Simplytics vs Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free and powerful, but its default cookies generally require consent, its script is heavy, and its interface is built for analysts. Simplytics covers the essentials (visitors, views, referrers, sessions) live, with no visitor cookies, for $12 a year.
| Simplytics | Google Analytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12/year | Free (GA360 from ~$50,000/year) |
| Cookies | None | Yes — _ga cookies, 2-year lifetime |
| Consent assessment | Site-specific; no visitor cookies | Default cookies generally require consent |
| Script size (compressed) | ~1.2 KB | ~140 KB (measured June 2026) |
| Reports | Live | Separate realtime view; standard reports can take 24–48 h |
| Visitor identifiers stored | Short-lived daily hash | 2 or 14 months user-level retention |
| Sampling / thresholding | None for counts: every pageview is counted | On large queries and demographics |
| Primary analytics database | Primary DB: EU (Warsaw); India access | US transfer under the Data Privacy Framework |
| View-counter badge (site & per-page) | Yes — live SVG | No |
| Setup | One script tag | Tags, consent mode, configuration |
Prices and features verified from official Google Analytics pages, June 2026. Script sizes are compressed transfer sizes.
Where Google Analytics is better
- It is free, forever, at any traffic volume.
- Deep integration with Google Ads — if you buy ads, GA attribution is unmatched.
- Enterprise-grade features: BigQuery export, audiences, predictive metrics.
Where Simplytics is better
- No visitor cookies or cross-site identifier.
- A ~1.2 KB script instead of ~140 KB — your pages stay fast.
- Live numbers in the main dashboard.
- A dashboard you understand in ten seconds, not ten training videos.
- Raw visit records are deleted nightly; retained daily counts may include identifying text if a site sends it.
Which should you pick?
Keep Google Analytics if you run paid ad campaigns or need enterprise-depth analysis. If you mainly want to know how many people came, what they read and where they came from, Simplytics gives you that without visitor cookies, the weight or the wait.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Analytics illegal in the EU?
Not categorically. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework may cover transfers to certified US recipients, though GA4’s default cookies generally still require consent.
Do I need a cookie banner with Simplytics?
Simplytics sets no visitor cookies, so it adds no cookie banner of its own. It briefly stores a keyed daily visitor hash and deletes raw rows nightly.
Can Simplytics fully replace Google Analytics?
For visitor counts, pages, referrers, sessions, bounce rate, custom events, outbound clicks, and funnels — yes. For ad-campaign attribution and enterprise reporting — no.
Compare Simplytics with others: vs Plausible · vs Fathom · vs Simple Analytics · vs Matomo · vs Cloudflare Web Analytics