Google Analytics vs Fathom Analytics vs Simple Analytics vs Clicky

The once awesome Google Analytics is now GA4. In my opinion, it's a regression in usability but power users may like the advanced capabilities. There are fewer built-in reports now so you'll have to use the built-in report builder tool or Looker Studio if you need advanced reports that used to exist by default. This is an issue for most casual users as they are not easy to create. You can still get some general data with the built-in reports like visits, some attribution and e-commerce revenue.

Fathom is a privacy-first Google Analytics alternative tool. They have gone above and beyond to ensure privacy. Their reports and the user interface are similar to Plausible.io. Simple and easy to use.  They do have filtering but it’s not as advanced as Plausible. 

Simple Analytics is also a privacy-first Google Analytics alternative tool. Their interface is the simplest and easy to use and understand. But this is at the cost or more advanced features that Plausible and Fathom have. 

Clicky has been around a long time and one look at the website and you can tell. It’s also now privacy first. The user interface is fairly unique compared to the other services but is still easy to use. Again the biggest turn off for some may be the look. I actually like it. Reminds me of the early web. But the tool still has lots of functionality built in.

• It’s FREE
• Lots of Integrations
• Large Community for Help

• Filtering and Drill-down views
• Ultra Privacy First
• Goal Tracking
  
  

• Super Simple Interface
• Privacy First
• Goals and Events Tracking

• Fast and Easy to Use
• Robust features and reports like heat mapping, uptime montoring
• Competitive pricing for the features you get

• Lack of Built-In Reports
• Slow
• Bugy
  
  

• Privacy First means less accurate data
• No ability to create custom reports
• May be too simple depending on your needs

• Least amount of built-in reports of the Privacy First analytics tools
• Limited filtering
• May be too simple for some

• 90's / early 2000's User Interface
• Forums for support
• Not many updates or recent developments

The main thing GA4 has going for it is that it is free. Besides that, it’s kind of a pain. I use it for general analytics and I built and use conversiontracking.com for ecommerce tracking.

I like Fathom and it is very similar to Plausible. I personally prefer the UI of Plausible. Ultimately they are very similar in regards to the features you get. Plausible seems to have a bit more capabilities but Fathom is a bit cheaper.

I like Simple Analytics, but it is a bit to simple and for the cost there are better privacy-first alternatives. They do have a Free plan but it denotes fair use. Not sure what that means.

Clicky is just OK, I feel there are better alternatives in the price range.

Pricing: FREE - larger sites will be sampled.

Pricing is based on pageviews and there is no feature gating on plans. Offer a free trial with a credit card. Get 2 months free on annual plans.

Pricing: Starts at $15 per month for 100,000 page views

Plans are based on monthly pageviews and are feature-gated. Free plan. 2 months free with annual plans.

Free:  Fair use unlimited pageviews
Simple: Starts at $10 per month for 10k pageviews
Team: Starts at $40 per month for 10k pageviews

Pricing is based on pageviews and feature gated. Free plan. Offers annual pricing discounts with 33% off.

Free: Free plan offers 3,000 pageviews
Pro: $9.99 per month for 30,000 pageviews
Pro Plus: $14.99 per month for 30,000 pageviews
Pro Platinum: 19.99 per month for 100,000 pageviews