Methodology
How we compare analytics tools
New Metrics compares 33 analytics tools side by side. This page explains who is behind it, which tools we list, where the data comes from and how we stay independent.
Who we are
New Metrics is run by Freek Kampen and Ivo Taris of New North Digital, an analytics consultancy in Groningen, the Netherlands. We set up and repair tracking for online stores, publishers and agencies every day: Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, server-side tagging, consent and the advertising platforms that depend on it. That work is where our view on these tools comes from.
Which tools we list
A tool is listed when all of these are true:
- It is still sold as its own product, not only as a feature of a larger suite.
- Analytics is its core job: measuring websites, products, user experience or B2B visitors.
- It is used on real websites. We check this in the HTTP Archive crawl, which detects analytics tools on millions of sites.
- It fits one main category, so we compare it with tools that do the same job.
Tools that are discontinued or merged into another product are removed, and their pages point to the category they belonged to. We compare tools within a category: a tag manager or a server-side platform is a different kind of product than an analytics tool, so we don't rank them against each other.
Where the data comes from
Every tool profile describes the same fields: pricing and plans, hosting and data storage, privacy and compliance, features, integrations and support. We take these from the vendor's own website, pricing page, documentation and legal pages. When a vendor doesn't publish something, we leave the field empty rather than guess.
Each profile shows when it was last updated. When we review a tool, we check every field against the vendor's current pages, and a person approves each change before it goes live. Prices change often, so always confirm the price on the vendor's site before you buy.
How we stay independent
- Vendors cannot pay for a listing, a better position, a rating or a review.
- Some links to vendor websites are affiliate links: if you buy through them, we may earn a fee. It costs you nothing and does not change how we describe or rank a tool.
- Ratings come from reviews by users who had a real experience with the tool (see our review guidelines).
- Vendors can point out errors through our contact page; we check every correction against their own sources.
How the quiz recommends tools
The analytics quiz asks about your goal, what matters most to you, the tools you use now, your experience and your budget. It then filters the tools that fit, ranks them by what you rated most important, and gives you a personal top 4. The same data is used as on the tool pages; no vendor can influence the result.
How we count usage
The number of sites shown for a tool comes from the HTTP Archive crawl (Wappalyzer detections). It is a relative measure of how widely a tool is used, not an exact market share: some tools cannot be detected from the outside at all.
Questions or corrections
Something out of date or wrong? Let us know through the contact page and we'll look into it.