Neil Patel and Hiten Shah founded Kissmetrics, one of the most advanced product analytics tools in its initial years. According to Hiten, they were at least three years ahead of the competition but failed to keep up due to internal management issues.
Apart from management issues, the product’s UI isn’t the best and will make many feel dated.
This article will cover Kissmetrics's features, strengths, and weaknesses. We'll introduce you to an exciting alternative. This innovative solution offers a fresh perspective, empowering you to make informed decisions.
- Kissmetrics
- Kissmetrics User Reviews
- Simple Analytics: A simple & affordable alternative
- Feature comparison between Kissmetrics and Simple Analytics
- Conclusion
- FAQs: A Better Alternative to Kissmetrics
Kissmetrics
Kissmetrics is a product analytics tool that primarily focuses on event analytics. The provided solutions mainly target the analysis of customer behavior. It also focuses on providing data discovery and visualization support on its platform and tracks keywords.
In addition, Kissmetrics is also used for funnel analysis and goal tracking. Though the product is good, cons like expensive pricing, dated UI, and poor data retention policy can be dealbreakers for many.
Pros of Kissmetrics
- Easy tracking of user preferences, purchases, and abandonment
- Valuable insights for making data-driven decisions
- Good customer support
Cons of Kissmetrics
- Poor data retention policy
- UI can be a bit confusing at times
- Limited features in the basic funnel report
- Pricing may be relatively higher compared to some other platforms.
Kissmetrics User Reviews
"Helped us to increase our conversions"
What do you like best about Kissmetrics?
Kissmetrics is easier to use than Google Analytics if you are trying to create funnel metrics. We were able to quickly assign URL's to specific funnels to test out the conversions.
What do you dislike about Kissmetrics?
There can be a bit of a learning curve at first - it is pretty overwhelming, and you can suffer from analysis paralysis as a result. It does take a lot of effort and time to set up
What problems is Kissmetrics solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are a memberships business - and we are always trying to find a way to test out different campaigns to find the most efficient path for someone to become a member. This allows to see how our tests are performing.
*Nicholas D. | Marketing, Small-Business*
Source: G2
"Powerful Tool with Helpful Insights"
What do you like best about Kissmetrics?
We signed up and used their free trial. During the trial I was able to see what a powerful tool this could be for someone looking to find holes in their funnel. The interface in the backend is gorgeous and easy to navigate and the reporting is amazing. I loved how specific you could get, we were actually able to track our users down to an individual user to see what event the triggered or what device they were using. This sort of information is crucial when your trying to define your funnel.
What do you dislike about Kissmetrics?
There's a couple things I wish KISSmetrics had. I understand that this tool is different from HubSpot, but I wish I had more ways to automate events that were in the future. I also wish that it had some more documentation on setting up your account and how to use all of the events and properties. We were relatively new to this mindset when we signed up so some of these things were tough to figure out for us.
Recommendations to others considering Kissmetrics:
When you signup for KISS, make sure you really understand what you want to track. This software is so popular so if you don't come in with a plan it can seem overwhelming. Also try figuring why you actually want this data and how its going to benefit you. It all really comes back to make sure you have a plan before hopping in.
What problems is Kissmetrics solving and how is that benefiting you?
KISSmetrics can solve for some many different problems. We were trying to use it to see if there were any holes in our funnel and see how our visitors would interact with our site.
*Joseph R. | Senior Designer, Small-Business*
Source: G2
Simple Analytics: A simple & affordable alternative
Simple Analytics is an easy-to-use analytics tool that gives you the insights you need while being 100% GDPR-compliant.
It was founded by Adriaan van Rossum shortly after the GDPR was approved. Since its inception, Simple Analytics has had customers of all sizes, notable ones being: Michelin, Havas Media, Nomadlist, and the UK Government.
Though Simple Analytics might sound like a simple minimal analytics tool, it does pack some powerful features that many marketers love, such as automated event collection, goal tracking, e-commerce analytics, bypassing ad blockers (as it’s privacy-friendly), and much more.
Let's explore why it's become a preferred choice for businesses seeking reliable and affordable analytics tools.
Pros of using Simple Analytics
- Simple UI: Most product analytics tools like Kissmetrics come with a complex UI, which takes time to understand if you’re not a regular user. On the other hand, Simple Analytics focuses on a clean and easy-to-understand UI that even non-marketers can easily understand.
