# Countly — Web Analytics

Countly by Countly Ltd holds a panel rating of 2.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-10-30. Provenance: UK / wider Europe; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Countly Ltd (https://countly.com)
- Category: [Web Analytics](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): UK / wider Europe
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/countly
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/countly/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/countly/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-04 · evaluated 2026-10-30 · oldest source captured 2026-10-29

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Countly Ltd
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Free plan: Yes, per the vendor’s own page [S10]

## The panel's verdict

Countly, web and product analytics from Countly Ltd, scores highest on sovereignty, where five of six judges gave 7 or 8, and on data ownership, clustered at 6 or 7, resting on self-hosting that keeps customer data within the customer's infrastructure with vendor access only if explicitly granted, sampling explicitly ruled out, server-to-server migration, and delete-or-return terms on termination. It scores lowest on pricing transparency, 3 or 4: Flex is quoted "$ 175 / month Starts at" on usage-based pricing whose unit is not stated, leaving no annual figure computable from public pages, and in consent and privacy, clustered at 4, where the Compliance Hub gates collection to consented data and no public information was found on IP truncation or the vendor's reading of §25 TDDDG. Judges genuinely split on implementation, 4 to 6 — the higher score credits per-edition SLA terms and first-party collection, the lower ones cite no public information on CMS or shop plugins, script size, single sign-on or a status page. Sovereignty split 7 against 8, self-hosted control weighed against the London contracting entity and US subprocessors.

**Speaks for it:**
- Self-hosted deployment keeps customer data within the customer's infrastructure, with vendor access only if explicitly granted
- Sampling is explicitly ruled out for queries across page views, referrers, devices and geographies, with search keywords parsed from referrers
- Funnels with drop-off per step, auto-regenerating cohorts usable as filters, and per-event revenue tracking with segmentation are documented
- A published data processing agreement, a subprocessor list naming each provider's location, and ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, SOC 2 Type II and TISAX participation are stated
- Server-to-server migration moves all application data including configurations, with deletion or retrieval of all copies committed on termination

**Held against it:**
- The usage unit behind Flex's usage-based starting price is not stated, so judges could not compute an annual cost from public pages
- The documented consent model gates collection to consented data, with no public information found on IP truncation, configurable retention or a stated position on §25 TDDDG
- Judges found no public information on raw-event export to a named warehouse or a reporting API, with documented migration running between Countly servers
- Judges found no public information on plugins for named CMS or shop systems, script size, single sign-on or a public status page
- The Countly-hosted chain places GCP hosting across EU, USA and Asia and subprocessors such as OpenAI, Zendesk and Postmark in the USA, under a London contracting entity

**Best for:**
- You must run analytics on infrastructure you control, with vendor access only where you explicitly grant it
- You run a public-facing site and need unsampled traffic reporting with referrers, parsed search keywords and real-time monitoring
- Your team works with funnels, cohorts and per-event revenue across web and mobile apps
- You need published compliance artifacts — a data processing agreement, a subprocessor list with locations, and stated ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II and TISAX credentials

**Avoid if:**
- You must compute a firm annual cost from published prices before committing
- You need the vendor-hosted edition to run entirely within the EU — the published subprocessor list spans GCP hosting across EU, USA and Asia, with US providers for support, mail and the AI assistant
- You need consent-free, banner-less measurement — the documented Compliance Hub instead gates collection to what users have consented to

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The E-Commerce Marketing Lead | The Data Protection Officer | The Agency Developer | The Growth Analyst | The Public-Sector Site Owner | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Traffic, sources & campaign reports | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Consent-free operation & data minimisation | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Data access, export & self-hosting | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Installation, integrations & performance | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **3/5** | **2.5/5** | **0/5** | **3/5** | **2.5/5** |

