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Google Analytics 4

Free plan

Only Google Analytics 4 has:

  • Cohort Reports
  • Attribution Reporting

Fathom Analytics

From $15 p/m

No feature only Fathom Analytics has.

Simple Analytics

From €15 p/m

No feature only Simple Analytics has.

Fullstory

Free plan

Only Fullstory has:

  • Heatmaps
  • Session Recordings
  • A/B Testing
  • User Feedback
Google Analytics 4
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Fathom Analytics
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Simple Analytics
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Fullstory
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Summary
A customisable and free web analytics tool. Get insights into user behavior with an event-based tracking model, and know what drives sales and traffic with extensive attribution methods.
Privacy-focused website analytics without compromise. Fathom doesn’t compromise visitor privacy for data. It made website analytics easy to use and respectful of privacy laws.
One easy dashboard to see how many visitors are coming to your website, where they come from and what they do once they're there. Without cookies. Without stalking. Still lightweight.
Fullstory is a digital experience analytics platform that combines session replay, product analytics and AI-generated insights, with a permanent free plan.
Pros
  • GA4 is free to use
  • Many functionalities
  • The reports are customisable
  • Large community
  • Extensive documentation
  • GA4 is easily scalable
  • Privacy friendly
  • Easy to use
  • Customer support
  • Ad-blocker bypassing
  • Privacy focused
  • Cookieless
  • Lightweight script
  • Good support
  • Easy to use
  • Permanent free plan with session replay
  • Choice of EU or US data center
  • SOC 2 and ISO 27001, 27701 and 42001 certifications
  • Warehouse sync to BigQuery, Snowflake and Redshift
Cons
  • Steep learning curve
  • Implementation can be hard
  • Inaccurate data sampling
  • UI is not easy to use
  • No data import
  • Short free trial
  • Limited features
  • Limited features due to cookieless
  • Not very customisable
  • No free version
  • Paid prices not published
  • Dashboards and StoryAI not in the free plan
  • Alerts and retention reports need an Advanced or Enterprise plan
  • Moving to the EU data center means opening a new account

Pricing information

Starting Price
  • StandardFree
  • GA4 360$50k+ per year
  • 100k page views$15 p/m
  • 200k page views$25 p/m
  • 500k page views$45 p/m
  • 1 Million page views$60 p/m
  • 2 Million page views$100 p/m
  • Starter€15 p/m
  • Business€40 p/m
  • EnterpriseOn req.
  • FullstoryFreeFree
  • BusinessOn req.
  • AdvancedOn req.
  • EnterpriseOn req.
Free trial period
Free plan
30 days
14 days
Free plan

Account Management

Trackable Items
100
50
5-10+ depending on plan
User Seats
Unlimited
Unlimited
1-10+ depending on plan
10 on FullstoryFree, paid plans not published
Account Security
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication

Data Processing

Data Center Locations
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • United States
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • United States
Software Hosting
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
Data Ownership
Google Analytics 4
You
You
You
Data Freshness
4-8 hours (most reports), up to 24-48 hours
Realtime
Realtime
Data Retention
Customizable up to 14 months
Unlimited
Unlimited
12 months on FullstoryFree, paid plans not published
Data Sampling
Explorations might use sampled data
Data Import
Import cost, offline or user/client ID data
Google Analytics importer
GA importer included
Browser and Server APIs, Segment and Tealium integrations
Data Export
With sheets, BigQuery or API
One-click CSV export
As CSV or via API
Anywhere Warehouse (hourly sync to BigQuery, Redshift, Snowflake), add-on
Compliance
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • ePrivacy
  • COPPA
  • PECR
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • ePrivacy
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
Cookieless
Google Analytics relies on first-party cookies.
Fathom is cookieless by default.
Simple Analytics is cookieless by default.
Capture needs the first-party fs_uid cookie

Alerts & Automation

Custom Alerts
Custom insights, in interface or via email
Metric, segment and opportunity alerts by email, in-app, Slack, Teams; Advanced and Enterprise
Email Reports
Recurring shared reporting
Weekly or monthly reporting
Daily, weekly, monthly

Reporting

Trend Reporting
Curved and linear trend lines
Metric trends
Device Reporting
Device type, browser, OS and more
Device type, browser & OS
Device breakdown
Funnel Reporting
Customisable funnel exploration
Line up goals for simple funnel
Funnels and conversions
User Flow Reporting
Flexible Sankey chart exploration
Journey maps, page flows
Segmentation
Segment creation and overlap exploration
Instant filters on any data point
Filter dashboard with visitor attributes
User segments
Cohort Reports
Cohort exploration
Retention Reporting
Combined with CLTV metrics
Advanced and Enterprise
Attribution Reporting
Attribution models comparison
Ecommerce Reporting
Extensive e-commerce reports
By means of custom events
Order Completed and Product Purchased events

User Experience Features

Heatmaps
GA4 does not offer heatmaps
Click and scroll maps
Session Recordings
GA4 does not offer recordings
Session replay, included in FullstoryFree
A/B Testing
A/B experiments in Guides and Surveys add-on; Optimizely integration
User Feedback
Guides and Surveys add-on

Customizability

Custom Properties
25 user-scoped & 50 event-scoped dimensions
Custom event and user properties
Custom Metrics
50 event-scoped metrics
Custom calculations
Custom Reports
All reports are customisable
Dashboards, paid plans
Custom Events
25 parameters per event
Can include: name, ID & value
Annotations
Notes feature added in 2024
Able to include links in annotations

Support

Support description
Support is available via chat and the support center.
Fathom offers extensive support and video walk-throughs. For issues you can always contact their knowledgable email support.
Simple Analytics offers knowledgable support through phone and email.
Support is by email and support ticket during regional weekday business hours, with a help center and community forum. Free plan tickets have a 2 business day response target, paying customers 1 business day. A Premium Support add-on gives 24/7 critical support. The FullstoryFree help article lists email support as a paid plan feature, while the support hours article lists a response target for free plan customers.
Support Options
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
Google Analytics 4
Visit ↗
Fathom Analytics
Visit ↗
Simple Analytics
Visit ↗
Fullstory
Visit ↗

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