The French data protection agency, the CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés), has concluded that the use of Google Analytics is illegal under the GDPR. The CNIL has begun sending formal notices to those responsible for websites using Google Analytics.
The CNIL's decision is based on the fact that the United States does not comply with sufficient levels of data protection under the GDPR due to US surveillance laws. Consequently, the anonymous website's use of Google Analytics created risks for its website visitors when their personal data was exported to the United States.
In this article, we will present five alternatives to Google Analytics.
Dominating over 85.4% of the web analytics market, Google Analytics is (by far) the most popular way to measure and track website performance.
Although Google Analytics is undoubtedly an incredibly powerful tool, it is not the only one. Indeed, many privacy-focused alternatives are encouraging website visitors to migrate to other tools to protect their privacy.
Without further ado, let's dive into this definitive list of the best alternatives to Google Analytics to find the one that best suits your business.
What is data sampling?
Before discussing the powerful alternatives to Google Analytics on this list, we will first explain what data sampling is.
When a website reaches more than 5 million visits per month, Google no longer examines all user data. Instead, it analyses only 500,000 users out of the 5 million (only 10 per cent). Although the data from these users is «good enough,» it is far from as accurate as it could be.
So, when you are a company with tens of millions of views, obtaining analytics from only 10% of your visitors becomes a problem. This means that 90% of all your users are not taken into account.
The analytics tools below do not sample data, which is one of the main advantages of abandoning Google Analytics.
Now that this point has been clarified, here are the five best alternatives to Google Analytics:
Matomo
Matomo is open-source web analytics software. It was previously known as Piwik and PHPMyVisites in 2007 when it was created. The programme is licensed under the GPL and prioritises visitor privacy, protecting your visitors' data from advertising companies.
Since Matomo is a dedicated programme, the web analytics it provides are advanced. Unlike Google Analytics, Matomo does not sample data in any way, so you get a complete picture. In short, Matomo works just as well as Google Analytics, but as a standalone programme with privacy features for your users. It's a win-win situation.
For those of you who are hesitant to transfer, Matomo offers a long 21-day free trial period. Its pricing plans are also very varied, offering 10 different payment options depending on the number of views you get. The higher the number of views, the lower the cost of payment.
Key features of Matomo
Creates visitor profiles for each visitor, tracking their interactions on the site, how often they visit, etc.
The analyses are 100% accurate. Matomo does not sample data like Google Analytics.
Testing and data features such as heat maps, A/B testing, form analytics, white label reporting, and enhanced visitor profiles help you understand your data and make better business decisions.
Matomo tracks keyword performance on Bing, Yahoo, and Google, and shows you which keywords brought visitors to your website.
Reports can be customised using 200 different templates.
Matomo does not track user data for third-party advertising programmes, which means your users do not have to fill out consent forms.
These are the main features of Matomo, but you can find more on the product features page. They also have a live demo available, so you can get some hands-on experience with it. Matomo isn't perfect. Here are a few things you might want to consider.
Points to consider
You must pay extra for advanced features if you opt for the free version. These are billed annually and range from £19 to £499 per year.
Matomo is a technical solution, so people who are not familiar with web-related tasks may find it difficult to migrate.
The price is high, but if you opt for their Cloud package, most of the advanced features are free.
Google Analytics is much easier to set up than Matomo. It is also a free service that does not require extensive technical knowledge to set up and operate. When compared to Matomo, which often requires setting up a whole new server just to run the programme, it is clear that Google Analytics is more convenient.
Matomo protects your users' data and analyses all your visitors, unlike Google, which samples data. Users who can afford the advanced features can also use Matomo's powerful tools for better analysis. By ensuring that your users' data is not pocketed by Matomo, your users do not have to fill out cookie consent forms while browsing your site.
MixPanel
Google Analytics on the market. It is used by more than 26,000 companies worldwide, including Samsung, Twitter, and Expedia.
By blurring the line between data collection and user retention tools, MixPanel offers more than just analytics. It is a comprehensive set of tools for building your website and brand from scratch. Although MixPanel does not have a foolproof privacy policy, this analytics service excels in other areas. From real-time data tracking to user interaction and easy funnel customisation, MixPanel outperforms Google in all these areas.
