On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will no longer process data. You’ll be able to see your Universal Analytics reports for a period of time after July 1, 2023. However, new data will only flow into your GA 4 properties.

This means that Universal Analytics will no longer receive and process new data as of July 1, 2023. Existing reports will still be displayed for a transition period, after which they will apparently be deleted (!).

The date still seems quite far in the future. In fact, companies already have to act by June 2022!

Why act now? I still have plenty of time, don’t I?

Many web analytics reports are based on year-over-year (YOY) comparisons. This means that you compare current values with those from exactly one year ago.

This type of analysis is more meaningful than, for example, a comparison with the previous month, since seasonality does not play a role in an annual comparison.

Of course, you could switch to another solution just before Universal Analytics shuts down – and then compare the numbers from the new solution with those from Universal Analytics a year ago. However, this is not a very good idea:

• It’s imprecise. Each analytics solution has its own measurement methods, some of which are slightly different. So if you’re comparing data from two different tools, you’re going to have discrepancies for that reason alone.
• It’s costly. If the data from the previous year is in the same software, you can make comparisons directly in each report. If the data is in two different tools, you would have to export the data to i. e. Excel and compare them manually. This not only takes a lot of time, but is also prone to errors.

So there are good reasons to migrate to a new solution more than a year in advance of the shutdown of the previous Google Analytics (Universal Analytics).

Which new Analytics solution should I choose? Google Analytics 4 or an alternative?

Google recommends that users of the previous Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) migrate to the new Google Analytics 4.

The advantage of Google Analytics 4 is the same as that of Universal Analytics: the solution does not cost money.

Instead, website operators pay the service with their users’ data. Google, in turn, uses this data to display advertising to these users.

And there are other disadvantages:

• Time and effort. The interface and concept of Google Analytics 4 is fundamentally different from that of the previous Google Analytics (Universal Analytics). Companies must therefore invest a lot of time and effort in the configuration of the software and the training of their employees.
• Privacy. In Switzerland, a new, much stricter Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) will come into force in September 2023. This poses a legal risk for companies to send personal data to the US. And in the EU, the situation regarding the use of Google Analytics is already legally complicated. In July 2020, the European Court of Justice overturned the Privacy Shield, which until then had governed the protection of data transferred between the EU and the USA. This Privacy Shield has so far been replaced in a makeshift manner by so-called standard contractual clauses. Recent decisions show that this situation is vulnerable. In January 2022, for example, the Austrian data protection authority prohibited the use of precisely Google Analytics in a specific case. And a Wiesbaden court recently banned a university from using a content management solution from the USA.

If I don’t want to migrate to Google Analytics 4, what are my alternatives?

There are numerous analytics solutions that offer comparable functionality to Google Analytics while providing a higher level of data protection.

Instead of paying for these solutions with their users’ data, companies pay a fee for their use. In return, the providers guarantee that data will not be passed on and will be particularly well protected.

Friendly Analytics is the most popular Swiss web analytics solution and serves as a data-saving alternative. Functionally and in terms of operation, Friendly Analytics is very similar to the classic Google Analytics. At the same time, Friendly Analytics is backed by a Swiss company and stores all data with providers headquartered in Switzerland or the EU (your choice).

Conclusion

Companies should definitely migrate to a new web analytics solution by June 2022 in order to be able to make year-on-year comparisons when evaluating in the future.

Whether the new solution should be Google Analytics 4 or an alternative such as Friendly Analytics is something each company must decide for itself based on its priorities such as costs and data protection.

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But even though Google Analytics doesn’t cost money, companies pay for it: with the data of their website visitors.

More and more companies are questioning this deal by themselves – or they are being encouraged to do so by stricter data privacy laws, for example in the EU and Switzerland.

The good news is that once you start digging, you will find that there are quite a few alternatives to Google Analytics, many of which have their unique features that are hard to match by anyone else.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the top web analytics tools you could consider. But first, let’s explore what web analytics is.

What is Web Analytics? 

Web Analytics refers to the tracking and analysis of user behavior on a website. This includes, for example, the number of page views, the time spent on the page, the quantity and origin of visitors, and many others.

Companies can use this data to understand user behavior, optimize the site according to key metrics, and make more informed decisions.

Most web analytics work by loading a JavaScript snippet in the website’s code. Then this tag can measure each visitor’s behavior, including how long they visited, their activity, any links they click, and more.

