscription
• Add/remove sites
• Invite and remove users
• Assign roles to any user
• Access all sites within the organization
• Delete the organization
• View and manage all organization settings

Who should have this role:

• Company founder or CEO
• Primary account administrator
• Finance/operations lead (for billing)

Limit: Each organization should have at least one Owner, but limit to trusted individuals.

Admin (Organization)

High-level administrative access without billing control.

Permissions:

• Add/remove sites
• Invite and remove users (except Owners)
• Assign roles (except Owner)
• Access all sites within the organization
• Manage organization settings

Cannot:

• Manage billing or subscription
• Remove Organization Owners
• Delete the organization

Who should have this role:

• Team leads
• Operations managers
• Senior analysts who manage team access

Site-Level Roles

Users can be granted access to specific sites within an organization.

Admin (Site)

Full control over a specific site.

Permissions:

• View all recordings, heatmaps, surveys, and feedback
• Create, edit, and delete recordings, heatmaps, and surveys
• Manage site settings (tracking code, integrations)
• Invite users to the site (site-level access only)
• Remove users from the site
• Delete the site

Cannot:

• Access other sites (unless explicitly granted)
• Manage organization billing
• Invite organization-level users

Who should have this role:

• Product managers
• Lead UX designers
• Site owners (for agency/client scenarios)

User (Site)

Standard access for viewing and creating insights.

Permissions:

• View all recordings, heatmaps, surveys, and feedback
• Create recordings, heatmaps, and surveys
• Edit and delete their own content
• Share insights with team members

Cannot:

• Delete site
• Manage site settings
• Invite or remove users
• Delete content created by others

Who should have this role:

• UX designers
• Product analysts
• Marketers
• Developers

Viewer (Site)

Read-only access for observing insights.

Permissions:

• View recordings, heatmaps, surveys, and feedback
• Share links to insights

Cannot:

• Create or edit any content
• Manage site settings
• Invite or remove users
• Delete anything

Who should have this role:

• Stakeholders who need visibility
• Clients (for agencies)
• Junior team members in training
• External consultants (temporary access)

Summary Table

*Site Admins can only remove users from their specific site **Site Users can only delete their own surveys

Access Control Best Practices

Principle of Least Privilege

Grant users the minimum access level they need to do their job.

Example:

• Marketing analyst reviewing landing page heatmaps → Viewer
• UX designer creating surveys and analyzing recordings → User
• Product lead managing team and site settings → Admin

Regular Access Audits

Review user access quarterly:

• Remove users who have left the team
• Downgrade access for users who changed roles
• Verify external/contractor access is still needed

Role Segmentation by Site

For agencies or multi-brand companies, segment access by site:

Agency Scenario:
    Organization: OpsBlu Agency

    Site: Client A (ecommerce-clienta.com)
        - Internal Team: Admin/User access
        - Client A Team: Viewer access

    Site: Client B (saas-clientb.com)
        - Internal Team: Admin/User access
        - Client B Team: Viewer access

    Result: Clients can only see their own site data

Temporary Access for Contractors

When granting access to external contractors:

• Use Viewer or User role (never Admin)
• Set a calendar reminder to review access after project ends
• Consider creating a dedicated site for testing if needed

Protect Owner Role

• Limit Owner role to 1-2 trusted individuals
• Use strong passwords and 2FA
• Transfer ownership carefully if team changes

Team Collaboration Features

Sharing Insights

All users can share recordings, heatmaps, and surveys via:

• Direct links: Copy URL and share
• Slack/Teams integration: Auto-notify channels of new insights
• Email: Built-in sharing from Hotjar dashboard

Permissions:

• Shared links work for anyone with access to the site
• Links can't grant access beyond user's existing role

Comments & Annotations

Team members can add comments to recordings:

• Timestamp-specific notes
• Tag teammates for review
• Highlight issues or opportunities

Available to: Users and above (Viewers can't comment)

Saved Views & Segments

Save custom filters for common analyses:

• Create saved views for specific user segments
• Share filters with team members
• Standardize reporting across team

Available to: Users and above

User Limits by Plan

Hotjar plans have different user limits:

Note: All Hotjar plans support unlimited team members. Access control is via roles, not user count.