Setup and getting started are simple here. Reports are easy to create and customise, even with the many types of data you can organise. The user interface is user-friendly and offers a ton of customisation options. There are many features, so don't hesitate to embark on this adventure.
Key features of MixPanel
Users can quickly create customised reports based on time, browser, device, and many other parameters.
MixPanel uniquely identifies all your users and can group them based on their actions.
Easily create funnels and segmentations around your website to obtain page-specific data.
Intuitive and simple interface, which keeps data management clean.
Integrates with over 50 of the best tools on the market to help you analyse your statistics and grow your business.
Send messages or offers to users in real time as they browse your website.
Points to consider
MixPanel is better for reporting events in real time and what users are doing on your website. It is not very effective at finding your keywords, top-ranked pages, referrers, etc.
The price may be too high for small businesses with limited budgets.
MixPanel vs. Google Analytics – Comparative study
Google is a better option if you are looking for results on how users arrived at your site. Google Analytics will show you your performance in terms of keyword searches, the most visited pages, etc. It is also a much cheaper option than the other two, as it is free.
On the other hand, MixPanel is an enterprise-level tool that may be too expensive for most businesses. However, it offers a lot in terms of behavioural and real-time tracking. This allows users to make informed decisions about how their visitors interact with their site, which helps to optimise and increase user retention.
Heap
Heap stands out from the rest of this list right from the start. Its ability to start recording user behaviour across your entire site as soon as it is installed, without requiring any configuration, means you don't have to waste time adding triggers or conditions.
Heap is also perfect for users and website owners who don't know how or where to set up funnels. Since Heap immediately captures all user behaviour around your website interface, you don't have to worry about setting up your own heat maps and funnels. For example, Heap automatically tracks the number of users who click on buttons, comments, and more. This allows you to compare data across your entire website.
By collecting and storing so much data, Heap encourages cross-referencing and hypothesis building like no other platform. Unfortunately, this also means that you may have two pieces of data that appear to be correlated but are not actually related. This grey area irritates some users, and we will discuss it further later on. For now, here are the main features of Heap.
Key features of Heap
Heap immediately collects all kinds of interaction data from your website users as soon as it is installed. This means there is no need to set up specific funnels, which is very convenient for beginners.
All the data elements you obtain can be correlated with each other using multiple graphs, views, and arrangements. This allows you to understand whether there is a link between different behaviours on your website.
Heap has an automatic capture feature that does not require you to write code on your website to start capturing user behaviour.
segments user behaviour into groups so that you can analyse them together.
Points to consider
Due to the free and open nature of the data collection system, inexperienced website owners do not feel guided in analysing the collected data. Without funnel suggestions, it is difficult for you to formulate valid theories on your own.
Lack of customisation of graphics and formatting, particularly with regard to graphic colours, titles, line names, etc.
Heap vs. Google Analytics – Comparative Study
Google Analytics and Heap are two completely different types of analytics tools at this point. However, choosing which one is most useful depends on your use case. Google Analytics is the best tool for determining how the user arrived at your website.
On the contrary, Heap is best placed to determine what your user is doing on your website. It does a fantastic job in this regard, capturing every user interaction as soon as Heap is integrated into your site. It is a purely behavioural tool, but it is also affordable for most start-ups, with the first 10,000 monthly visits analysed being completely free.
Fathom Analytics
Fathom is a cookie-free, privacy-friendly alternative. Google Analytics is known to collect data on more than just web activity. It also processes your users' and readers' data for Google's own interests. Whether you want to protect your users' browsing data or be known as a privacy-conscious website, replacing your analytics tool with Fathom is a great way to start.
Integrating Fathom Analytics into your website is simple. Fathom's web reports are just as simple, coming in the form of a single page containing all the basic analytics data. Items such as unique visitors, site views, bounce rate, average time spent on site, and referral statistics (how users found your site) are displayed on a single page. There is also a section for content, which shows page views and unique visitors per page, such as your home page, first article, etc.
Where Fathom really shines is in its simplistic approach to analytics, with a focus on privacy. Fathom users see all their statistics on a single page and can navigate between days, weeks, months, and even years. You can also switch from daily data to hourly data.
Key features of Fathom Analytics
The Fathom dashboard is simple; everything is displayed on a single data page.
