8 Best Google Analytics Alternatives (for Simplicity & Privacy) in 2025

Last Updated May 2, 2025

8 Best Google Analytics Alternatives (for Simplicity & Privacy) in 2025

If you’re interested in learning about Google Analytics alternatives, you’ve come to the right place today. I wrote this article for a few reasons:

Firstly, Google replaced Universal Analytics with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) last year. And if you found Universal Analytics already a bit complex, you probably hate GA4 (as do I, with passion).

Secondly, I care about my website visitors’ privacy. Yes, I’d like to know how they enter my site, what pages they click, and how my content is performing, but I don’t intend to resell their data for Google to print money (this basically what Google does and why Google Analytics is free).

Still, Google Analytics has an 81.6% market share, making it the biggest player, but alternatives are emerging. Let’s explore what the market has to offer.

1. Simple Analytics

If you hate GA4 and its complexity, you’ll love Simple Analytics. As the name suggests, it’s super simple and easy to install. Like Google Analytics, you’ll need to add their script to your website (or use Google Tag Manager). Within minutes, your dashboard starts filling with data and looks like this:

Simple Analytics is privacy-first and doesn’t collect personal data from your website visitors, while providing necessary insights. You can create events to count button clicks and website checkouts and setup conversions.

It’s free. You can set up Simple Analytics for free and use it forever. Only if you want to retain your data longer or need more features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan starting at $15 per month.

Features:

Privacy-first: No cookies or personal data collection.
Clean dashboard: Essential metrics only.
Event tracking: Custom events for clicks, checkouts, etc.
Adblocker bypass: bypass adblockers for accurate website visits
Google Analytics importer: Preserve historical data
Email reports: Scheduled summaries.

2. Matomo

Of all the alternatives, Matomo might come closest to resemble Google Analytics. It bears most of the complexities, but is privacy-friendly. They still track and collect personal data, but do this in a more secure way (according to their website).

You retain 100% data ownership and your data isn’t sold to third parties. With Matomo, you get the complexity and functions of Google Analytics but in a privacy-friendly way.

Matomo starts at $22/month for 50K pageviews. There’s no free plan, but you can self-host Matomo.

Features:

Full-featured: Ecommerce, heatmaps, A/B testing, etc.
100% data ownership: No third-party access.
GDPR compliant: Privacy-focused.
Self-hosted or cloud: Flexible deployment options.
Google Analytics importer: Migrate existing data

3. Fathom Analytics

Fathom analytics is again a ‘simple’ analytics tool. They focus on user experience with a simple dashboard showing all the needed metrics. No heatmaps, segments, or customization options. Just straightforward analytics.

You can self-host Fathom Analytics. The self-hosted version is called Fathom Lite. Comparing it to our first alternative, Simple Analytics, it’s probably a matter of taste. They are both privacy-friendly and easy to use. One thing to note is that Fathom still collects personal data (securely), whereas Simple Analytics doesn’t.

Features:

Simple UI: Real-time metrics on a single page.
Event tracking: Custom events for user interactions.
Email reports: Scheduled summaries.
Google Analytics importer: Preserve historical data.
No cookies: GDPR compliant without banners.

4. Plausible

Plausible is similar to Fathom and Simple Analytics. It’s a straightforward and easy-to-use analytics tool. It’s open-source and can be self-hosted. A notable difference is how Plausible collects data. Instead of collecting only non-personal data, it collects, stores and processes IP-address (in a hashed way).

Pricing starts at $9 per month for the basic plan. There’s a 14-day free trial, but no free offering (or you must use the open-source version). In their business offering, Plausible offers a richer feature set that includes funnels and custom properties.

Features:

Lightweight script: Fast loading, minimal impact.
No cookies: Fully GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant.
Open-source: Self-host or use hosted version.
Goal tracking: Conversions, revenue, campaigns.

5. Clicky

Clicky is an OG analytics tool (and you can tell). It’s barebones and looks like a product build in 2006. However, it does the job and is the cheapest.

If you need a simple analytics tool with insights in one dashboard (just not very slick), this might be an interesting shout. Clicky starts free for 3k daily pageviews.

There’s a 21-day free trial for premium features like heatmaps, uptime monitoring, segments, and Goals & Revenue.

Features:

Real-time analytics: Immediate data updates.
Heatmaps: Visualize user interactions.
Uptime monitoring: Track site availability.
Custom dashboards: Tailor reports to your needs.

6. Piwik

Piwik used to be part of Matomo (number two on this list). However, after disagreements in vision it split off into Piwik. They share the same premise: A privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative.

Piwik is more commercially focused than Matomo and lacks an open-source version. Last year Piwik was acquired by Cookie Information, but still operates as an independent analytics vendor.

Piwik matches Google Analytics 4 in features and customization. However, for a straightforward option, better alternatives exist. Pricing is enterprise-y.

