Website analytics enables website owners to improve their websites and make them more attractive to visitors. Gauges is a web analytics tool that provides metrics such as page views, visitors (and their characteristics), real-time visitors, and time on page, etc., to help website owners improve their website experience.
Gauges is a popular web analytics tool, but it has it's drawbacks. In this article, we'll dive into Gauges and showcase a few alternatives that might suit you better.
- What is Gauges used for?
- Gauges Pricing
- Gauges Alternatives
- Things to Look For in an Analytics Tool
- Frequently Asked Questions
Let's dive in!
What is Gauges used for?
Gauges is a real-time web analytics tool that aims to provide an easy-to-understand dashboard while providing reliable and actionable data.
At first glance, it looks like a viable solution, but upon more in-depth analysis, some major concerts get highlighted. The first one is non-compliance with GDPR, Gauges parent company is based in the USA, which makes it non-compliant.
It also seems abandoned, as their blog and social have not seen any updates for quite some time now. Though we couldn't verify this info, looking for something well-maintained is better.
Gauges Pricing
Gauges is probably one of the most affordable analytics tools, with pricing starting at just $6/month for unlimited sites and up to 100,000 pageviews. Sites with even higher pageviews can choose the $12/month or $48/month plan.
Gauges Alternatives
Gauges is a web analytics application that gives website owners information about their site's traffic and visitor behavior. Despite having some flaws, the product is still decent. Its lack of customization options for reporting is one of its main drawbacks.
Users can only access the pre-built reports and cannot design their unique pieces.
Another drawback is its inability to measure visitor behavior beyond pageviews and clicks such as events and goal tracking. These aren’t adequate to reveal meaningful information about user engagement.
Given Gauges limitations, you should explore alternatives that provide greater flexibility and insights.
Let’s dive in!
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.
Also, “simple” doesn’t refer to a lack of features here; it's a robust web analytics tool that doubles as a minimal product analytics tool too, with capabilities such as event and goal tracking.
Now let's review a few benefits of using Simple Analytics over Gauges.
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 straightforward user interface that makes analysis easier. Working with it is, therefore, a smooth activity.
- Affordable Pricing- Simple Analytics is exceptionally cost-effective. They offer both product and web analytics tools at a reasonable price. They have plans starting at $9/month. This makes it the best analytics tool for small and mid-sized businesses. It packs the tools and features from the most expensive tools for a friendly price.
- Automated Event Collection- Another feature that makes Simple Analytics stand out in its product category is automated event collection. While you must manually set additional tags 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.
StatCounter
StatCounter is one of the oldest web analytics tools, and it was launched back in 1999. It’s a simple tool built to help webmasters monitor their traffic, analyze visitor behavior and track online campaigns.
Though StatCounter started as a web analytics tool but lately, they have also added features such as session replay and live visitor feed. The major issue with StatCounter is that it has a very dated UI that needs a refresh, and also, the session replay feature is very expensive, which tools like Clarity can do for free (though privacy can be a concern).
Pros
- Provides real-time analytics and session replay.
- Easy to install and use.
Cons
- The pricing plans can be expensive for small businesses.
- The free version has many limitations.
- Dated and poor UI.
Pricing
Statcounter has three pricing tiers for website analytics: Basic, Premium, and Premium Plus. Also, the pricing is based on the number of page views and session replays you choose.
The Premium plan starts at €7/month for up to 100,000 pageviews, and if you add session replay too, the price goes up to €16/month, which adds 1,000 session replays to the plan.
One good part about their pricing is that every plan is customizable based on your needs
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.
Fathom Analytics
Fathom Analytics and Simple Analytics started at nearly the same time when there was a need for a Google Analytics alternative that is not only privacy-friendly but also easy to understand.
Fathom Analytics is built by Jack & Paul, who have been running it successfully since 2018. It’s been marketed as a simple and privacy-friendly analytics tool, but some reports suggest it may not be as privacy-friendly as it claims. In addition, their event-setting and goal-tracking capabilities are limited.
Apart from providing web analytics data, it also doubles as an uptime monitoring tool, an added feature by Fathom Analytics.
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-use dashboard
- Provides uptime monitoring as an added feature
- Supports event tracking (e.g., tracking the number of PDF downloads, Newsletter signups, etc.)
Cons
- Some users have said that the UI requires improvements.
- Other options are more privacy-friendly
- It’s event-setting, and goal-tracking features are limited
Pricing
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.
Things to Look For in an Analytics Tool
Selecting a tool for product analytics is a crucial decision. 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Simple Analytics preferred over Gauges?
Gauges is not a household name in the analytics market. It’s an older tool that looks outdated and not intuitive to use. Simple Analytics gives you the website insights you need in a straightforward dashboard that is easy to use. In addition, Simple Analytics is cookieless by design and 100% GDPR-compliant.
Is Gauges GDPR-compliant?
Gauges use cookies and personal information to collect information on website visitors. This does not necessarily mean they are not GDPR-compliant, but you can conclude that this is not a privacy-friendly analytics tool.
Is Gauges easy to use?
Gauges is not the most accessible tool to use. Their analytics dashboard is not user-friendly and looks outdated compared to other tools like Simple Analytics.