Let’s look it: When it comes to analytics tools, we privation it all. Advanced metrics, intuitive dashboards, and seamless integrations.
But we don’t ever get what we want—especially arsenic a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) user.
Many marketers default to Google Analytics due to the fact that it’s escaped and popular. But those aforesaid marketers study issues like:
- Steep learning curves
- Lack of qualitative insights
- Difficulty translating information into insights
Ready to marque the switch?
We compared 7 Google Analytics alternatives that supply quicker and much precise insights into your website’s performance.
Learn pros, cons, and pricing to marque the close determination for your business.
What to Look for successful a Google Analytics Alternative
What are your non-negotiables for an analytics tool? Consider these factors erstwhile evaluating Google Analytics 4 alternatives.
Ease of Use
GA4 has a analyzable interface with a steep learning curve. So overmuch so, that adjacent marketers acquainted with Universal Analytics (its predecessor) person occupation mounting it up correctly.
Look for a GA4 alternate that’s casual to navigate and lets you acceptable up reports successful minutes. This includes tools that acceptable up tracking done a elemental codification snippet and automatically commencement collecting data.
Find a instrumentality with built-in reporting templates to trim setup clip if needed.
Data Privacy Law Compliance
Privacy should beryllium a apical interest erstwhile choosing a caller analytics tool, particularly if you person a European assemblage oregon lawsuit base. European laws necessitate compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a strict accusation privateness law.
While improved, Google Analytics 4 inactive collects idiosyncratic data, which raises privateness concerns. GA4 hides visitant information done IP anonymization, but inactive uses different identifiers similar the lawsuit ID (CID) and idiosyncratic ID (UID) to way users.
Additionally, Google relies connected the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) to securely transportation and store information connected its U.S.-based servers. But this model does not supply wholly anonymized information collection.
To comply with GDPR, customize your GA4 settings oregon opt for an alternate analytics instrumentality with built-in privateness features to debar compliance issues.
Customization Capabilities
If you privation to track business-specific metrics, you’ll request precocious segmentation capabilities and filtered views.
The catch?
If the customization features aren’t user-friendly, you won’t beryllium capable to tailor them to your needs easily.
Look for built-in filters oregon segments you tin use with a azygous click truthful you don’t person to make them from scratch.
High Data Accuracy
Trustworthy information is captious to knowing your website oregon app’s performance.
For reliable information quality, opt for a instrumentality that doesn’t trust connected cookies oregon filters retired postulation that includes cooky data.
With galore radical present using advertisement blockers and VPNs, it’s much analyzable than ever for GA4 to cod close data.
This is particularly existent if you person a high-traffic website, arsenic determination are galore information inconsistencies.
As a result, your postulation and conversion numbers mightiness look little than they truly are. Even server-side tracking won’t lick this problem.
Performance and Reliability
Pick a level that offers real-time information tracking for quicker decision-making. GA4 is known for dilatory leafage load times, analyzable tracking setups, and a deficiency of real-time data.
The escaped mentation besides has excessive downtime and information inconsistencies.
Look for a level that uses a unrecorded information watercourse astatine each times. This volition debar information inconsistencies oregon processing delays and let you to physique much close reports.
Integrations with Existing Tools
Have an existing tech stack? Make definite your analytics instrumentality integrates with it. This helps you way the benignant of users that sojourn oregon interact with your website. It volition besides automatically propulsion that information into different tools you’re using.
While GA4 integrates good with Google products, it doesn’t connection autochthonal integrations with different tools successful the market. You’ll person to trust connected integrations offered by your existent providers instead.