Many analytics tools use cookies to identify individual users over multiple visits. However, in an increasing number of regions, websites must obtain consent before setting cookies or storing personal data.

Using such a consent management platform is bad for the user experience. Additionally, any collection of personal data presents a legal challenge with corresponding risks.

For this reason, some web analytics tools, such as Friendly Analytics, have decided to completely avoid setting cookies or storing personal data.

Top Web Analytics Tools

Not too long ago, there wasn’t that much to choose from in terms of web analytics tools. But that’s no longer the case.

Let’s look at the leading tools you should consider in 2021 and explore what each of them can offer.

1. Friendly Analytics

Many analytics tools treat website visitors as data points rather than people with a right to privacy.

For this reason, Friendly Analytics does things differently. Unlike most other solutions, it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. 

Also, Friendly Analytics processes all data at local providers in Switzerland or Germany (EU). After the termination of the EU-US Privacy Shield, this is a big legal advantage for companies operating in Europe – especially in comparison to Google Analytics.

Friendly Analytics can do more than just data protection, however. The software offers all the features of a professional analytics solution, including evaluation of website behavior and visitor sources, conversion tracking including funnels, and a complete tag manager.

Technically, Friendly Analytics is a privacy-optimized version of Matomo (formerly Piwik), the world’s most popular open-source web analytics solution.

Thanks to open source, there is no lock-in effect – switching to another provider that relies on the same software, or even hosting your own, is possible at any time.

Friendly Analytics has already been able to win numerous well-known customers, including the Government of Greenland, Joop.com, and the Canton of Zürich.

Pricing: from $9 /mo
Website: friendly.is/analytics

2. Plausible

Plausible is an increasingly popular alternative to Google Analytics. Like Friendly Analytics, it offers good data protection as it also does not set cookies, does not store personal data, and is compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR.

Plausible also hosts all of its data in the EU – though not with a provider from the EU, but at the Frankfurt location of a cloud provider from the USA.

The user interface is easy to use, so even the less tech-savvy can quickly set up tracking and start collecting data.

However, there are drawbacks to this simplicity. Plausible offers only a limited feature set. You get the most important reports – but if you want to dig a little deeper, you won’t get much further with Plausible.

Pricing: from $6 /mo
Website: plausible.io

3. Simple Analytics

Simple Analytics is another analytics tool that scores with simplicity and clarity. Like Friendly Analytics and Plausible, it refrains from the use of cookies and the storage of personal data.

This makes it privacy-friendly and well suited for beginners. It provides all the basic reports like top pages, referrals, and breakdown by country and device.

As with Plausible, simplicity is also its drawback. Unlike more powerful tools such as Friendly Analytics or Google Analytics, Simple Analytics offers very limited functionality. For example, there is no way to track conversions.

The company behind Simple Analytics is based in the Netherlands in the EU. The hosting of the data is also in the Netherlands with a local provider, which is another advantage for data protection.

Pricing: from €19 /mo
Website: simpleanalytics.com

4. Matomo Cloud

Matomo Cloud, like Friendly Analytics, is based on the open source software Matomo.

Thanks to the integration of numerous premium plugins, Matomo Cloud offers a very extensive range of features. In addition to all the standard reports, it offers such things as heatmaps, session recording, A/B testing, and custom reports.

Matomo Cloud hosts its users’ data in Frankfurt, Germany – though not with a European provider, but with Amazon. Also, the company behind Matomo Cloud is not based in Europe, but in New Zealand.

Both of these points, unfortunately, decisively weaken Matomo Cloud’s privacy protection.

Pricing: from €29 /mo
Website: matomo.org/matomo-cloud/

5. AWStats

AWStats is a free analytics tool designed to track web, streaming, FTP, or mail server statistics in a graphical way. The tool is relatively simple, providing visual data from your log files and can offer information about visits, users, locations, and much more.

The software is free, is based on open-source code, and only requires access to server log files to produce helpful analytics data.

It’s important to note that unlike other top web analytics tools on this list, AWStats does not track individual website visitors or users across multiple sites and instead is used for evaluating activity on servers.

If you understand the limitations of AWStats and use it as an overview of your server activity, then it’s a fantastic tool that can be very useful. But at the same time, it can’t really compare to the broad scope of features offered by other analytics tools.

