More and more website operators in this country are looking for suitable Google Analytics alternatives. It is no secret that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has created a need for web analytics without cookies. Google Analytics is also not as intuitive as other tools.
If only there were other web analytics tools that offered similar functions to Google Analytics, were GDPR-compliant and easy to use!
In fact, there is a whole range of tools that you might like. Here we show you the best ones.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is of course the absolute market leader when it comes to analytics and analysing website visitors. It enables websites, blogs and social networks to be tracked and monitored. In terms of accuracy and, above all, the scope of possible analyses, Google is the absolute leader here - there is virtually nothing that cannot be recorded, tracked and subsequently evaluated.
The alternatives to Google Analytics in our overview:
Trackboxx
Price: from €5 per month
Trackboxx is one of the most popular Google Analytics alternatives. The tool is advertised as GDPR-compliant tracking without cookies and that is exactly what it is.
The tool, which was developed in Germany, records and analyses the actions of your visitors without cookies. One of the biggest advantages of Trackboxx is that consent banners become superfluous. Where no data is stored, there is no need to ask for consent.
In terms of scope, Trackboxx is a slimmed-down version of Google Analytics. However, the most important key figures are still available. Trackboxx provides you with the following data:
- Number of visitors
- Page impressions
- Average Time
- Bounce Rate
- Live Visitors
This data is also broken down into URLs or the origin of the user. There is also a useful Pi-Chart that provides information about the end devices used and the browsers used or the geographical origin of the user.
What also sets Trackboxx apart from the competition is its excellent performance, which is further enhanced by the content delivery network used.
Matomo (formerly Piwik)
from 29€ per month (self-hosted free of charge)
Matomo, formerly known as Piwik, is also a Google Analytics alternative that works without cookies. This saves users the 5-10 % traffic loss that can occur due to annoying data protection notifications.
A cool feature of Matomo is the function for importing Google Analytics data. This can be interpreted by Matomo and is available to the user as historical data.
Matomo also offers extensive functions for optimising conversion rates. The toolset even includes heatmaps that record clicks, movements and scrolls. Such functions are normally found in specially developed tools such as Crazy Egg, but with Matomo they are part of the web analytics solution.
Matomo can also come up with A/B tests and session recordings. It is therefore probably the best tool on this list for CTR optimisation.
Finally, Matomo also includes simple SEO features that take over the actual tasks of the Google Search Console, including above all the reporting of keywords and rankings.
Gauges
Price: from 6$ per month
Gauges (Gaug.es) is a tool with limited features that provides information on the most important metrics such as views and users. All functions are easy to use and clearly organised. However, advanced functions such as those offered by Matomo cannot be found here.
But Gauges is one of the cheapest solutions on the market. With 6 $ you already get access to 100,000 page views per month - many times more than other tools.
Gauges is currently developing an extension to the product scope for the purpose of marketing automation. This can be used to analyse the profitability of an advertising campaign, broken down into customer segments, and to record and evaluate their customer journey.
Usefathom
Price: from €14 per month
useFathom follows the same approach as tools such as Trackboxx or simpleanalytics - that means tracking without cookies. UseFathom presents the relevant data in a clear and tidy dashboard.
The fast software can also work with a high volume of data, as the data collected is of a more fundamental nature compared to cookie-based web analytics tools and is not assigned to a specific user.
This also means that more complex analyses such as funnels etc. are no longer required. However, Fathom is ideal for the most important analyses. However, Fathom is somewhat more expensive than Trackboxx without offering more features.
Fathom Analytics is an open source tool and currently has 6.8K GitHub stars and 307 GitHub forks.
Simpleanalytics
Price: from 19$ per month
Simple Analytics was the first EU-based, data protection-friendly analytics solution that was developed around the same time as useFathom. Simple Analytics also works completely without cookies and does not collect any personal data, meaning that the use of a cookie banner is not necessary here either.
In addition to the standard functions, Simple Analytics offers a special feature and that is the Tweet Viewer. Simple Analytics automatically converts t.co referrers to show you the actual tweet that is the source of the source. This is a really cool and innovative feature that is especially useful if Twitter is the primary source of traffic to your website.
Plausible.io
Price: from €9 per month
Although Plausible Analytics also advertises itself as a "Google Analytic Alternative", it is also primarily designed in a data protection-friendly way and also works completely without the use of cookies.