Top 7 Alternatives to Google Analytics astatine a Glance
Matomo Analytics | An on-premise enactment for information hosting | $26 per period for up to 50,000 hits |
Plausible | Filters spam domains and highlights postulation from Android apps | $9+ per month |
Clicky | Alert monitoring strategy for website uptime and conversion events | Free program available; $9.99+ per period for paid plans |
Heap | Journey mapping and Lookback Analysis for semipermanent information analysis | Public pricing unavailable |
Amplitude | AI-based predictive proposal engine | Free program available; $61+ per period for paid plans |
Adobe Analytics | Customizable attribution models for antithetic concern needs | Public pricing unavailable |
Fathom Analytics | IP and state blocking features for compliance/ease of use | $15+ per month |
Semrush | AI Copilot for personalized recommendations | Free program available; $139.99+ per period for paid plans |
1. Matomo Analytics
Matomo Analytics is an open-source alternate to GA.
One of its standout features is intranet analytics, which lets you measurement the show and engagement of interior websites. Including postulation sources, visitant paths, and astir visited pages.
It’s a large enactment if you’d similar information connected interior memos and the contented your employees prosecute with the most.
The level has nary restrictions connected information retention oregon the fig of websites, users, oregon segments you tin track. This gives you escaped rein implicit the properties you analyze.
How Matomo Compares to Google Analytics
Unlike Google Analytics, Matomo gives you implicit ownership implicit your data. It’s not shared oregon stored with third-party services.
Matomo is besides 1 of the lone tools that offers an on-premise enactment for data-sensitive businesses. This lets you big your information successful a unafraid information halfway oregon carnal instrumentality that you ain truthful your information is protected.
Matomo besides gives you casual entree to qualitative and idiosyncratic enactment data.
Say you privation to recognize however users interact with circumstantial contented assets. First, usage the Media Analytics diagnostic to reappraisal audio and video engagement data. Like unsocial visitors oregon full play time.
Then, usage that information to determine which contented resonates champion with your audience.
You tin besides entree keyword ranking data from Google and Bing wrong Matomo to show your SEO performance.
For instance, larn which keywords you fertile for and however galore clicks and impressions your website gets from them.
Pros and Cons
Self-hosted enactment disposable for data-sensitive organizations | User interface whitethorn amusement antithetic information than the database due to the fact that it uses fingerprinting exertion (IP, devices, etc.) to place users |
Offers in-depth analytics features similar Form Analytics and unsampled information reports | Not casual to customize dashboards, arsenic the information doesn’t ever populate based connected the operation of dimensions you use |
Access to 120+ integrations from the open-source community | Installation for the self-hosted enactment is tricky, arsenic you request to configure it yourself, and the information doesn’t ever transportation completely |
Pricing
- On-premise: Free to use. Some products, similar Activity Log ($29+) and Media Analytics ($189+), are priced separately.
- Cloud: $26 per period for astir features. Some exceptions see SEO Vitals and Crash Analytics.
Further reading: 41 Best SEO Tools (Free & Paid)
2. Plausible
Plausible is simply a lightweight, privacy-focused GA alternative. Just adhd a publication that’s little than 1 KB successful size to drastically trim leafage load times.
According to the company, its analytics publication is much than 75 times smaller than GA’s.
In fact, an X idiosyncratic claimed that erstwhile they removed GA from their website and switched to Plausible, the website’s Core Web Vitals study jumped from 70 (needs improvement) to 96 (good):
Like Matomo, it’s an open-source alternative. But Plausible is geared toward non-technical users. It’s casual to use, and you tin entree website show insights wrong the dashboard immediately.
Track metrics similar unsocial visitors, full visits, full pageviews, and much successful a azygous dashboard. The quality of the bundle is you don’t person to discarded clip mounting up basal reports related to your website’s performance.
For instance, you tin plug successful Google Search Console and Plausible volition populate the information into the dashboard.
How Plausible Compares to Google Analytics
The biggest favoritism is that Plausible is 1 of the fewer tools that genuinely does not cod cookies oregon idiosyncratic data.
As a result, you’re automatically compliant with regulations like:
- General Data Protection Regulation
- California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
- Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)
Since you’re not collecting idiosyncratic data, you don’t person to show cooky consent banners. This helps you connection a amended idiosyncratic experience.
Ad blockers thin to usage cookie-based scripts to place which apps to block. Plausible doesn’t usage these scripts, truthful you tin measurement visitant engagement without interruption.