Managing Access for Different Scenarios

Scenario 1: Small Startup Team

Team:

• 1 Founder
• 1 Product Manager
• 2 Designers

Recommended Structure:

• Founder: Owner (billing + full access)
• Product Manager: Admin (manage team + site)
• Designers: User (create/view insights)

Scenario 2: Marketing Agency

Team:

• Agency staff (5 people)
• Multiple clients (each needs access to their site only)

Recommended Structure:

• Agency Owner: Owner (billing + org admin)
• Agency Analysts: Admin on all client sites
• Client stakeholders: Viewer on their site only

Benefit: Clients can review insights without accessing other clients' data

Scenario 3: Enterprise Company

Team:

• Multiple product teams
• Shared analytics team
• Executive stakeholders

Recommended Structure:

• Finance Lead: Owner (billing)
• Analytics Lead: Org Admin (manage all sites)
• Product Managers: Admin on their product sites
• UX Researchers: User on relevant sites
• Executives: Viewer on all sites

Benefit: Clear ownership, scoped access, executive visibility

Scenario 4: Freelancer with Clients

Team:

• Solo freelancer
• Multiple clients needing reports

Recommended Structure:

• Freelancer: Owner (full control)
• Clients: Viewer on their site only

Benefit: Clients see insights without changing settings or accessing other clients

Security Best Practices

Account Security

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

• Available for all users
• Highly recommended for Owners and Admins
• Reduces risk of account takeover

Use Strong Passwords

• Minimum 12 characters
• Mix of letters, numbers, symbols
• Unique to Hotjar (no password reuse)

Review Login Activity

• Check for suspicious logins
• Verify team member access is legitimate

Data Access Controls

Limit Admin Roles

• Only grant Admin to users who truly need it
• Regularly review Admin list

Remove Departed Employees Immediately

• Disable access on last day of employment
• Transfer ownership of created content if needed

Use Viewer Role for External Stakeholders

• Never grant Admin to clients or contractors
• Viewer provides visibility without risk

Compliance Considerations

GDPR/CCPA:

• Ensure team members understand data privacy responsibilities
• Limit access to recordings with sensitive user behavior
• Document who has access to user data

Internal Policies:

• Align Hotjar access with company data governance policies
• Require NDAs for contractors with access
• Maintain audit trail of access changes

Common User Management Tasks

Adding a New Team Member

See: Add User Access

Quick Steps:

1. Go to Organization or Site settings
2. Click "Invite User"
3. Enter email address
4. Assign role
5. Send invitation

Changing User Role

See: Update Access

Quick Steps:

1. Navigate to Organization or Site settings
2. Find user in list
3. Click role dropdown
4. Select new role
5. Save changes

Removing a Team Member

See: Remove Access

Quick Steps:

1. Navigate to Organization or Site settings
2. Find user in list
3. Click "Remove"
4. Confirm removal

Troubleshooting Access Issues

User Can't See a Site

Possible Causes:

• User doesn't have access to that specific site
• User is only invited to organization, not the site
• Site was recently added and permissions haven't synced

Solution:

• Verify user is invited to the site (not just organization)
• Check user's role allows site visibility
• Re-send invitation if needed

User Can't Create Surveys

Possible Causes:

• User has Viewer role (read-only)
• Site is on a plan that limits survey features

Solution:

• Upgrade user to User or Admin role
• Check plan includes survey creation

Invitation Email Not Received

Possible Causes:

• Email in spam folder
• Typo in email address
• Email server blocking Hotjar

Solution:

• Check spam/junk folders
• Verify email address is correct
• Resend invitation
• Contact Hotjar support if persistent

Next Steps:

• Add User Access - Invite team members
• Update Access - Change user roles
• Remove Access - Remove team members

Additional Resources:

• Hotjar User Roles Documentation
• Organization Settings