Plausible.io uses a lightweight script that is less than 1 KB so that pages load quickly. The script is 45 times smaller than that of Google Analytics
Plausible.io is open source and the code is available on GitHub, so it can theoretically be self-hosted for free.
Prices start at €9 per month.
Mixpanel
Price: from 10$ per month
Mixpanel is not a 1-to-1 alternative to Google Analytics, but more of a product analysis tool. The tool used by major brands such as Uber, Twitter and Expedia provides analysts with a wealth of data that can be used to further develop products.
One of the most important functions of Mixpanel is the segmentation of users. Mixpanel allows you to define important characteristics that are used to create a profile for each individual user that can be assigned to a segment.
With Mixpanel, more complex Google Analytics functions such as funnel analysis can be implemented much more easily and can be made more complex at the same time. However, they only make up a small part of the tool. Mixpanel is a complete solution for behavioural analytics, data science, data governance and user analytics infrastructure.
Chartbeat
Price: from 10$ per month
Chartbeat specialises in analysing web content. It helps blogs and news websites to determine and optimise the performance of their content for various customer segments.
The tool includes real-time analysis, app integration, historical data, video content analysis and the aggregation of multiple websites in a common dashboard. Chartbeat monitors clicks on all links and displays their performance on the website. This helps to carry out A/B tests, for example with different headlines and images.
In addition to the analysis functions, the reporting functions are a major incentive to buy. Larger teams need to be able to create individualised reports automatically and Chartbeat offers a flexible solution for automated reports.
Kissmetrics
Price: from 299$ per month
The tool offers two different use cases - SaaS and e-commerce. However, the same features are more or less interesting for both, albeit with a different emphasis.
The advantage of Kissmetrics over Google Analytics is that data is linked to a real person. You are able to track the customer journey, i.e. their interaction with your website, even across multiple end devices.
Kissmetrics is suitable for determining where you have lost a potential customer and thus gives you the opportunity to optimise individual steps in the conversion of a customer. KPIs in SaaS that are tracked by Kissmetrics are, for example
- New accounts
- New subscriptions
- Cancellations
- Conversion from demo version to paid subscription
- Monthly recurring income
- Time to register an account
- Time until implementation of new features
This means that Kissmetrics really goes far beyond the scope of Google Analytics and is also much easier to use.
Kissmetrics
Price: from 9$ per month (500 page views free of charge)
With StatCenter, everything starts with the basic metrics such as sessions, users, pageviews etc.. As with Google Analytics, this makes it easy to track trends in order to keep an eye on the performance of a website.
But that's not all. StatCounter has a helpful function that saves you money, the paid traffic analysis. This helps you to understand how much of your advertising budget is actually being spent and how much is being wasted on click farms.
Since StatCounter is able to track users, it can inform you when a particular user visits the website.
Of course, StatCounter also offers most of the other functions that you are used to from Google Analytics (with events), such as visitor engagement, clicks, paths, etc.
StatCounter also has a useful smartphone app. Anyone familiar with Google Analytics will know that this is not an option here.
Woopra
from 999$ per month (free option possible)
Woopra is another tool that enables website operators to track the customer journey. Users have the opportunity to track and optimise every single aspect.
While all possible data is collected, it is up to the user to draw conclusions from it. Woopra lets you define and combine visitor actions in order to visualise their behaviour. Funnel-like diagrams then provide information at a glance about possible optimisation opportunities that would have been difficult or impossible to find without Woopra.
It is easy to extract trends from a huge amount of data, conduct cohort analyses and create reports. The segmentation of users by behaviour in Woopra is also possible down to the smallest detail with logical links.
Adobe Analytics
Price: not really clear, on request
One of the biggest advantages of Adobe Analytics over Google Analytics is that it stores a user's data for up to 15 years. This benefits larger companies in particular, for which Adobe Analytics (formerly Omniture) was also designed.
One disadvantage of Adobe Analytics is that no real-time reports are available. All data can only be viewed with a delay of around 2 hours. The reporting also leaves a lot to be desired.
Nevertheless, Adobe Analytics is worth considering, especially at enterprise level, because dashboards can be set up individually for different users or teams simply by dragging and dropping. There is also no data sampling - this means that Adobe Analytics really does record every page view and therefore offers maximum detail for analyses.
Adobe's endeavours to merge AI technology with analytics are also very promising. With the help of Adobe Sensei, behaviour-based data can be evaluated algorithmically and segmentation can be carried out to help identify target groups.