- Affordable: Tracking website and product metrics is pretty affordable with Simple Analytics. For just $9/month, you can track 100,000 data points (pageviews + events). Additionally, you get features that you would find in much more expensive tools.
- Privacy First: The world is moving in a direction where privacy is becoming increasingly important. Google Analytics has been declared illegal in multiple EU countries. You would rather avoid getting caught up in this mess. Take privacy or compliance with regulations into account.
- Mini Websites: Have you ever seen “t.co” as a referrer in your web analytics? If you have, you must have broken your head trying to find the source. Simple Analytics helps you find the exact tweet that referred/mentioned to your website.
- Lightweight: Your website is your storefront on the internet. Providing the best possible experience matters. Installing an analytics script has an impact on page speed. Choose an analytics tool that won’t slow your website down. Even Google recommends having a website that loads quickly.
- Integration: Installing and integrating Simple Analytics is also super easy. It has 20+ integrations to select from, so you can get it added quickly.
Cons of using Simple Analytics
Due to privacy laws, Simple Analytics doesn’t store IPs and user identifiers, which makes it lack a couple of metrics, such as bounce rate, but it does have time on page to give you an idea of user stickiness.
Pricing of Simple Analytics
Simple Analytics offers one of the most affordable pricing structures in its segment. The plans start at just $9/month, which lets you track 100,000 data points.
If you need more features, such as team access, the pricing goes up to $49/month, increasing the data points limit from 100,000 to 1,000,000.
Feature comparison between Kissmetrics and Simple Analytics
| Simple Analytics | Kissmetrics | |
|---|---|---|
| Account Management | ||
| Trackable Items | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| User Seats | 1 to Unlimited users | 3 users to Unlimited users |
| User Roles | Available | Available |
| Account Security | Passwordless Login | Single Sign-on |
| Data Processing | ||
| Data Retention | Unlimited | 12 - 36 months |
| Data Center Locations | European Economic Area (EEA) | Unclear |
| Data Import | GA importer included | API, CSV & more |
| Data Ownership | You | You |
| Software Hosting | Public Cloud | Public Cloud |
| Compliance | GDPR, PECR, CCPA | GDPR |
| Data Freshness | Realtime | Realtime |
| Data Export | As CSV or via API | API, CSV, PDF & more |
| Cookieless | Simple Analytics is cookieless | Kissmetrics uses first-party cookies |
| Reporting | ||
| Funnel Reporting | Available | Available |
| Device Reporting | Available (based on OS and screen sizes) | Available |
| Segmentation | Available | Available |
| Trend Reporting | Available | Available |
| Alerts & Automation | ||
| Integrations | 20+ Available and can send a request to the Simple Analytics team for more | 20+ Available |
| Email Reports | Weekly, monthly | Daily, weekly, monthly |
| Customizability | ||
| Annotations | Available | Available |
| Custom Events | Available | Available |
Conclusion
Even though Kissmetrics has many issues but it’s still used by many organizations primarily because it’s hard to switch/migrate to a new analytics tool without missing out on existing data. This is why choosing the right solution is essential.
Simple Analytics provides all the insights you need while being 100% GDPR compliant. They believe the internet should be an independent place that is friendly to website visitors. If this resonates with you, feel free to give it a try!
Simply put, Simple Analytics is extremely easy to use and versatile enough to fit multiple use cases.
FAQs: A Better Alternative to Kissmetrics
What can Kissmetrics track?
Kissmetrics allows you to track various user interactions and events, including page views, clicks, conversions, form submissions, and more. You can learn about user behavior, conversion funnels, retention, and customer lifetime value.
What makes Simple Analytics different from other analytics tools?
Simple Analytics distinguishes itself from other analytics programs by prioritizing privacy, providing an intuitive user interface, and accurate data visualization.
How does Simple Analytics handle user privacy?
Simple Analytics doesn't gather personal information or employ cookies because it is made with privacy in mind. Additionally, it complies with privacy regulations such as CCPA and GDPR compliance tools.
Is my data safe with Kissmetrics?
Kissmetrics takes data security seriously and takes precautions to protect user data. They adhere to industry best practices for data privacy, encryption, and compliance with the relevant regulations. Kissmetrics provides access controls and allows you to manage user permissions within your organization.