Even if your analytics instrumentality does get blocked, you tin usage a proxy publication to override the blocker.
Unlike GA, Plausible tin filter spam domains and uncover postulation from Android apps. Such features amended information accuracy, allowing you to spot the information stream.
Need to acceptable up tracking for ecommerce reporting oregon customized events? All it takes is simply a fewer clicks to customize it to your needs.
This allows you to measurement the show of circumstantial landing pages, ecommerce merchandise pages, and idiosyncratic paths without the hassle of creating customized reports for each leafage and category.
Pros and Cons
Easy to navigate the dashboard | Software whitethorn beryllium excessively basal for intermediate oregon precocious users who request precocious segmentations oregon elaborate behaviour investigation reports |
Plausible’s lightweight publication doesn’t interaction site’s performance | Risk of relationship blockage if you wage for an yearly program and tract visits increase |
View each metrics connected the aforesaid leafage (unlike different tools) | No qualitative tools similar heatmaps oregon league recordings to spot on-page idiosyncratic behavior |
Pricing
Pricing depends connected leafage views per month.
- Growth: $9 per month
- Business: $19 per month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
3. Clicky
Used by implicit 1 cardinal websites, Clicky is an alternate to Google Analytics that focuses connected security. It’s 1 of the fewer tools that lets you log information similar IP addresses for anti-fraud purposes.
Unlike Plausible and GA, it offers qualitative insights utilizing heatmaps and league recordings. These insights are categorized based connected page, visitors, oregon segments, letting you drill down into your data.
This way, you tin furniture these insights and get a broad overview of however users interact with your website.
Plus, the level has a web and mobile mentation for casual entree nary substance wherever you are.
How Clicky Compares to Google Analytics
Google Analytics has delayed data, portion Clicky gives you a unrecorded presumption of idiosyncratic visitors and real-time analytics. Helping you marque much informed decisions based connected close data.
Clicky differentiates itself done its alert monitoring strategy that lets you track:
- Website uptime rates
- Specific conversion events
- Visits from circumstantial idiosyncratic segments
This is utile if you don’t privation to walk clip monitoring information and would similar customized alerts for important events.
Even though Clicky doesn’t way cookies, you tin inactive entree Path Analysis reports to spot however visitors determination done your website.
GA besides shows you that but uses cookies to bash so—so you’ll person to make your ain workarounds to comply with privateness regulations.
As opposed to GA, Clicky besides offers information connected idiosyncratic searches connected your website. This information volition assistance you recognize your audience’s questions and expectations regarding your website.
Pros and Cons
Very casual to acceptable up and commencement collecting information compared to GA | Outdated idiosyncratic interface compared to competing tools which makes it little intuitive to use |
Clicky’s Spy diagnostic provides a wide thought of visitant sources for top-performing transmission analysis | Limited integrations with different selling analytics tools, which could impact investigation capabilities |
Doesn’t dilatory down your website’s show owed to a lightweight script | Pricing tin get costly arsenic postulation increases |
Pricing
- Free: For up to 3,000 regular leafage views
- Pro: $9.99 per month
- Pro Plus: $14.99 per month
- Pro Platinum: $19.99 per month
- Custom: Contact for pricing
4. Heap
Unlike the GA alternatives we’ve discussed above, Heap is tailored to merchandise and information teams.
This means you get a much holistic presumption of your site’s analytics. Including your customer’s full integer experience—spanning aggregate touchpoints similar your website, product, oregon mobile app.
This is simply a large enactment if you’re comparatively caller to measuring show oregon person trouble mounting up analytics. The dashboard includes applicable metrics with real-time data, helping you get insights faster.
How Heap Compares to Google Analytics
A cardinal favoritism betwixt GA and Heap is that the second measures merchandise analytics, too. For example, if you privation to spot however users prosecute with your app, you tin bash truthful with Heap. This is not imaginable with GA.
Like Plausible, it captures each idiosyncratic interactions automatically utilizing a azygous JavaScript snippet—without the request for manual tracking setup. All you person to bash is adhd the snippet to your website/product and you’ll person insights astir immediately.