Users can receive reports by e-mail weekly, monthly, or both.
Custom domains allow you to bypass ad blockers.
Fathom is easy to install and is a lightweight script. It is therefore as fast as, if not faster than, Google Analytics loading time.
Unlike Google, Fathom does not collect customer data for its own purposes, and no personally identifiable information (PII) is collected, making it compliant with GDPR, ePrivacy, PECR, and CCPA standards.
Fathom is not only easy to set up, but it also comes with a 7-day free trial, which is always a plus. For tech geeks, Fathom is not an open-source platform, so you won't be able to add your own plug-ins or dive into a forum of other Fathom users to exchange GitHub links. Here's a live demo from their website on what using Fathom is all about.
Not everything is perfect, so here are a few points to consider where Fathom falls short.
Points to consider
Fathom is a paid tool, which may seem intimidating considering that Google Analytics is free.
Fathom's pricing plan is based on the number of views, which means that the cost increases as your website becomes more popular.
There is no option to display page-specific metrics. This makes it virtually impossible to examine the performance of specific pages.
No bounce rate measurement for individual pages. Bounce rates allow you to identify pages that require special attention and better user retention.
Fathom Analytics vs. Google Analytics – Comparative Study
Google wins this battle thanks to its numerous features. Google Analytics is a powerful tool, especially if you learn how to use it properly. However, Google's data collection leaves something to be desired, especially when your users have to go through cookie prompts every time they visit your website.
Fathom, on the other hand, is more privacy-focused and stripped down. While you get a lot of basic analytics, you don't have the ability to focus on specific pages. The advantage of Fathom is that since you are not targeting users with advertisements or collecting their data, certain internet laws do not require you to have a cookie prompt. This can easily make users feel welcome on your site.
Kissmetrics
Kissmetrics is a step above MixPanel in terms of performance. It is more complicated and has a steeper learning curve, but the rewards for mastering the platform cannot be underestimated.
Like MixPanel, Kissmetrics focuses more on real-time user behaviour than on the user's original pages. This allows you to easily monitor key areas of your website and see how changes instantly affect your users' experience. Founded in 2008, a year before MixPanel, Kissmetrics has been analysing users for over ten years. This analytics service specialises in in-depth user tracking to gain insights, creating user profiles, funnels, custom reports, and more.
Make no mistake, Kissmetrics is a very high-end service. It is more expensive than MixPanel, but it comes with email support, multi-platform or device support, and other testing tools such as sandboxes, A/B testing, and flexible funnels. Here are some of the key features of Kissmetrics.
Key features of Kissmetrics
Customer support via email
Website segmentation allows you to easily identify and track user behaviour in key areas of your website.
Kissmetrics monitors customer interaction with your website regardless of the device: phone, computer, tablet, etc.
Customise reports from different data sets and funnels, helping you make informed decisions based on valuable behavioural data.
Creates visitor profiles for each person and tracks their behaviour. Does not sample data.
Points to consider
Much higher price than the others on this list
Many critics complain about the lack of optimisation of the interface.
One of the steepest learning curves for web analytics. Installation and integration require practice.
Kissmetrics does not actively advertise its privacy policies, unlike other companies that emphasise privacy.
Kissmetrics vs. Google Analytics – Comparative Study
Google Analytics is better at showing where users come from and how they arrived at your website. Keyword search indexes, top-performing pages, and referrers help increase your website's ranking potential. And of course, Google Analytics is cheaper, at £0.$ per month.
Kissmetrics functions like an enhanced MixPanel. It tracks user behaviour and helps websites optimise the user experience. User behaviour is then detailed in individual user profiles, providing invaluable insight into how user groups interact with your website. Finally, Kissmetrics also allows you to evaluate user behaviour in specific areas of your website.
Regarding the CNIL's decision
The CNIL and other EU-based data protection authorities have clearly stated their position on Google Analytics, and failure to act will likely result in fines, which under the GDPR can reach €20 million or 4% of the organisation's global turnover, whichever is higher.
Based on the formal notice issued by the CNIL to the manager of the website in the case study, Google Analytics users must take immediate action to eliminate any risk of personal data being transferred to the United States or find an alternative to Google Analytics that complies with the GDPR. We can assist you in changing your analytics tool. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Français 
English (UK)