Google Analytics is by far the most popular analytics tool for analyzing web traffic. With more than 40% of the web analytics market share, no one can deny its dominance. However, gone are the days when it used to be the only good web analytics tool on the market. Now, Google Analytics faces a big completion from several players. Also, the free version of Google Analytics which most websites use is quite limited. And the paid version, “Google Analytics 360” costs $150,000/year. That’s a big price tag which only large companies can afford. So, if you cannot afford to pay the huge sum but still want more features than what the free version offers, you need to look at the competition. And to make your hunt easier, we have compiled the list of the 7 best Google Analytics alternatives that you can use for analyzing web traffic.
Best Google Analytics Alternatives You Should Use in 2019
In this article, we have chosen 7 services similar to Google Analytics which can get the job done. While choosing the services, we have kept a few things in mind. While the accuracy of web analytics is out top priority, we have also considered things like feature set, ease of use, price tag, and more. So, depending on your needs, anyone of the seven web analytics services will serve you better than Google Analytics. With that out of the way, let’s get to our list, shall we?
Note: The price of services mentioned below varies depending on various factors such as page views, number of websites you want to track, number of users, and more. We are mentioning the base price of each service so you have an idea about the cost of the service. For exact pricing details for your usage needs, please click on the links to visit the website.
Web Analytics Services to Replace Google Analytics
1. Matomo
If you are looking for a powerful alternative to Google Analytics then you should check out Matomo. It brings a powerful all-in-one web analytics platform with extra features including Heatmaps, Sessions Recordings, A/B Testing, Funnels, Goals, Form Analytics, and more. One of the biggest advantages of using Matomo over Google Analytics is that it doesn’t use data sampling. For the unfamiliar, data sampling is a technique used by Google Analytics where it uses a subset of data to uncover meaningful information in the larger data set. That means you are not getting the real picture. Matomo, on the other hand, gives you 100% accurate data as there is no data sampling involved.
Here are the major features that you can expect from Matomo once you use this service:
- All the standard metrics you expect from a quality web analytics tool
- No data sampling
- Media analytics
- Conversion optimization (Using heat maps, session recordings, funnels, and more)
- Visitor profiles
- Enhanced SEO
- Custom reporting
- Campaign tracking
- Roll-Up reporting – combine reporting from multiple websites
As you can see, when it comes to the raw feature set, Google Analytics stands no chance against Matomo. Finally, the last reason why you should prefer Matomo over Google Analytics is its clear data ownership guidelines. Any analytics data that Matomo generates on your websites is only yours and the company doesn’t use the data for its benefits. So, if data privacy is something that matters to you, it’s one more reason to replace Google Analytics from your life.
Price: Free (on-premise), Essential Plan ($19/month) / Business Plan ($29/month) – For 50,000 page views/month
2. Open Web Analytics
If you are looking for a free and open-source alternative to Google Analytics then look no further than Open Web Analytics. OWA is an open source web analytics software that you can use to track and analyze how people use your websites and applications. OWA is very simple to use and provides developers with easy ways to add web analytics to their sites using simple Javascript, PHP, or REST based APIs. Despite being free and open-source software, OWA is quite robust when it comes to features, especially when you compare it to Google Analytics. Here are some of the features that you can expect from Open Web Analytics.
- JavaScript tracker
- Campaign tracking
- E-commerce tracking
- Conversion tracking
- Action tracking
- Data access API
- Heatmap and mouse movement tracking
- Data Filters
- eCommerce tracking
As it’s evident from the above features, Open Web Analytics can hold itself against Google Analytics any day. That being said, the software does come with a learning curve. The installation of OWA on your website is not as easy as Google Analytics. So, you will have to spend some time to learn how to execute and use all its features. However, once you do, you will be using web analytics software which is truly open-source and completely free to use.
Price: Free (Donation is used for funding the development so donate if you love this software)
3. Clicky
Clicky is one of the best real-time web analytics tools on the market. Boasting more than 1.2 million websites as its customers, Clicky brings a robust feature set that can easily let you replace Google Analytics. The biggest feature of Clicky is that all the reports it generates are in real-time. And when I say real-time it means up to the last minute. So, if you are someone who requires the latest accurate reports without any time delay, then Clikcy is for you. Here are the features Clicky brings to the table:
- Real-time reporting
- In-depth analytics reporting (data set is far larger and diverse than Google Analytics)
- Individual user reports
- Site heatmaps
- On-site analytics (for different pages of your website)
- Uptime monitoring
- Mobile-friendly interface
- Dynamic goals reporting
As if the features mentioned above were not the reason enough for using Clicky, the service crushes other Google Analytics alternatives with its aggressive pricing system which knocks most of its competition out of the water. The bottom line is that you cannot go wrong with Clicky. Sometimes users take a loot at its aging website design and take it for a lower quality product. However, believe me when I say that Clicky brings the best balance of performance and pricing on this list.