The merchandise besides caters to non-technical users with an artificial quality (AI) copilot that lets you interact with your information utilizing elemental language.
For example, you tin inquire the AI Copilot however galore users from a circumstantial portion implicit conversion events connected your website. And get an instant answer.
The merchandise besides lets you make ocular maps of idiosyncratic flows, called Journey Mapping, for elaborate analysis. This diagnostic is disposable retired of the box, truthful you don’t person to commencement from scratch.
If improving the full lawsuit travel is simply a precedence for you, usage Heap Illuminate to uncover friction points similar abandoned carts oregon incomplete conversion events.
Let’s accidental you announcement astir users driblet disconnected earlier clicking a form’s “Submit” button. Use the Top Events array to analyse wherefore they aren’t clicking. Maybe the fastener doesn’t work, oregon the signifier is excessively long.
Use that information to optimize the travel and crook friction into conversions.
The Lookback Analysis diagnostic allows for retroactive information investigation by capturing missed events. So, adjacent if you haven’t acceptable up “events,” you tin inactive get humanities information and analyse it.
Pros and Cons
Access to granular analytics for web and merchandise data, which gives you the afloat representation of the idiosyncratic journey | Users study that paid plans are prohibitively expensive |
Useful for method and non-technical users, arsenic it offers a equilibrium of easiness of usage and precocious features | Tracks an extended magnitude of data, making it hard to find the close lawsuit data |
Ability to visually statement information from the livestream, reducing dependency connected information teams for analysis | Steep learning curve for beginners |
Pricing
- Heap offers a escaped program for basal measurement and 3 paid tiers (Growth, Pro, and Premier) for users who request semipermanent information and precocious analytics.
- Pricing is disposable upon request.
5. Amplitude
Amplitude lets you measurement show successful 3 places: your website, product, and information warehouse.
It connects information crossed antithetic sources and helps you recognize however visitors and users interact with your brand.
Amplitude besides offers a lawsuit information level (CDP) that lets you show and negociate information successful 1 place. As a result, it improves information prime and your quality to present targeted experiences to users.
Let’s accidental you privation to connection a circumstantial mentation of your landing pages to users who sojourn from Facebook. You tin trust connected Amplitude’s autochthonal segmentation for this task.
How Amplitude Compares to Google Analytics
Amplitude includes built-in experimentation tools for A/B investigating and diagnostic management. You won’t request thing other to trial circumstantial landing pages oregon features. But GA requires integration with different tools similar Google Optimize.
The level besides offers a guided acquisition to physique experiments, truthful you’re not jumping successful without help. That’s not the lawsuit with GA, which tin get analyzable quickly.
Amplitude’s AI features are precocious compared to those offered by GA and Heap.
Here’s what you tin bash with it:
- Interact with your information utilizing a chat-based interface
- Clean up information automatically utilizing AI
- Receive alerts for a autumn successful captious metrics
- Get predictions and recommendations astir idiosyncratic actions
GA requires much manual setup and investigation and its predictive recommendations are little robust.
With Amplitude, everything’s already baked in.
Take vantage of Amplitude’s self-service capabilities and make reports with a fewer clicks. But if you privation to execute that for precocious queries successful GA4, you person to nonstop information to BigQuery, which requires SQL skills.
Pros and Cons
Create dashboards easy for assorted purposes similar diagnostic experimentation oregon improving app performance | Some users study inconsistent information streams, which reduces reliability |
No request for in-depth analytics oregon merchandise cognition (beginner-friendly) | Limited capabilities for customization based connected formulas and layouts |
Ability to integrate with 140+ information and selling tools | App acquisition tin beryllium dilatory for ample datasets, impacting further analysis |
Pricing
- Free: Access to foundational merchandise and website analytics
- Plus: Starts from $61 per month
- Growth: Contact for pricing
Note: If you’re an early-stage startup with little than $5 cardinal successful funding, you tin get entree to the Growth program for escaped for a year.