All tools in the quick overview
| Tool | Data protection compliant (DSGVO) | Cookie-free | Price | Simple implementation | Open Source | Cloud/self-hosted | Special functions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trackboxx | Yes | Yes | From €5/month | Yes | No | Cloud | GDPR-compliant, live visitors, dwell time |
| Matomo | Yes | Yes | From 29€/month | Yes | Yes | Self-Hosted | Heatmaps, A/B tests, SEO reporting |
| Gauges | Only with adjustments | No | From 6$/month | Yes | No | Cloud | Marketing automation |
| UseFathom | Yes | Yes | From 14€/month | Yes | Yes | Cloud | Simple dashboard, fast tracking |
| Simple Analytics | Yes | Yes | From 19$/month | Yes | No | Cloud | Tweet viewer for Twitter traffic |
| Plausible.io | Yes | Yes | From €9/month | Yes | Yes | Cloud/Self-Hosted | Lightweight script, open source |
| Mixpanel | Only with adjustments | No | From 10$/month | No | No | Cloud | Funnel analysis, user segmentation |
| Chartbeat | Only with adjustments | No | From 10$/month | Yes | No | Cloud | Real-time analysis, content optimisation |
| Kissmetrics | Only with adjustments | No | From 299$/month | No | No | Cloud | Customer journey, multi-device tracking |
| StatCounter | Only with adjustments | No | From 9$/month | Yes | No | Cloud | Paid Traffic Analysis |
| Woopra | Only with adjustments | No | From 999$/month | Yes | No | Cloud | Customer journey, cohort analysis |
| Adobe Analytics | Only with adjustments | No | On request | No | No | Cloud | Customised dashboards, AI-supported analyses |
Cookie-based solutions vs. GDPR-compliant solutions
Ultimately, when choosing a Google Analytics alternative, it all depends on what requirements you have for a web analytics tool.
If global metrics such as page views, visitors, dwell time or bounce rate are sufficient, then GDPR-compliant tools such as Trackboxx are perfectly adequate. But not only that, because they can also increase the metrics themselves by eliminating annoying cookie notifications.
On the other hand, there is no getting around tools that use cookies if you want to analyse individual users. There are expensive but good solutions that are one step ahead of Google Analytics in terms of user-friendliness and intuitiveness.
FAQ - Google Analytics alternatives
Why should I look for an alternative to Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a powerful tool, but there are concerns about data protection, particularly the collection of user data and the need for cookie banners. Alternatives often offer more privacy-friendly options and are easier to implement without the need for user consent.
What advantages do Google Analytics alternatives offer?
Alternatives to Google Analytics often offer advantages such as
- Data protection complianceMany tools do not collect any personal data and therefore do not require cookie banners.
- Simple implementationOften easier to set up and use without extensive technical knowledge.
- Focus on key metricsLess complex and still offer all important insights such as visitor numbers, dwell time and bounce rate.
What are the best alternatives to Google Analytics?
The best privacy-friendly alternatives include
- TrackboxxNo use of cookies, simple operation and no need for cookie banners.
- MatomoOpen source and data protection compliant, as it can be hosted locally on your own server.
- Plausible analyticsSimple, lean solution without cookies and compliant with data protection regulations.
Are alternatives to Google Analytics just as powerful?
Yes, many alternatives offer all the key features needed to analyse website performance. While Google Analytics has many advanced features, alternatives often offer a more streamlined approach that focuses on the core metrics and is more privacy-friendly.
Can I use a Google Analytics alternative without user consent?
Yes, many alternatives such as Trackboxx or Plausible do not require user consent as they work without cookies and tracking data. This eliminates the need for a cookie banner, which improves the user experience and reduces the bounce rate.
These FAQs improve the relevance of the article and help to cover specific search queries. They provide helpful information and contribute to SEO optimisation.
Is Google Analytics still permitted?
Yes, Google Analytics is still permitted, but only in compliance with strict data protection regulations such as the GDPR. This means that user consent is required and IP addresses must be anonymised. It must also be noted that data is transferred to the USA, which poses additional data protection challenges.
When will Google Analytics be discontinued?
Google Universal Analytics will be launched on 1 July 2024 discontinued. From this date, data will no longer be collected in Universal Analytics. Users must click on Google Analytics 4 (GA4) which offers modern data analysis and improved data protection functions.
