Best Web Analytics in 2024

The landscape of web analytics is growing, and new options are appearing on the market every month. With a plethora of choices, consumers and businesses are spoiled for choice.

So, which web analytics should you avoid, which should you shortlist, and which should you go to and outright buy?

This will not be just another listicle. Yes, you are reading this on a blog that belongs to one of the vendors. Yes, we will give you a list of reasons why you should use Wide Angle Analytics. However, we're not insecure to not recommend a different product if it better suits your specific needs.

We will consider the following categories:

• Web Analytics for Enterprises with sophisticated needs
• Web Analytics for small and medium businesses and agencies
• Web Analytics for self-hosting
• Web Analytics for businesses without EU/EAA users or customers

Top 4 Web Analytics in 2024

Matomo

Category: Best choice for large enterprises.

Matomo is a well-established web analytics solution. It has tons of features ranging from A/B testing, custom tag manager, user flow, custom reports, and more. It is a powerhouse in web analytics.

That versatility comes with a hefty bill. And many advanced features come at an additional premium.

That said, if price does not scare you off, you should shortlist Matomo and review its large catalogue of features.

An added bonus is that you can self-host it if you have in-house IT resources to spare.

Wide Angle Analytics

Category: Best web analytics for small and medium businesses and media agencies.

Wide Angle Analytics is a cloud-based, SaaS web analytics built and hosted strictly on EU cloud solutions. We started with strict compliance in mind, making sure to offer our clients and partners an iron-clad guarantee of compliance.

We believe that you ought to have a choice. While Wide Angle Analytics is cookieless by default, you have the choice to enable cookies and other forms of user fingerprinting. We offer you a full spectrum of tracking capabilities. Strictly compliant default mode without cookie banner, and more reliable user tracking once you collect explicit consent.

Feature-wise, Wide Angle Analytics offers rich web analytics, map views, dynamic and easy-to-use filters. We make it easy to analyse bounce rate, time spent on pages, entry, and exit content, and we offer you very flexible custom events which allow you to track and analyse interactions with your website.

Wide Angle Analytics is not on par with Matomo when it comes to features. However, our feature list keeps growing and always includes new features in existing plans without added cost to existing users.

That said, while Matomo limits reporting to just the top 1000 pages, Wide Angle Analytics has no such limit. You should definitely check out Wide Angle's feature set before making your decision.

For media agencies supporting multiple customers, we offer powerful yet easy to use permissions. You can segment dashboards and assign specific sites to selected customers and their users.

Plausible

Category: Self-hosted web analytics.

Plausible Analytics is a well-known, open-source web analytics platform. It is a cookieless web analytics that offers basic web analytics and rudimentary reports.

Plausible offers its product as a self-hosted, free open-source solution which you maintain yourself. It has a good reputation and has received positive feedback from the community.

There is also a cloud-based edition, which, like Wide Angle Analytics, costs money.

However, with Plausible, you have to very closely research and scrutinize the privacy and compliance of their cloud solution. You will be hard-pressed to find details of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) in their privacy policy, and you must consider the impact of their support and email channels being hosted in the US. How this impacts your data protection assessments might complicate your GDPR compliance.

We recommend you shortlist Plausible if you are into self-hosting your web analytics and need just simple analytics.

Google Analytics

Category: Customer base outside the EU/EEA.

Google Analytics does not require introductions. It is often considered a synonym for web analytics. It is extremely feature-rich and offers very flexible reporting.

Until June 2023, it was, for the most part, illegal in the EU. We reported on numerous compliance issues with Google Analytics in the past. Although it is legal today, the privacy and compliance community has serious doubts that the Data Protection Framework between the EU and US, which made GA legal again, will withstand upcoming legal challenges.

Legal hurdles aside, Google Analytics, and recently Google Analytics 4 (GA4), is suffering from issues and delays in reporting, causing a great deal of frustration among users.

Google Analytics is a great and flexible tool, but those entering the field of web analytics might feel overwhelmed. Just search online for GA consultants. There is plenty of demand for professional support.

Conclusion

• If your enterprise needs every bell and whistle there is, you should consider Matomo.
• If you want to self-host web analytics, review Plausible's offering.
• Want well-priced, growing, and strictly compliant SaaS web analytics? Check out our product, Wide Angle Analytics.
• If you have expertise in Google Analytics and are focusing on a non-EU audience, don't forget about GA4.