Features:

Enterprise-focused: Advanced analytics suite.
Consent manager: Handle user permissions.
Tag manager: Manage tracking scripts.
Customer data platform: Integrate user data.
Flexible hosting: Cloud, on-premise, or private cloud.

7. Posthog

Posthog is a great tool. Their product is well organized and looks clean. Their branding is on point. Users love Posthog but it has a learning curve. Posthog is primarily a product analytics tool that also provides website analytics.

If you need an all-in-one solution to replace Google Analytics and are willing to get your hands dirty, this might be a good try. It’s open source with a generous free plan. The only downside is that it’s overkill if you just want website stats.

All-in-one platform: Analytics, session replay, feature flags.
Open-source: Self-host or use cloud version.
Product analytics: Funnels, cohorts, retention.
A/B testing: Run experiments easily.
Surveys: Collect user feedback.

8. Umami

Lastly, Umami is one of the newest analytics tools. They’ve focused on their open-source offering, but recently started offering a hosted solution as well.

Umami offers basic analytics but gets the job done. It’s a straightforward, easy-to-use tool with a generous free plan for up to 100K pageviews (6 months data retention) and is the cheapest option (along with Clicky).

Features:

Privacy-focused: No cookies or personal data collection.
Open-source: Self-hosted solution.
Real-time data: Immediate insights.
Custom events: Track specific user actions.
Intuitive dashboard: Clean and simple interface.

Is a Google Analytics Alternative Right for You?

There are plenty of analytics tools available. Don’t worry about finding the right replacement for Google Analytics; surely there’s one that fits your use case.

For a one-to-one GA4 replacement: Check out Matomo, Piwik, or Posthog for product analytics
For privacy-friendly and simple: Try Simple Analytics or Fathom
For a cheap option: Take Umami or Clicky for a spin

If you want to explore simpler analytics but wonder if you’d miss something in GA4, Simple Analytics wrote a great deep dive blog post about the differences in metrics, features, and overall comparison with Google Analytics.

Let me know if you have any questions or recommendations. Happy to help!

What is the best Google Analytics alternative if I want something simple and privacy-friendly?

If you want simple analytics and stronger privacy, start with Simple Analytics or Fathom Analytics. Both are made for people who want the key numbers without the GA4 learning curve.

Simple Analytics is built to avoid collecting personal data, and it keeps the dashboard clean with only the metrics most site owners need. It also supports event tracking for things like button clicks and checkouts.

Fathom is also very easy to use and focuses on a one-page dashboard. If you are deciding between them, the main difference mentioned in the post is that Fathom still collects some personal data (in a secure way), while Simple Analytics does not.

Which GA4 alternative is closest to a one-to-one replacement for advanced features?

If you want a GA4 style tool with lots of features, Matomo is the closest match in this list. It offers more complex reporting and includes options like ecommerce features and more detailed tracking.

Matomo is also privacy-focused and emphasizes data ownership, meaning you keep control of your analytics data. It is not “simple” like the lightweight tools, but it can feel more familiar if you are used to deep reports.

If you are comparing “full-suite” options, the post also points to Piwik and Posthog. Posthog is best when you want product analytics too, not just basic website stats.

Are there any free (or cheap) Google Analytics alternatives in 2025?

Yes. Clicky has a free plan for up to 3k daily pageviews, and Umami offers a generous free plan for up to 100K pageviews with 6 months of data retention.

Cheap can be a great fit if you only need basics like pageviews, referrers, and top pages. Just remember to check data retention limits and what features are locked behind paid plans.

If you want to get more value from whatever tool you choose, add campaign tracking links to your posts and promotions. The RightBlogger UTM Builder helps you create clean UTM links so your analytics reports are easier to trust.

Do privacy-first analytics tools still track events and conversions?

Yes. Many privacy-first tools still let you track events like button clicks, signups, and checkouts, plus conversions or goals.

In this post, Simple Analytics, Fathom, Plausible, and Umami all support event tracking in some form. That means you can measure what matters without needing a huge GA4 setup.

A good workflow is to pick 3 to 5 actions that match your business goals, then set events for only those. You can also review your results regularly using a simple routine like the one in this guide on content performance analysis.

How can RightBlogger help if I switch away from Google Analytics?

RightBlogger can help you turn your analytics insights into better content decisions faster. Once you know which posts and topics are doing well, you can use AI tools to update, expand, or create new content that matches what your readers already like.

A simple process is to check your top pages, then improve them with clearer titles, better structure, and stronger SEO. You can speed this up with RightBlogger SEO Reports, which helps you spot what to optimize on each post.

If you are publishing often, you can also keep your workflow consistent by drafting new posts based on proven topics using the RightBlogger AI Article Writer. This makes it easier to act on your analytics data instead of letting it sit in a dashboard.