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 Reviews
- Fathom Alternatives
- What to look for in an analytics tool
- Final Thoughts
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 $15/month for up to 100,000 pageviews and goes to $470/month for up to 25,000,000 monthly pageviews.
| 100,000 monthly page views | 100,000 monthly page views | 500,000 monthly page views | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $15/month Includes: Up to 50 sites included 100% Data ownership No cookie banners required Unlimited email reports Forever data retention Unlimited CSV data exports Privacy law compliance Enterprise-grade infrastructure |
$25/month Includes: Up to 50 sites included 100% Data ownership No cookie banners required Unlimited email reports Forever data retention Unlimited CSV data exports Privacy law compliance Enterprise-grade infrastructure |
$45/month Includes: Up to 50 sites included 100% Data ownership No cookie banners required Unlimited email reports Forever data retention Unlimited CSV data exports Privacy law compliance Enterprise-grade infrastructure |
Fathom Reviews
What do you like best about Fathom Analytics?
It's simplicity and how fluid works. It's great for having a quick and effective overview about your website.
What do you dislike about Fathom Analytics?
Maybe some more depth in setting up your own events.
What problems is Fathom Analytics solving and how is that benefiting you?
Understanding the evolution of our traffic, plus main traffic sources.
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.
PS: If you looking for a Google Analytics replacement, you might want to check out a direct comparison with Google Analytics
Now let's review a few benefits of using Simple Analytics over Fathom Analytics.
Pros of using Simple Analytics
- Simplified UI - Simple Analytics offers a straightforward user interface that makes analysis easier. It's 10x easier to work with than GA4. Checkout the public dashboard to see what that looks like.
- Affordable Pricing - Simple Analytics starts at a reasonable price.
- No cookie banner - Simple Analytics gives you the insights you need without using cookies or trackers. Hence, no need for an annoying cookiebanner on your website.
- Chat with your analytics - Simple Analytics AI is the latest features that lets you chat with your analytics and get insights directly.
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).
GoSquared
GoSquared Analytics is a simple privacy-friendly analytics that was started in 2010 and was called “Live Stats” back then. The current version is an output of iteration.
The key benefit of using GoSquared is its easy-to-understand dashboard and simple setup. It’s also GDPR compliant and was confirmed by a 3rd party accreditation body.
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-understand dashboard.
- Hassle-free setup.
- Affordable pricing.
- Has multiple helpful integrations.
Cons
- Though the dashboard in easy-to-understand but the UI is a bit dated.
- Limited capabilities in event tracking.
Pricing
The pricing of GoSquared Analytics starts at $9/month for three projects (websites) and up to 100,000 pageviews. Their plans have standard features such as unlimited team sharing, email reports, event tracking, etc.
Visitor Analytics
Visitor Analytics is a website analytics tool that calls itself a website intelligence platform as it comes with several other features, such as session recording, polls, surveys, and much more.
It’s a comprehensive solution for anyone who needs more than just web analytics, but at times, this can get overwhelming, too; with more features, the dashboards keep getting cluttered.
Pros
- Offers wide range of features.
- Simple and easy to install.
Cons
- Slightly expensive for small and medium-sized businesses.
- You may have to pay for features you won’t use in a higher plan.
- Uses fingerprinting and is not GDPR-compliant
Pricing
Visitor Analytics multiple pricing plans. The Basic package is priced at $10.39 monthly and includes heatmaps and website analytics for up to 10,000 page views. The Advanced plan, available for $19.99 per month, offers everything the Basic plan features but with higher limits.
Similarly, they have Pro, Pro Plus, and Pro ++ plans which are over the same as the other plans do with even higher limits. They also give access to “Company Reveal,” which lets you know if you are getting traffic for any organizations.
Piwik PRO
Piwik PRO and Matomo (formerly known as Piwik) evolved out of an open-source project known as Piwik.
Piwik PRO is now an enterprise-focused analytics tool built on the open-source project. It offers web and product analytics and a few other helpful additions, such as tag manager and consent manager.
Pros
- Provides detailed reports on visitor behavior, including location, device, and more.
- Open-source, which means it's free to use.
- Offers customizable dashboards and reports.
- Provides privacy-focused options.
- Offers a cloud-hosted solution.
Cons
- Complex analytics tool that requires training
- Piwik has problems with loading, data retention, and an exponential increase in disk consumption.
- Primarily meant from enterprise, hence an expensive solution.
Pricing
Piwik PRO is an enterprise solution and is expected to be expensive. If you try looking up the pricing on their site, you won’t be able to, as it requires contacting the sales team.
Though the pricing isn’t public, but according to Optimize Smart, the pricing plans start at $419/month for 1,000,000+ actions. Note that this info was shared in 2022, so the pricing is highly likely to be updated.
Umami
Umami is an open-source web analytics tool that provides website owners insights into visitor behavior. It was created by three brothers Mike, Brian, and Francis Cao.
Many devs love it as it’s easy to install and get started, but remember that this can be challenging for non-developers. Umami also has event tracking, but users have reported it to be very limited.
Pros
- Open-source, which means it's free to use if self-hosted.
- Simple and easy dashboard.
- Lightweight web analytics and doesn’t slow the website.
Cons
- Limited support options
- Limited data retention options.
- Limited features compared to other paid options.
Pricing
Umami Analytics was initially only open-source but recently launched a hosted cloud version. The pricing starts at $9/month for 100,000 pageviews. One major issue with all the plans is their limited data retention policy unless you switch to a custom plan.
What to look for in an analytics tool
Selecting a tool for your analytics is a crucial decision. Be sure to go through this checklist before making a choice. You're good to go if the tool provides these:
Ease of Use: You shouldn’t spend your 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.
Straightforward UI: Most of the time, you don’t need 75 custom dashboards (looking at you, Google).
Lightweight: Installing an analytics script has an impact on your page speed. Choose an analytics tool that doesn’t slow your website down.
Privacy: The world is moving in a direction where privacy is becoming increasingly important.
Integration: Your analytics should be able to integrate with other tools.
Pricing: Consider the tool's pricing and ensure it aligns with your budget.
Although this checklist can assist you in getting started, there may be other factors for your organization that you need to consider.
Final Thoughts
If you want a tool that checks these boxes, then check out Simple Analytics. It provides the insights you need in a straightforward dashboard while being 100% GDPR compliant.
Want to see what that looks like? Check our public dashboard here
We believe the internet should be an independent place that is friendly to website visitors. By opting for Simple Analytics, you’ll be supporting us in our mission and protecting the privacy of your website visitors. If this resonates with you, feel free to give us a try.