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Google Analytics 4

Free plan

Only Google Analytics 4 has:

  • Cohort Reports

Fathom Analytics

From $15 p/m

No feature only Fathom Analytics has.

Piwik PRO

From €35 per month

Only Piwik PRO has:

  • Data Sampling
  • Heatmaps

Plausible Analytics

From $9 p/m

No feature only Plausible Analytics has.

Google Analytics 4
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Fathom Analytics
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Piwik PRO
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Plausible Analytics
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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.
A free analytics suite with a focus on user privacy and data security. Optimize the customer journey where it was previously impossible.
Lightweight and open source web analytics. No cookies and fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA and PECR. Made and hosted in the EU, on European cloud infrastructure.
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
  • Ease of use
  • Great authorisation management
  • Packed with features
  • Community forum
  • Intergrated tag & consent management
  • Lightweight
  • Open-source
  • Cookieless
  • EU cloud infrastructure
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
  • No progressive payment plan
  • Ecommerce reporting can be improved
  • Limited features
  • No audience reporting features

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
  • Core - 500k€35 p/m
  • Enterprise€366 p/m
  • 10k page views$9 p/m
  • 100k page views$19 p/m
  • 200k page views$29 p/m
  • 500k page views$49 p/m
  • 1M page views$69 p/m
  • 2M page views$89 p/m
  • 5M page views$129 p/m
  • 10M page views$169 p/m
  • EnterpriseOn req.
Free trial period
Free plan
30 days
Free plan
30 days

Account Management

Trackable Items
100
50
10 sites or apps (free) Unlimited (Enterprise)
1-10+ depending on plan
User Seats
Unlimited
Unlimited
Unlimited
1-10+ depending on plan
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)
  • United States
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
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
30 min
Realtime
Data Retention
Customizable up to 14 months
Unlimited
Up to 25 months
3-5+ years depending on plan
Data Sampling
Explorations might use sampled data
By default Piwik does not sample data
Limited data sampling in reports with over 20M pageviews
Data Import
Import cost, offline or user/client ID data
Google Analytics importer
Import cost data, search keywords, user/client ID and audience data
e.g. import GA data
Data Export
With sheets, BigQuery or API
One-click CSV export
As CSV, XML, JSON, or via an API
Export your data to CSV
Compliance
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • ePrivacy
  • COPPA
  • PECR
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • HIPAA
  • LGPD
  • ePrivacy
  • PECR
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • PECR
Cookieless
Google Analytics relies on first-party cookies.
Fathom is cookieless by default.
Piwik features a cookieless tracking option
Plausible is cookieless by default.

Alerts & Automation

Custom Alerts
Custom insights, in interface or via email
Email alerts based on thresholds
Traffic spike notifications through Slack or email
Email Reports
Recurring shared reporting
Weekly or monthly reporting
Daily, weekly or monthly reports
Weekly or monthly email reporting

Reporting

Trend Reporting
Device Reporting
Device type, browser, OS and more
Device type, browser & OS
Device type, browser & OS
Funnel Reporting
Customisable funnel exploration
Detailed funnel report up to 5 steps
User Flow Reporting
Flexible Sankey chart exploration
Standard, transition & reverse Sankey charts
Basic reporting by looking at Entry & Exit pages
Segmentation
Segment creation and overlap exploration
Instant filters on any data point
Unlimited segments
Use filters to segment your audience
Cohort Reports
Cohort exploration
Retention Reporting
Combined with CLTV metrics
Customer loyalty eCommerce report
Attribution Reporting
Attribution models comparison
Multi-channel attribution with 98% accuracy
Ecommerce Reporting
Extensive e-commerce reports
By means of custom events
Overview, order list, product, days and sessions to purchase & customer loyalty
Ecommerce revenue tracking

User Experience Features

Heatmaps
GA4 does not offer heatmaps
Create an overlay with the site inspector Chrome extension
Session Recordings
GA4 does not offer recordings
A/B Testing
User Feedback

Customizability

Custom Properties
25 user-scoped & 50 event-scoped dimensions
200 slots for each scope and they can't be removed
Custom Properties (Business plan and above)
Custom Metrics
50 event-scoped metrics
Also called Calculated metrics
Custom Reports
All reports are customisable
Custom Events
25 parameters per event
Can include: name, ID & value
Include category, action, and optionally name and value
By means of adding CSS classes
Annotations
Notes feature added in 2024
Add to any graph or include them in scheduled reports or alerts

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.
Piwik Pro offers extensive documentation and video tutorials. They have support offices for different regions which can be contacted by email and phone.
Plausible offers extensive documentation which is the first place to find answers. Still haven't found what you're looking for? Contact their email support for knowledgable support.
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 ↗
Piwik PRO
Visit ↗
Plausible Analytics
Visit ↗

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