Is Google Analytics Free Forever?
Google Analytics is a helpful tool that can help you track the amount of website traffic, where visitors come from, and how they engage with it.
As your business expands, however, you may require more sophisticated web analytics software tailored to fit your requirements. Here are some potential options you may want to consider:
1. Matomo
Matomo is a free and open source user insights platform that gives you full control of your data. Hosted on private servers with no third-party takeover, no on-selling of your information and no one looking in, Matomo gives you back your power!
Google Analytics is a widely-used web analytics tool, but some users are concerned about its use of their personal data for advertising purposes. In particular, the company collects information about each and every visitor to a website and uses that info to target ads at them. As a result, many people feel their privacy has been invaded by Google Analytics, leading them to seek alternative web analytics solutions instead.
Another major concern for many is Google Analytics’ dependence on data sampling, meaning it cannot guarantee accurate metrics based on all user information. This can lead to inconsistent reports and be especially frustrating for businesses that depend on Google Analytics to measure ecommerce sales, campaign success or referral traffic.
Matomo on the other hand is 100% cookieless, meaning it won’t track users without their consent. Plus, its advanced privacy controls and GDPR manager make it ideal not just for small businesses but also large enterprises.
Although both platforms provide the basic analytics metrics you require, Matomo stands out with its combination of Premium Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization features. For instance, it provides several tools not offered by Google Analytics such as heat maps and session recordings.
Direct marketing operations will find this platform to be an ideal fit, as it offers a host of advanced features that allow you to analyze campaigns and boost performance. For instance, its heat maps show where users click most often on your site – this helps determine if your layout is successful or not.
Matomo also offers a Cloud subscription, providing you with hands-free maintenance and support. That means you don’t need to worry about installing or managing the platform yourself; instead, focus on growing your business.
2. TinyAnalytics
There are plenty of free Google Analytics alternatives, but TinyAnalytics stands as one of the most popular. This software makes website analytics simple while abiding by UK privacy regulations. Plus, it boasts a few unique features that set it apart from its rivals.
For instance, this web analytics tool can be run on your own servers, unlike Google which consumes precious bandwidth and may prove more cost-effective than paid analytics solutions. Plus, it’s always free and effortless to set up, test, and scale. Perhaps its most impressive feature is its capacity for tracking user behavior over time – it tracks more than ten million unique visitors every month!
3. Piwik PRO
Piwik PRO is the only analytics suite designed specifically for data-sensitive industries. It guarantees full compliance with privacy and security laws around the world, and can be deployed both on-premises and in the cloud.
It boasts an extensive list of renowned capabilities, such as tag management, on-site retargeting, custom dashboards and reports, GDPR consent and more. Furthermore, the company offers a free Core plan which gives users access to most of its features without breaking the bank.
Piwik PRO offers a free version that enables businesses to track up to 500,000 sessions per month, while paid plans range from 14 months to 25 months. Furthermore, you can export raw analytics data directly into a data warehouse or business intelligence software.
Beyond that, it offers a host of features not available in Google Analytics such as user-level tracking and an advanced SEO dashboard. These can help boost conversion rates and page speed significantly.
Furthermore, it can collect granular user behavior data – particularly beneficial for ecommerce companies seeking to understand customer behaviour at the most individual level. This means you can tailor your content and messaging specifically to specific users in order to increase engagement.
Piwik PRO can even enable you to track your own website visitor behavior, giving you a unique understanding of how users engage with your content. Armed with this data, you can make informed decisions about next steps.
This is an ideal tool for assuring compliance with GDPR and other data privacy regulations, and it’s incredibly user-friendly to set up. Integrate it with your CRM or other applications to track data from all channels in one place.
If you’re not a fan of Google Analytics’ business model or just want more control over your data, Piwik PRO is worth trying out. It’s an innovative, transparent service that breaks barriers in data analytics by setting a new standard for privacy.
Piwik PRO, founded in Poland and recognized as a top analytics platform across Europe, is now offering its software free of charge in both the United States and worldwide after an exciting beta launch last fall.
4. Mixpanel
Mixpanel is a software solution that tracks user behavior on both mobile and web. It offers various reports to monitor KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and gauge user engagement on your website. Furthermore, you can build a dashboard to keep an eye on clicks and conversions.
DataCentric Analytics Platform focuses on user behavior such as signing up for a service, watching product demos, coming back to an old service after some time has passed and interacting with features of the product. With over 20,000 customers around the world using it to track over five trillion data points annually.
Mixpanel not only tracks user behaviors, but it also provides product management insights and a range of reporting tools. For instance, the Funnels Report and Flows Report help you comprehend where users get stuck during their journey. These reports enable you to test new features and identify the most effective channels for retention.
Comparative to Google Analytics, Mixpanel utilizes an event-based data model for tracking in-product interactions. This provides for a much deeper insight into user behavior.
For instance, when a customer purchases coffee from your cafe app, you can record this as an event. This event may contain properties like item type or price which are then linked back to the user’s profile.
The event-based model also allows for custom events. These can range from something as straightforward as an online purchase to ordering an entire set of products.
Mixpanel’s model is unique in that it includes properties for each event. These can include information such as the event date/time, item type/price, amount purchased per item, or more detailed data such as user’s name, age and location.
These properties can be linked to a user’s profile, providing insight into their engagement history in various ways. This allows you to make more informed decisions and create superior products for your customers.