Website analytics in general enables website owners to improve their website and make it more attractive for visitors. Fathom Analytics is a tool that does this. By providing different metrics such as page views, visitors (and their characteristics), real-time visitors and time on page etc.
Fathom Analytics is a popular web analytics tool, but it has it's drawbacks. In this article, we'll dive into Fathom Analytics and showcase a few alternatives that might suit you better.
Let's dive in!
- What is Fathom Analytics used for?
- Pricing for Fathom Analytics
- Fathom Alternatives
- Things to Look For in an Analytics Tool
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fathom Analytics used for?
Fathom Analytics was launched just after the implementation of GDPR in 2018 to provide privacy-friendly analytics compliant with the new European privacy laws. Simple Analytics and Plausible launched at the same time. In a sense, these tools are very comparable, but everyone did have a different approach to data collection.
Fathom Analytics is an easy-to-use web analytics tool, much like Simple Analytics, and it also comes with essential features such as event tracking. However, it’s a bit limited, though.
The primary issue with Fathom Analytics is that it’s not 100% privacy-friendly, primarily because of how they collect and store user data. If you want to read more about this privacy issue on Fathom and other popular analytics tools, here’s the report.
Pricing for Fathom Analytics
Fathom Analytics has multiple pricing plans (10+), but the good thing is that all plans have the same feature set, with the only capping on monthly pageviews.
The pricing starts at $14/month for up to 100,000 pageviews and goes to $274/month for up to 25,000,000 monthly pageviews.
Fathom Alternatives
Fathom Analytics is a web analytics platform dedicated to privacy that provides simple-to-understand data. It has some restrictions, such as doubling up as a minimal product analytics tool. Also, their events function is limited and from a privacy-prespective they still collect IP-addresses of your website visitors.
If you are looking for an alternative, then here are some best ones.
Simple Analytics (easy to use and predictable pricing)
As the name goes, Simple Analytics is a simple and easy-to-use analytics tool. It's also one of the few analytics tools completely GDPR-compliant with EU-hosted servers. It is cost-effective, privacy first, easy to use, and real-time data collection oriented.
Now let's review a few benefits of using Simple Analytics over Fathom Analytics.
Pros of using Simple Analytics
- Simplified UI - Using tools that are easy to navigate around is always preferred over complex ones. Simple Analytics offers a simplified user interface and makes analysis easier. Since they know visualization of data is best done with easy-to-read charts, they provide only the essential features and metrics. Working with it is, therefore, a smooth activity.
- Affordable Pricing- Simple Analytics is exceptionally cost-effective. Most of the products available in its category can drill a hole in your budget. Simple Analytics offers both product and web analytics tools at a reasonable price. They have plans starting at just $19/ month. This makes it the best analytics tool for small and mid-sized businesses. It packs the tools and features present in the most expensive tools at a very low cost.
- Automated Event Collection- Another feature that makes Simple Analytics stand out in its product category is automated event collection. While you have to set additional tags manually for other tools, Simple Analytics does the job for you. Once you link it to your website, it lets you track the metrics of all action buttons just by hovering over them.
- Mini Websites- As a business with an online presence, you often get featured in the conversation of your users. You might get a mention on Twitter or a feature on a website. While most tools let you know where you got a mention, they don’t deliver the specifics. Simple Analytics stands out here. It gives you the specifics of your feature and helps you track it through a mini website.
Cons of using Simple Analytics
The user interface of Simple Analytics is made to look simple and easy to understand so everyone, be it the founder or marketing teams, can use it easily. The Product Manager may need a few more screens, but that is something that can be quickly built with goals.
Pricing of Simple Analytics
Simple Analytics is one of the most cost-efficient tools available in its segment. The product is perfect for businesses. It caters to companies and has plans for individuals and businesses of all sizes. Therefore it ensures that the best features are available at a very reasonable price.
The pricing of Simple Analytics starts at a low $9/month, making it a pocket-friendly tool for businesses of all sizes.
Pirsch
Pirsch Analytics is a privacy analytics tool based out of Germany. It’s an affordable and simple-to-use analytics tool with all the features such as event tracking, goal tracking, and much more. In addition to that, it’s a pretty affordable tool to start.
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-understand dashboard.
- Budget-friendly option.
- Easy to install.
Cons
- Proxying is very tricky and needs some technical knowledge (used to bypass adblockers)
- They have not been in business for long and have less track record than other solutions.
- Event-setting and goal-tracking features are limited
Pricing
Pirsch Analytics is a pretty affordable tool, especially for low-traffic websites. The pricing for Pirsch Analytics starts at $5/month when paid annually for 10,000 pageviews. The next pricing tier supports websites for up to 100,000 pageviews and costs $10/month.
