Best Shopify Cart Analytics Apps in 2026 (and Lucky Orange Alternatives)
Cart analytics apps, compared
"Cart analytics" means two different things, and most roundups blur them. One is cart-specific data: what shoppers add, remove, and abandon, and how to win those carts back. The other is general behavior analytics: session recordings and heatmaps that show how people move around your store. Most searches for a Lucky Orange alternative want the second kind, but plenty of merchants actually need the first.
So this list covers both. Below are the best Shopify cart analytics apps and Lucky Orange alternatives in 2026, what each one actually does, its free tier, and who it is for, so you can pick the right tool instead of the loudest one.
Quick comparison
| App | Type | Free tier | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartlytics | Cart analytics & recovery | Yes | Flat, order-based (from $9) | Seeing and recovering carts |
| Lucky Orange | Session replay & heatmaps | Yes (100 sessions) | Session-based | Watching sessions, heatmaps |
| Microsoft Clarity | Session replay & heatmaps | Free forever | Free | Free behavior analytics |
| Hotjar | Heatmaps & feedback | Yes (35/day) | Session-based (via Hotjar) | On-page UX and surveys |
| Mouseflow | Session replay & heatmaps | Yes (500 sessions) | Session-based | Checkout and form friction |
| Plerdy | All-in-one CRO suite | Yes | Tiered | Broad CRO toolkit |
Competitor pricing is session-based and current as of mid-2026; check each listing for the latest rates.
The best Shopify cart analytics apps
Cartlytics
Cart analytics & recovery
Cartlytics is the one tool here built specifically for carts. Instead of session recordings, it tracks every cart in real time, what shoppers add, remove, and abandon, and turns that into clear metrics plus automated recovery emails. It is Shopify-native and installs in minutes with no code.
Key features
- Real-time cart tracking: see individual cart contents and every add, remove, and abandon event as it happens.
- Automated abandoned-cart recovery emails.
- Top products, conversion rate, and cart-value reporting.
- UTM and traffic-source attribution.
- Daily and weekly email summaries.
- Order-based pricing: plans scale with real orders, so bot traffic and abandoned carts never inflate your bill.
Pricing
Free plan, then $9, $19, and $29/month, billed on orders.
Best for
Stores that want to see and recover carts specifically, with pricing that does not balloon with traffic.
Lucky Orange
Session replay & heatmaps
Lucky Orange is the best-known behavior tool on Shopify and the one most people mean by a Lucky Orange alternative. It records visitor sessions and builds heatmaps so you can watch how shoppers move through your store, with surveys and funnels to spot where they drop off.
Key features
- Session recordings, including checkout.
- Click, scroll, and movement heatmaps.
- Conversion funnels with purchase-abandonment tracking.
- On-site surveys and an AI insights add-on.
Pricing
Free plan (100 sessions/month); paid plans are session-based and scale with traffic (from roughly $19/month on the Shopify listing).
Best for
Watching real sessions and heatmaps to diagnose on-site friction.
Microsoft Clarity
Free session replay & heatmaps
Clarity is the strongest free option. Microsoft's behavior tool gives you unlimited session recordings and heatmaps with no traffic caps, and its Shopify integration auto-tracks add-to-cart and checkout events, plus AI insights.
Key features
- Unlimited session recordings and heatmaps, no session caps.
- Smart Events auto-track add-to-cart and checkout actions.
- Conversion funnels and frustration signals (rage and dead clicks).
- AI-powered insights and GDPR/CCPA consent handling.
Pricing
Free forever. No traffic limits and no paid tier.
Best for
Anyone who wants free, unlimited behavior analytics and is happy to read the recordings themselves.
Hotjar
Heatmaps, recordings & feedback
Hotjar is a mature qualitative-analytics platform known for heatmaps, recordings, and on-site surveys. There is no first-party Shopify app, so you add it with a snippet or a third-party installer, and billing happens through Hotjar (now part of Contentsquare).
Key features
- Heatmaps and session recordings.
- On-site surveys and feedback widgets.
- Funnels and drop-off analysis.
- Installed via snippet or a third-party app.
Pricing
Free Basic plan (about 35 sessions/day); paid plans from roughly $39/month, billed by Hotjar.
Best for
Understanding on-page UX and collecting visitor feedback.
Mouseflow
Session replay & heatmaps
Mouseflow is a behavior-analytics platform with session replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, and friction detection. It markets itself around understanding why customers abandon their carts, though it does so through replays rather than cart-level data.
Key features
- Session replays and heatmaps.
- Conversion funnels and form analytics.
- Automatic friction detection.
- Free tier to start, then session-based plans.
Pricing
Free plan (500 sessions/month); paid from roughly $25/month, session-based, billed by Mouseflow.
Best for
Diagnosing checkout and form friction by watching real sessions.
Plerdy
All-in-one CRO suite
Plerdy bundles heatmaps, session replay, SEO audits, popups, and A/B testing into one app. It is the broadest toolkit here, useful if you want several optimization tools in a single subscription rather than a focused cart tool.
Key features
- Heatmaps and session replay.
- Daily SEO audits.
- Popups and A/B testing.
- Ecommerce event tracking.
Pricing
Free plan; paid from roughly $32/month.
Best for
A broad CRO and UX toolkit in a single app.
How to choose
Start from the job, not the tool:
- Want to see and recover carts (what is in them, who abandoned)? Use Cartlytics.
- Want free session recordings and heatmaps? Microsoft Clarity, no caps, no cost.
- Want the most-established behavior tool with surveys? Lucky Orange.
- Want on-page UX plus visitor feedback? Hotjar.
- Want to diagnose checkout and form friction? Mouseflow.
- Want one app for heatmaps, SEO, and A/B testing? Plerdy.
The bottom line
If you are replacing Lucky Orange to keep watching sessions and heatmaps, Microsoft Clarity is the best free swap, and Mouseflow, Hotjar, and Plerdy are all solid paid options. None of them is wrong; they are just behavior tools.
But if what you actually want is to see what is in your carts and recover the ones that get abandoned, a behavior tool only shows you the symptom. Cartlytics is built for that job: real-time cart tracking, recovery emails, and order-based pricing that does not balloon with traffic.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Lucky Orange alternative for Shopify?
It depends on what you need. For free session recordings and heatmaps, Microsoft Clarity is the closest free alternative. For cart-specific analytics and abandoned-cart recovery, Cartlytics is the better fit. Mouseflow, Hotjar, and Plerdy are other strong behavior tools.
Is there a free Lucky Orange alternative?
Yes. Microsoft Clarity is free forever with unlimited recordings and heatmaps. Lucky Orange, Mouseflow, Hotjar, and Plerdy also have free tiers, though they cap sessions, and Cartlytics has a free plan for cart analytics and recovery.
What is a cart analytics app?
A cart analytics app tracks what shoppers do with their carts, what they add, remove, and abandon, and often recovers abandoned carts. That is different from behavior tools like Lucky Orange, which record sessions and build heatmaps to show on-site behavior in general.
Does Shopify have built-in cart analytics?
Shopify's native analytics show sales and high-level metrics, but not real-time, cart-level activity (what is in each cart, and add, remove, and abandon events). For that you need a dedicated app such as Cartlytics.