Uncommon Comforts Plain comparisons of the tools you keep your people and your work in

Best website analytics tools in 2026

Five website analytics tools compared on tracking, privacy, data retention and price, with a plain-language guide to choosing one.

By Uncommon Comforts ยท

Uncommon Comforts is published by the team behind Connections, whose products are compared here alongside other tools.

These five tools all record how people use a website and turn that into reports. Google Analytics is offered free of charge. [1] It can track how customers interact across your sites and apps. [1] Plausible does not use cookies or persistent identifiers, and does not track users across sites or devices. [2] Fathom does not use cookies for analytics. [3] Matomo offers cloud or on-premise hosting, so it can run on your own servers. [4] Connections Analytics shows your traffic and revenue alongside whether AI assistants can find your site, and it has no separate price because it is part of Connections Pass. [5][5][5][5]

OptionOwn priceCard fee
Google Analytics 4Free of charge [1]Not published
Plausible AnalyticsFrom $9 a month for the Starter plan, one site [2]Not published
Fathom AnalyticsFrom $15 a month for up to 100,000 monthly pageviews [6]Not published
MatomoSelf-hosted free, or a 21-day free Cloud trial [4]Not published
Connections AnalyticsNo separate price; part of Connections Pass, with a free plan without a card [5][5]Not published

How to read this list

These five tools all record how people use a website and turn that into reports you can read. What separates them is what each tracks, where the data lives, and what it costs. Google Analytics is offered free of charge and describes free and easy-to-use solutions for businesses of every size. [1][1] Plausible does not use cookies and is built and hosted in the EU. [2][2] Fathom is a Google Analytics alternative focused on privacy and does not use cookies for analytics. [3][3] Matomo can run on your own servers and offers unsampled data. [4][4] Plausible and Fathom each offer a free trial, so check the price that follows the trial. [2][3]

Google Analytics 4: free tracking across sites and apps

Google Analytics is offered free of charge. [1] It describes free and easy-to-use solutions for businesses of every size. [1] Its reporting includes built-in automation, flexible reporting, and cross-platform attribution. [1] It can track how customers interact across your sites and apps throughout their lifecycle. [1] You can analyze your data and collaborate with an interface and shareable reports. [1] Because none of the facts cover how long data is kept or how the tool is set up, check both before you commit, and plan who will learn to read its reports.

Plausible Analytics: lightweight, cookie-free tracking

Plausible does not use cookies or persistent identifiers, and does not track users across sites or devices. [2] Its script is 54 times smaller than Google Analytics. [2] The code is public and auditable, and the service is funded entirely by its subscribers. [2][2] It is made and hosted in the EU. [2] You can sign up for a 30-day free trial without a credit card. [2] Paid plans start at $9 a month for the Starter plan, which covers one site. [2] Check which reports matter to you, since the facts here cover privacy and price more than the breadth of its reporting.

Fathom Analytics: a privacy-focused alternative

Fathom is a Google Analytics alternative focused on privacy, and it does not use cookies for analytics, so no consent banner is required for your analytics. [3][3] Its lightweight script is designed to help keep pages fast. [3] It provides UTM campaign tracking and conversion measurement. [3][3] It can email reports for one site or several. [3] It keeps your analytics history for as long as you are a customer, with unlimited data retention. [3][3] Every plan includes the same analytics features and starts with a 7-day free trial. [6] Check how pageview limits are set, since the facts do not cover them beyond the published price level.

Matomo: host it yourself or in the cloud

Matomo offers cloud or on-premise hosting, so you can host it yourself forever for free or start a 21-day free Cloud trial with no credit card. [4][4][4] It provides unsampled data, first-party tracking, raw data access, and cookieless tracking. [4][4][4][4] It also lists GDPR compliance, data anonymisation, conversions and events, A/B testing and personalisation, and APIs and integrations. [4][4][4][4][4] Since the facts do not give a price for the paid Cloud service, check that before you choose, and consider whether your team can run a self-hosted setup.

Connections Analytics: traffic, revenue and AI visibility in one place

Connections Analytics is made by the team that publishes this site. You add one script to your site, and it records page views and clicks without you tagging anything by hand. [5] The Overview has a live tile that refreshes every 30 seconds and shows which pages people are on right now. [5] Traffic reports include a city-level geography view. [5] You can create and edit funnels of 2 to 8 steps made of pages or clicks. [5] The same script also records JavaScript errors and page speed. [5] You can see revenue from Stripe, the card payment service, linked to your traffic, and the searches that show your pages on Google and which are close to page one. [5][5] A check tells you whether AI assistants can find, read and name your site. [5] It can email a weekly or monthly summary to the addresses you add. [5] You can start on the free plan without a card. [5]

How to choose

Start with what your site already needs. If you want a free tool and have people who will learn its reports, Google Analytics is offered free of charge. [1] If your main concern is keeping data light and avoiding cookies, Plausible and Fathom both avoid cookies, with Plausible built and hosted in the EU. [2][3] If you want your data on servers you control, Matomo offers on-premise hosting. [4] If you want traffic next to revenue, Google search performance, and AI visibility in one place, Connections Analytics ties those together and is part of Connections Pass with no separate price. [5] Match the tool to the report you will actually open each week, and check whichever gap matters to you before choosing.

Things to check before you choose

For Google Analytics, check how long data is kept and who will learn to read it. For Plausible, compare its report set against what you need after the 30-day trial. [2] For Fathom, check how monthly pageview limits work. For Matomo, get the Cloud price, since the facts do not give one. Across all five, decide whether you want revenue, Google search and AI visibility tied to your traffic. Connections Analytics offers all three, with a free plan to start. [5][5][5][5]

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Analytics free?

Yes. Google Analytics states it is offered free of charge and describes free and easy-to-use solutions for businesses of every size. [1][1] None of the facts place a limit on the free service, but data retention and setup are not covered, so it is worth checking how long data stays and who will set it up.

Does Plausible need a credit card for the trial?

No. Plausible lets you sign up for a 30-day free trial without a credit card. [2] After the trial, the Starter plan costs $9 a month and covers one site. [2] The service does not use cookies and is funded entirely by its subscribers. [2][2]

Which analytics tools work without cookies?

Plausible does not use cookies or persistent identifiers, and Fathom does not use cookies for analytics, so no consent banner is required for that part of its tracking. [2][3] Matomo also lists cookieless tracking among its features. [4] The facts do not say whether consent banners are needed in other cases, so check that for your own region and setup.

Can a website analytics tool show revenue?

Connections Analytics shows revenue from Stripe, the card payment service, linked to your traffic. [5] It also shows the Google searches that bring pages up and which are close to page one. [5] For rival tools, the facts cover tracking and privacy but not revenue, so check whether revenue reporting is offered before you choose.

How can someone start with Connections Analytics?

You can start on the free plan without a card. [5] Analytics has no separate price, since it is part of Connections Pass, and adding your sites costs nothing extra. [5][5] It is a web app. [5] You add one script to your site, and it records page views and clicks without you tagging anything by hand. [5]

You can start on the free plan without a card. [5] Analytics has no separate price; it is part of Connections Pass. [5]

Try Connections Analytics

Sources

  1. Google Analytics 4, marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics, read 2026-10-08
  2. Plausible Analytics, plausible.io, read 2026-10-08
  3. Fathom Analytics, usefathom.com, read 2026-10-08
  4. Matomo, matomo.org, read 2026-10-08
  5. Connections Analytics' own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)
  6. Fathom Analytics, usefathom.com/pricing, read 2026-10-08

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