Google Analytics Sucks: Over 3 Privacy-Focused Alternatives

Google Analytics sucks. Since the launch of Google Analytics 4 in 2020, many users have struggled to get an at-a-glance view of their website's performance. Google made the dashboard more complicated, and it honestly feels like you need a degree in data science to understand it. So what happened to Google Analytics, and what are some viable alternatives to track your site's performance?

The Downfall of Universal Analytics

Over the past few years, Google Analytics has transitioned away from the legacy universal analytics platform to GA4. Google Analytics used to be most people's go-to solution for tracking site metrics. It was easy, reliable, and free for most users. That all changed when Google started to face pressure for its invasive data collection practices.

When GDPR was passed in Europe, along with the California Consumer Privacy Act in 2018, Google was forced to pivot quickly and reimagine its analytics platform in a more privacy-respecting way, and that led to the swift rollout of Google Analytics 4, or GA4 for short. GDPR is the reason GA4 no longer stores IP addresses or other personally identifiable information. These changes make it more difficult to track individual user sessions, meaning GA4 limits the type of data you can see compared to the legacy universal analytics.

However, none of this explains why the dashboard in GA4 is so bad. It's not just that valuable data is no longer available; the data that GA4 does track is incredibly difficult to visualize. And these days, when more and more users are trying to get away from Google, why are we still willingly installing a Google tracking script to hand over visitor data to Google?

For many, defaulting to Google Analytics is a habit, since it has always been seen as the standard platform to use. But the irony is that since migrating to GA4, many find themselves not even checking their dashboards anymore. It's so confusing and unhelpful that it's easy to forget it even exists.

The Search for a Better Solution

That's why it's worth exploring a few Google Analytics alternatives with several main goals in mind.

• Accessibility: An ideal analytics platform should be accessible and easy to digest. If you feel like you have to be a data analyst to make sense of the dashboard, it's not the right fit.
• Respect for Data: The platform must respect not only user privacy but also the analytics data itself. The idea of trusting a single large corporation with all site analytics is concerning, so trustworthiness is a key factor for any alternative.

It's important to note that this review comes from the perspective of an average business owner looking for basic website metrics, not an expert in data analysis or marketing. The focus won't be on drilling down into super-advanced features or reports. However, there are many takeaways on the pros and cons of these platforms, even when sticking to the basic features.

Also, every platform examined here offers a self-hosting option for more privacy and control. But for simplicity, this article will focus on the cloud versions of each platform.

1. Umami

The first alternative is Umami. Umami is an open-source platform that's GDPR-compliant by default. You don't need to show any cookie consent banners to use it, and it's really easy to get started. You're able to pick whether your data is stored in the US or EU, and once you add the tracking script to your site, you're good to go.

Umami presents a simple, at-a-glance screen to see site views, traffic sources, visitor location, and other basics. Unfortunately, Umami has no way to import Google Analytics data, so you're going to have to wait a few days for data to populate before you can get a feel for the dashboard. For more detailed information, Umami lets you generate reports on retention, visitor journey, and funnels.

Umami is the only platform in this article with a free plan on the cloud version. To clarify, all of these platforms can be self-hosted for free on your own server, but that requires technical knowledge, and you have to pay the server bill where it's hosted.

Pricing & Features: * Free Plan: Tracks up to 10,000 monthly events on up to three websites with one year of data retention. * Pro Plan: Starts at $9 a month for up to 100,000 monthly events, unlimited websites, and five years of data retention. Some features like email reports, teams, and API access are restricted to the pro plan.

Umami lets you export your data to a CSV file at any time, so you can archive your data before the retention period ends if you want an offline copy. Now, Umami can be used on any website—basically anywhere you can add your own HTML code to the site's header. However, for WordPress users, it's worth noting that Umami doesn't have any WordPress-specific integrations. There's a third-party plugin to install Umami, but it's not that difficult to install without it. Still, there's no integration to sync conversion data from WooCommerce or other parts of WordPress.

2. Plausible

Plausible is an open-source analytics platform that is GDPR-compliant. All analytics are taken anonymously, and data is processed exclusively in the EU. Plausible can be installed with an HTML snippet, just like Umami, or you can use the official WordPress plugin to activate it.

You can import Google Analytics data, which makes it much easier to get a feel for the dashboard while you wait for live site metrics to roll in. There's also an integration with Google Search Console, so you can see which search terms your site is ranking for right in the Plausible dashboard.

When you set it up using the WordPress plugin, you can toggle enhanced measurements like: * 404 error pages * Outbound links * Search queries * E-commerce revenue

If you use WooCommerce, tracking e-commerce revenue automatically creates custom events for when a visitor adds to cart, removes from cart, starts checkout, and completes checkout, including purchase totals. The WordPress plugin also allows you to bypass ad blockers with a proxy. It does this by running the Plausible script as a first-party connection on your domain name, so it won't get flagged by ad blockers.

