How we measure your traffic
Simple Analytics records page-level events and aggregates them into metrics. No personal data is collected. No user identifiers are assigned.
No cookies
No identifiers
Event-based
Aggregated
How data is collected
A lightweight script sends one event per pageview
What we collect
- Page URL and referrer
- UTM parameters
- Device type and screen size
- Timezone (for country)
- Browser language
What we never collect
- Cookies or local storage
- IP addresses
- User identifiers
- Device fingerprints
- Cross-site tracking
Each event is stored as an independent record and is not linked across visits. Because no personal data is collected, Simple Analytics can be used without a consent banner and meets GDPR and ePrivacy requirements by design.
How metrics are calculated
From raw events to actionable insights
| Metric | Accuracy |
|---|---|
| PageviewsEach event represents one pageview. Total count of recorded events with no sampling or modeling. | Exact |
| VisitorsEvery pageview from a landing page is counted as a unique pageview, which we call a visitor. | Estimated |
| Traffic sourcesDerived from referrer and UTM parameters. | Exact |
Learn more about how we calculate metrics in our metrics documentation.
Differences from traditional analytics
Privacy-first design leads to different trade-offs
| Traditional | Simple Analytics | |
|---|---|---|
| User identifiers | Assigned via cookies or device IDs | Not used |
| Consent requirement | Required for tracking | Not required |
| Data when consent rejected | Lost | Still recorded |
| Visitor counting | Based on referrer | Estimated |
| Cross-device tracking | Supported | Not supported |
Simple Analytics prioritizes privacy over precision in some areas. You get complete traffic coverage without consent barriers, while accepting that visitor and session metrics are estimates rather than exact counts. See how we compare to Google Analytics.
How to use Simple Analytics
Two approaches depending on your needs
As your primary tool
Simple Analytics works well as a standalone solution when:
- You want a complete view of your website traffic
- You do not need user-level tracking across sessions
- You prefer a simple, privacy-friendly dashboard
- You want to avoid consent banners and legal complexity
Alongside Google Analytics
Use both tools together to capture the complete picture:
Simple Analytics
Captures all traffic, including users who reject consent
Google Analytics
Provides user-level tracking for consenting users
This approach is often called consent gap analytics: measure what you're missing.
Learn about consent gap analytics →