Plausible
Plausible is a lightweight and privacy-focused web analytics tool that provides website owners insights into visitor behavior. It was founded in 2019 and is based in Estonia.
Plausible offers a clean and straightforward user interface that makes it easy to use.
They do have a focus on privacy, but according to many independent researchers and thought leaders, it may not be as privacy-friendly as they state. More can be read in this article, which was popular on HackerNews.
One good thing about Plausible is the easy-to-use dashboard which can be found in similar privacy-friendly analytics tools mentioned in this article.
Pros
- Provides detailed reports on visitor behavior.
- Privacy-focused, which means it doesn't use cookies.
- Offers a clean and straightforward user interface.
- Provides customizable dashboards and reports.
- Offers a free trial.
Cons
- Limited features compared to other paid options.
- A lower degree of in-depth reporting
- Store IP-address
Pricing
Plausible’s pricing starts at $9/month when paid monthly or $7.5/month when paid annually. Though this is indeed affordable, you’ll have to keep in mind that this is the pricing for websites with less than 10,000 page views.
The next tier starts at $19/month when paid monthly or ~$15.9/month when paid annually for websites with less than 100,000 pageviews.
Matomo
Matomo, formerly Piwik (not to be confused with Piwik PRO), is a Google Analytics alternative that provides both cloud and on-premise versions. The cloud version is recommended for those who don’t want to go through the hassle of setting and managing the server, whereas the self-hosted version is for those with deep technical knowledge.
Apart from web analytics, Matomo can also provide services such as collecting form inputs, SEO vitals checker, A/B testing tool, etc.
Pros
- The self-hosted version is free to use.
- Feature-rich.
Cons
- Payment is required to unlock additional features in the self-hosted version, and the cloud version lacks certain features.
- The UI might feel complex to some.
- Cloud plans are expensive compared to other tools.
Pricing
The pricing of Matomo depends on whether you are on the self-hosted or cloud plan. Also, based on add-one, the price might change. Currently, the self-hosted plan with no add-ons is free, and the cloud version costs ~$35/month (changes based on your local currency).
Things to Look For in an Analytics Tool
Selecting a tool for product analytics is a crucial decision. You might ask what could possibly go wrong when choosing one, yet you can miss out on a lot. Therefore, be sure to go through this checklist before making a choice. You're good to go if the tool provides these:
- Ease of Use: Regardless of your chosen product, it must be simple to use. You shouldn’t spend your precious time on a complex web analytics tool that takes time and experience to get familiar with.
- Accuracy: Getting an accurate picture of what’s happening on your website is important. Inaccurate data might lead to misjudged decisions that impact your business.
- Straightforward UI: Most of the time, you don’t need 75 custom dashboards (looking at you, Google). A straightforward overview of what’s happening on your website will give you the insights you need instantly. Look for a tool that gives you the insights you need without too many distracting bells and whistles.
- Lightweight: Your website is your storefront on the internet. Providing the best possible experience to your visitors matters. Installing an analytics script has an impact on your page speed. Choose an analytics tool that doesn’t slow your website down. This not only affects your visitors’ experience. Google will notice this as well.
- Privacy: The world is moving in a direction where privacy is becoming increasingly important. Google Analytics has been declared illegal in multiple EU countries. You don’t want to get caught up in this mess. Take privacy or compliance with regulation into account.
- Integration: To get a complete picture of your business, the tool should be able to integrate with other devices you use, such as your CRM or dashboarding tools.
- Pricing: Consider the tool's pricing and ensure it aligns with your budget. Take advantage of some companies' free trials or basic versions to ensure the product suits your needs before committing to a paying plan.
Although this checklist can assist you in getting started, there may be other factors for your organization that you need to consider.
Feel free to try Simple Analytics if you want a tool that checks these boxes. It provides the insights you need in a straightforward dashboard while being 100% GDPR compliant.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fathom Analytics free?
No, Fathom Analytics is not free. It costs 14/m for up to 100K page views. This is comparable to other analytics tools like Simple Analytics.
Is Fathom Analytics open-source?
Fathom Analytics is open-source, but unlike Plausible and Piwik, no self-hosted version exists.
Is Fathom GDPR-compliant?
Unlike Google Analytics, Fathom is GDPR-compliant because it does not transfer data to the U.S. There are, however, non-EU-based but host their servers in Germany. However, Fathom also claims they don’t collect any personal data. Fathom uses hashed versions of IP addresses to track website users. They don’t use cookies, but they use anonymized IP addresses to collect information on website visitors. It’s debatable whether this is privacy-friendly or not. Simple Analytics does not make any concessions concerning privacy.
Why is Simple Analytics preferred over Fathom?
Privacy enthusiasts will prefer Simple Analytics since it collects no personal data at all. In addition, Simple Analytics also is more feature-rich in terms of event collection and goal tracking.