The Plausible dashboard is simple and easy to navigate, and you can set up goals, custom events, and funnels right from the main screen. You can also toggle weekly or monthly email reports in the site settings, including reports on sudden traffic surges or drops.

Pricing & Features: * Starter Plan: $9 a month for up to 10 websites, 10,000 monthly page views, and three years of data retention. * Scaled Plan: For $19 a month, you can scale up to a hundred thousand monthly page views. * Business Plan: Custom properties, funnels, and e-commerce revenue attribution are reserved for the business plan, which is double the price of the starter plan. So if you require a hundred thousand monthly page views and want the extra features, the business plan will cost $39 a month.

3. Matomo

The third analytics platform is Matomo. Just like the others, Matomo is open-source and GDPR-compliant by default, with servers located in the EU. To activate Matomo, you can either add the HTML snippet to your site or you can install the WordPress plugin.

The WordPress setup guide can seem intimidating. It's really not that difficult to set up; you just install the plugin and follow a few steps to connect it to your Matomo account. But the 18-step guide makes it seem much more complicated than it is.

Thankfully, Matomo allows you to import Google Analytics data, so you can get a feel for the dashboard from day one. Unfortunately, importing Google Analytics data generates a new site in Matomo. You can't merge sites, so you either have to update the tracking script on your website to the new site created by the import, or you'll just have two websites in your dashboard.

Matomo also integrates with Google Search Console, similar to Plausible, and the WordPress plugin can sync WooCommerce data to track actions like adding items to cart and completed transactions. The dashboard is the most customizable of the three platforms, allowing you to add and move widgets as desired. You can see the basics at a glance, and you can drill down to view visitors, behavior, acquisition, funnels, heat maps, and more.

Matomo is more advanced than the other platforms reviewed here, and that comes at the cost of simplicity. The WordPress plugin has numerous settings that can be configured, so it may not be the best fit for the average user. It seems more focused on developers who know exactly what they're doing and can fine-tune settings to make it run exactly how they want.

Pricing & Features: The pricing for Matomo might cause some initial sticker shock. The cheapest plan is $26 a month for 50,000 views on up to 30 websites. This seems expensive when Plausible starts at $9 a month and Umami has a free plan, but Plausible hides some of its features behind the business plan. When you compare Matomo's hundred-thousand-view plan to Plausible's Business Plan, Matomo is only $3 more expensive. Considering the extra flexibility and added value with heat maps and session recordings, Matomo looks like a great value.

A Note on Ad Blockers

With that being said, one issue with both Matomo and Umami is that views are not counted from browsers that have ad blockers. Browsers like Brave, Opera, and Firefox have built-in tracker blockers, and since these browsers are gaining market share, you could be missing out on a lot of legitimate views in your analytics.

There are workarounds for all three platforms, but Plausible makes this simple if you're using WordPress. In Matomo, you still have to perform additional technical steps to make this work, and it's something the average user is unlikely to do. To be fair, Google Analytics has been blocked by these same tracker blockers for years, but the idea of an analytics platform being able to work around this is appealing. Unfortunately, in Matomo, it's difficult to set up.

Honorable Mention: Fathom

An honorable mention is Fathom. While not tested in detail for this article due to a focus on fully open-source platforms, it's another common alternative to Google Analytics. It starts at $15 a month for a hundred thousand page views and offers a simple, straightforward experience, similar to Umami. It's fully GDPR-compliant, with traffic from the EU rerouting through its EU servers.

Final Verdict: Which Alternative is Best?

So in the end, which Google Analytics alternative is best?

• For a free, basic solution: If you just need a free, basic solution for low-traffic websites, use Umami. The free plan is good for up to 10,000 monthly events, and that can be increased to a hundred thousand monthly events for just $9 a month. Umami doesn't reserve any features for higher plans, making it an insanely good value.
• For WordPress users: If you use WordPress, consider Plausible. The ability to seamlessly import Google Analytics data and the deep integration with WordPress, including WooCommerce data, is invaluable. The proxy feature can be easily enabled in the WordPress plugin to bypass ad blockers, and this is something that takes a lot more technical setup with other platforms.
• For power users: If you're a power user and you want full control over everything, go with Matomo. It's not for everyone. It's a bit too advanced for average needs, but it's customizable enough to do most anything. The session recordings and heat maps are also a significant value-add you won't find in the other platforms.

After years of defaulting to Google Analytics out of habit, switching to a platform like Plausible can be a happy transition for many WordPress site owners. It's an opportunity to actually pay attention to analytics again, which will help improve site performance.