6. Adobe Analytics
Adobe Analytics mostly caters to mid-market oregon endeavor companies with analyzable lawsuit journeys. Its cross-channel integrations fto you seizure information from aggregate integer channels for holistic insights.
Adobe besides has a monolithic merchandise ecosystem. For example, you tin integrate with Adobe Target, their website optimization tool, for unified analytics and personalization.
How Adobe Analytics Compares to Google Analytics
Adobe offers extended customization options for reports and dashboards, portion Google Analytics provides much standardized reports (which instrumentality clip to larn and acceptable up).
For instance, you get analyzable segmentation and granular idiosyncratic investigation capabilities with Segment IQ.
Pull immoderate conception into the dashboard and instantly get a elaborate study showing the statistically important differences betwixt these 2 audiences and immoderate overlaps.
This way, you get much power implicit the investigation process and tin make customized reports for interior reporting.
The merchandise besides focuses connected attribution and offers aggregate customizable modeling options. With GA4, you get 4 fixed models, limiting the scope of your analysis.
Adobe wins erstwhile it comes to information retention. It offers a modular 25-month argumentation that you tin widen oregon shorten based connected your company’s policies.
On the different hand, GA4 offers a 14-month information retention model connected the escaped program and a maximum of 50 months connected the paid tier (Analytics 360).
Pros and Cons
Offers large collaboration features similar mobile scorecards for teams, which helps you stock top-level metrics with executives oregon non-technical users | Difference successful measurement methods could pb to reporting inconsistencies |
Excellent multichannel attribution capabilities wherever it collates information from antithetic channels and uses instrumentality learning to archer you which channels execute best | Steep learning curve for beginners owed to excessive features |
Analytics extent is amended compared to competing tools, arsenic you tin make precocious investigation reports similar ad-hoc investigation and cohort analysis | Too costly for astir smaller teams—and they’re mostly focused connected mid-market/enterprise customers |
Pricing
- Adobe Analytics offers 3 paid tiers: Select, Prime, and Ultimate, and an Analytics add-on for features similar Live Stream and Customer Journey Analytics.
- Contact the institution for a quote.
Further reading: 33 Top Digital Marketing Tools for Every Budget
7. Fathom Analytics
Fathom Analytics is 1 of the easiest-to-use analytics tools retired there. Its elemental dashboard provides high-level insights.
And you tin acceptable it up with a one-line publication that’s little than 2 KB.
You get real-time information that results successful instant analytics. And it filters retired bots, crawlers, and distributed denial of work (DDoS) attacks. So, your information accurately reflects the existent humans visiting your website.
Since it doesn’t usage cookies, you’re not truly spying connected your visitors, either. The information is aggregated, truthful you can’t get specifics astir their determination oregon identity.
How Fathom Analytics Compares to Google Analytics
Fathom offers a transparent information processing argumentation that guarantees implicit ownership implicit your data. GA4 shares your information with third-party providers wrong its ecosystem, and there’s nary workaround for this process.
Fathom allows you to artifact circumstantial IP addresses oregon countries. Users tin inactive load the website from those locations, but Fathom won’t way oregon store that data. Unlike successful GA4, wherever you tin lone filter it retired successful the last report.
Note: EU idiosyncratic addresses are blocked by default, truthful you don’t person to interest astir complying with GDPR.
Additionally, Fathom enables one-click export for the reports you create. This makes it overmuch easier to get earthy datasets and execute further investigation if needed.
In GA4, that’s a multistep process that could interruption depending connected postulation levels.
Pros and Cons
No learning curve required due to the fact that it populates the information into a pre-built dashboard | Limited features compared to competing tools since it’s meant lone for basal show analysis |
Legally complies with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR | You can’t migrate events utilizing Fathom, truthful you’ll person to acceptable up conversion events again |
Stores information forever | Needs much filtering capabilities and granular datasets if you request to make much precocious reports similar ecommerce funnel analysis |
Pricing
- Fathom offers a escaped proceedings and a tiered pricing policy.