Pricing: Free
Website: awstats.sourceforge.io

6. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is still the elephant in the room. The search engine giant’s Analytics software is used on over 50 million websites, with a market share of over 80%

It provides all the basic reports for evaluating website traffic. And because most marketeers are used to it, it’s relatively easy to use.

In addition, Google Analytics doesn’t cost website owners any money. However, even though Google Analytics doesn’t cost money, as mentioned at the beginning, companies pay for it: with the data of their website visitors.

Google earns a lot of money with advertising. To do this, the company needs data that website visitors provide involuntarily. Plus, as a U.S. company, Google stores data in the U.S. and must cooperate with the NSA intelligence agency.

And there are other disadvantages. For example, Google Analytics does not evaluate all visits, but only a part of them. The software then extrapolates this part to the totality of visitors. This “sampling” saves computing power, but is less accurate.

Also there are limitations: the free version is capped at 10 million hits (pageviews) per month and 500 hits per session. That’s enough for most sites – but larger sites will have to switch to the paid version, Google Analytics 360 (see below), and then it gets quite expensive.

Pricing: Free
Website: analytics.google.com

7. Google Analytics 360

Google Analytics 360 offers more features than the free version while removing some of the limitations.

Additional features include raw data export and data-driven attribution.

Also, the limitation of 10 million hits (pageviews) per month and 500 hits per session is removed. And Google Analytics 360 evaluates each individual visit, so it doesn’t use “sampling.”

However, Google makes you pay dearly for these advantages – Analytics 360 costs from $135,000 per year for up to 500 million hits.

Pricing: from $150,000 /year
Website: marketingplatform.google.com

8. Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics is a professional analytics solution not only for websites, but for all marketing channels.

Users praise the software’s extensive functionality and high customizability. However, both are associated with a high complexity of the interface and great training effort.

Adobe Analytics isn’t cheap, either: prices start from $30,000 per year.

When it comes to privacy, Adobe doesn’t have the best reputation. The software company is headquartered in the U.S. and accordingly transmits data there.

Pricing: from $30,000 /year
Website: business.adobe.com

9. Hotjar

Hotjar is different from most of the tools in this review. It positions itself not as a general web analytics tool, but as conversion optimization software.

The heart of Hotjar is heatmaps. With it, you can measure where website visitors dwell with the mouse and where they click. From this, you can draw conclusions about which part of the website generates the most attention, and whether there are any weaknesses in the user experience.

Another feature is screen recordings, which is the recording of complete user sessions including mouse movement and navigation across different subpages of the website.

From a privacy perspective, however, both heatmaps and session recordings are tricky because they can reveal personal data if no precautions are taken. Hotjar is also a US company and therefore also transmits data to the USA.

The software is free for up to 2,000 page views per month, after which pricing starts at $99 per month.

Pricing: free / from $99 /mo
Website: hotjar.com

10. Mixpanel

Mixpanel is a business analytics tool that’s especially popular among SaaS companies. It offers an easy-to-use web interface and comes with features such as KPI tracking on websites and mobile apps, funnel analysis, and even the ability to contact users directly through the dashboard.

The last feature is particularly intriguing for SaaS companies. It doubles as a sort of marketing automation tool that allows using the insights and data to segment direct messages based on events and activity. 

This analytics platform is designed with the SaaS business model in mind, allowing companies to get real-time insights not just about website activity but also about how the users interact with the product. 

However, some users cite a steep learning curve and the lack of key features for SaaS companies, such as tracking installations and few configuration options on charts.

If you’re a SaaS company that wants a product-based analytics solution, this is an interesting option to consider. But for others, the available features won’t really be as valuable, and other top web analytics tools will probably make more sense.

Mixpanel has its headquarters in the USA and consequently also transfers data there.

Pricing: Free version / pro plans from $25 /mo
Website: mixpanel.com

Bottom Line: What Should You Choose?

Which solution should you choose? The answer depends on the size of your business, your industry, your needs, and a variety of other factors, among others. One fundamental factor you should consider, however, is the security of the data you collect.

If you want to comply with EU and Swiss data protection laws, you should look for a provider that is ethical, transparent, and willing to store your data where it is adequately protected.

Friendly Analytics offers both a rich feature set and strong privacy protections. Feel free to try it for free.

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