Price: Free, $9.99/month – For 900,000 pageviews/month
4. GoSquared
If you cannot digest the older design language of Clicky then you should check out GoSquared. GoSquared is a powerful web analytics tool that brings probably the best looking web analytics dashboard of all the tools mentioned on this list including Google Analytics. Its award winning dashboards work on any device and adapt to your device’s screen size. I mean, just look at the example dashboard above and see how clearly and beautifully the data is arranged. With one look, you can get an overview. Well, apart from the gorgeous dashboards, GoSquared also brings advanced web analytics tools, some of which are mentioned below:
- Real-time analytics with fast load time
- Minute by minute timeline
- Traffic spike alerts
- All the web analytics report such as concurrent users, engaged time, top content, a map view, and more
- Daily email reports
- Full documented REST API
- Support for unlimited team members
- No setup required (Just install GoSquared on your website and it will pull in all the information)
- Data from website visitors is anonymized and not used by the company.
- Fully GDPR compliant
- Third-party app integration
As you can see, GoSquared is perfect for publishers and bloggers who want an in-depth analysis of their website. The service provides you not only past data like post-performance, engagement time, bounce rate, etc but also gives you live reports such as traffic spike alerts, downtime alerts, and more. If you own a web publishing business, GoSquared can replace Google Analytics for you.
Price: Free (1000 page views), $29/month for 100,000 monthly page views
5. Kissmetrics
The motto of kissmetrics is that advanced analytics should not break the bank and if you are looking for Google Analytics alternatives, you too believe the same, don’t you? That being said, Kissmetrics brings an entirely different set of features that might not be good enough for users who just want to track user data like page views, bounce rate, and more on their website. Instead, the service focuses on giving users in-depth information on user engagement, campaign tracking, and more. Kissmetrics is more suitable for businesses who want to track their customer’s behaviors to find out where their product is failing and what can be improved to increase user retention and conversion rates.
However, that also means that if you are a blogger or publisher who just wants to get content-based analytics you are not in luck. Because even if you get those metrics, you will end up paying too much. So do keep this in mind before checking it out. So, now that we are clear on the subject, here are features that Kissmetrics brings to the table.
- Unlimited A/B testing
- Real-time data monitoring
- Unlimited funnel reports
- Automated precise email campaigns with tracking
- Customer targeting on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms
- eCommerce support
Kissmetrics brings a unique feature set which makes it a better tool for businesses who are into customer acquisition for their service or products. If your business demands this, you should check it out.
Price: No pricing details available. Request a demo from the link below and they will tailor the pricing to your needs.
6. Woopra
Woopra is another powerful web analytics tool that gives power to users to form data-driven solutions. The service focuses on providing real solutions for problems leading to lower customer retention and conversion rates. One of the best features of Woopra is its ability to generate practical cohort reports that can help teams analyze growth trends over time by monthly or quarterly basis. This is important to track customer behavior over time so you can plan effectively. Other features of Woopra web analytics include:
- Simple graphical representation of data
- Journey reports for website, marketing campaigns, and more
- Trends report for measuring attributes like product usage, subscription changes, and more
- Customer retention reports
- Customer behavior reports
- Automation
- Third-party app integration
As it is visible from the feature list, Woopra is more like Kissmetrics rather than Google Analytics. This means while you can use this for web analytics purposes as a blogger or publisher, it is more focused on businesses who are selling courses, products, or software. A good thing about Woopra is that it offers a robust free plan to get you started. If your company is in the business of selling things rather than publication, this is a feasible Google Analytics alternative for you.
Price: Free (500K actions with 90-day data retention), $999/month (5 million actions with 24 months data retention)
7. StatCounter
The final web analytics tool that we are featuring on this list is StatCounter which brings robust built-in tools to help you not only analyze your traffic trends over time but also find out the problems that are resulting in higher bounce rates and lower customer retention rates. One of the best features of StatCounter is that it allows you to separately track your paid traffic data and automatically detects any click frauds so you don’t end up paying for fake clicks. Here are some of the other features that StatCounter brings to the table:
- Key metrics tracking (page views, sessions, visitors, new visitors, and more)
- Alerts for individual users
- Metrics for different attributes such as traffic sources, visitor locations, popular pages, exit links and more.
- Google Keyword analyzer
- Email reports
- Bounce rate broken by page
- Visitor activity feed and visitor path tracking
- Powerful report filters with report export
As you can see, unlike Kissmetrics and Woopra, StatCounter is mainly meant for publishers and bloggers. The service gives you way more detail than the free Google Analytics tool. It’s also way more affordable than the paid version of Google Analytics. I also love StatCounter’s dashboard which is easy to read and displays information in a more consumable manner. Overall, it’s one of the best web analytics tools on the market.
Price: Free (500 pageviews/month), $9/month (100,000 pageviews/month)
SEE ALSO: How to Remove Google from Your Life to Take Charge Of Your Privacy
Choose the Best Web Analytics Tools for Your Business
That ends our article on the best Google Analytics alternatives. I have included 7 powerful options keeping both price and features in mind. Whether you are a publisher, a blogger, or an eCommerce business owner, you can find one web analytics service here that will suit you way better than Google Analytics. I have also included both free and cheap services so that no matter what your budget, you can find one service for you. And since most of them offer a free service or a free trial, you can check them out before deciding to spend any money. If you have any questions regarding web analytics, ask in the comments section below and we will be happy to help you out.