- The subscription starts astatine $15 per period for up to 100,000 information points. As your information points increase, truthful does the cost. For example, you tin way up to 25,000,000 information points for $470 per month.
Bonus: Semrush
Semrush provides a elaborate presumption of analytics. But it doesn’t halt astatine measuring interior metrics similar monthly postulation and engagement time.
It besides lets you spot however your website performs connected hunt engines and identifies method issues and backlink opportunities.
Unlike GA, you don’t person to discarded clip mounting up 15 antithetic reports to entree these insights. Enable them wrong your dashboards, integrate your accounts, and get started.
For example, BetterVet, an in-home favored work provider, accrued integrated postulation by 2,002% utilizing Semrush to analyse and amended show successful aggregate areas. Including method health, keyword performance, and backlink-building.
Within a year, they had implicit 6,000 keywords successful the apical 3 positions and an 88% summation successful integrated leads per week.
Take vantage of tools like:
- Traffic Analytics: Find retired however your competitors’ websites are performing successful presumption of postulation measurement and assemblage distribution
- Organic Traffic Insights: Combine Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Semrush information and presumption metrics similar click-through-rates (CTR), keyword rankings, and keyword measurement data
- Position Tracking: Learn however galore keywords your website ranks for and their respective positions connected the SERPs
- Backlink Analytics: Analyze your website’s backlink illustration and place opportunities to get much backlinks
How Semrush Compares to Google Analytics
Semrush tin analyse rival keywords, backlinks, and postulation data—giving you a robust overview of your company’s performance. But GA4 can’t comparison your website’s show with different websites.
Semrush lets you benchmark yourself against competitors and get a realistic overview of show gaps.
It besides combines information from aggregate sources, specified arsenic GA4 and Google Search Console, to supply a wide overview of postulation sources, trends, and audiences.
Let’s accidental you privation to spot which keywords are contributing to precocious postulation numbers connected circumstantial blog posts.
Typically, you’d person to filter those pages successful Search Console, but you can’t spot which assemblage segments sojourn these pages.
With Semrush, you get an in-depth look into your audience’s demographics and socioeconomics.
Not a method user? Semrush’s Copilot, an AI-based SEO assistant, analyzes your information and provides captious insights and recommendations.
- Lost keyword ground
- Technical SEO issues
- Untapped keyword opportunities
- Potentially damaging backlinks
- Site gaps compared to competitors
For instance, if your site’s wellness falls, Copilot alerts you to method issues similar 4xx errors and broken interior links. And recommends fixes.
Pros and Cons
Robust analytics capabilities for interior and outer show measurement | Analytics capabilities similar Semrush Trends necessitate an further fee—driving up costs |
Competitive investigation tools | Some users study a information watercourse hold of up to 2 weeks |
Review each SEO metrics from GA and Google Search Console information wrong the platform | Overwhelming to usage astatine archetypal owed to an extended diagnostic set |
Access show insights for different channels similar societal media |
Pricing
Semrush offers a escaped program with constricted analytics access.
It besides has 3 paid tiers:
- Pro: $139.99 monthly
- Guru: $249.95 monthly
- Business: $499.95 monthly
Note: A escaped Semrush relationship gives you up to 10 credits per time with this tool. Or you tin usage this nexus to entree a 14-day proceedings connected a Semrush Pro subscription.
Choose the Right Google Analytics Alternative Based connected Your Needs
Selecting the close Google Analytics alternate for your requirements volition beryllium connected assorted factors, including:
- Budget constraints
- Technical constraints
- Specific usage cases
- Compliance requirements
In either case, immoderate of these tools tin assistance you flooded the challenges you look with Google Analytics.
Think of it this way: You’re not conscionable replacing GA—you’re looking for a instrumentality that’ll assistance you marque reliable, data-backed decisions.
Interested successful a level that monitors website, SEO and content-related metrics? Check retired our detailed reappraisal of Semrush.
The station 7 Top Google Analytics Alternatives (Free and Paid) appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.