### The judges

- **The E-Commerce Marketing Lead** (v1.0): Runs marketing for a Shopware shop selling outdoor gear in Germany and Austria, with a monthly ad budget split between Google, Meta and two price comparison sites. Since the consent banner went live, a third of the orders no longer show a source. Wants revenue per campaign that matches the shop backend, a checkout funnel that shows where carts are left, conversions sent back to the ad platforms, and numbers that hold without a click on "accept".
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): External data protection officer for eleven mid-sized companies, three of which still ran Universal Analytics when the Austrian authority ruled on it. Reads the data policy before the feature page: which fields are stored, how a visitor is counted without a cookie, whether the IP address is cut before it is written, who the subprocessors are and where. Signs off a site without a banner only when the vendor states its reading of §25 TDDDG in writing.
- **The Agency Developer** (v1.0): Lead developer at a twelve-person web agency that runs forty client sites on WordPress and TYPO3 and a few Shopify shops. Installs the analytics once per site and answers for it for years. Wants a small script or server-side collection, a plugin per CMS, an own tracking domain so ad blockers do not cut the numbers in half, client accounts with their own logins, and a price that does not jump when one client goes viral.
- **The Growth Analyst** (v1.0): Product and growth analyst at a B2B SaaS in Munich with a marketing site, a web app and a mobile app. Needs signups traced from the first campaign click to the first paid invoice, funnels and cohorts on custom events, and the raw events in the company's warehouse every night. Has moved tracking twice and knows that a tool without a raw export means starting the history again from zero.
- **The Public-Sector Site Owner** (v1.0): Web editor for a district administration whose site serves 400,000 residents, from vehicle registration to daycare places. The state data protection authority publishes guidance on analytics, and the council will not show a cookie banner on a public service. Needs to know which pages people search for and where forms are abandoned, with data that stays in Germany or on the municipal data centre's own servers, and a contract the procurement office can sign.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "no cookie banner needed" on a tool that fingerprints every visitor, "EU-hosted" on a proxy in front of a US data store, and "unlimited" data history that ends with the subscription. Reads that a product is "GDPR-compliant" and asks which ruling the vendor means, what is stored per visit, whether the history can be exported in a format another tool imports — and what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- DPA applicable law: EU GDPR · UK GDPR · Data Protection Act 2018 · PECR 2003 [S7]
- DPA assistance dsr: yes [S7]
- DPA audit fee: yes [S7]
- DPA audit reports: security attestation report (such as SOC 2, Type II) · no more than once annually [S7]
- DPA breach notification: without undue delay [S7]
- DPA data subjects: Customers employees · End users of Customer's website and/or applications [S7]
- DPA dpia assistance: yes [S7]
- DPA personal data categories: advertising ID · name · username · organization · address · phone number · email · location data · birth year · gender · events · time zone · time processed · device information [S7]
- DPA purpose limitation: yes [S7]
- DPA roles: Processor · Controller [S7]
- DPA security measures: appropriate technical and organizational measures [S7]
- DPA special categories: N/A [S7]
- DPA subprocessor list: Appendix A references a subprocessor list section, no named subprocessors on page [S7]
- Frameworks: GDPR · COPPA · CCPA · PDPL · HIPAA · BAA [S5]
- GDPR support: yes · no [S4]
- HIPAA support: yes · no [S4]
- ISO 27001: yes [S4]
- ISO 27017: yes [S4]
- ISO 27018: yes [S4]
- SOC 2 type ii: yes [S4]
- TISAX participant: yes [S4]

**Data**
- Children age: 13 · no [S6]
- Deletion: yes [S6]
- DPA deletion return: delete or return, unless legally required to retain [S7]
- Retention: retain only as long as necessary [S6]
- Sale: no [S6]
- Third party services: Analytics tracking · Advertising and promotion · Content marketing · Email marketing [S6]

**Hosting**
- Data residency: yes [S4]
- Deployment options: on-premise · private cloud [S4]
- Self hosted access: no [S4]
- Self hosted option: yes · yes [S1]
- Sovereignty: countly-hosted · self-hosted [S1]

**Integrations**
- API: yes [S1]
- Docs: Compliance Hub User Guide (Utilities) [S13]
- Sdk count: 10+ · yes [S2]
- Server logs feature: View, download, and clear server files [S14]

**Legal**
- Address: 1 Bow Churchyard, London EC4M 9DQ, United Kingdom [S6]
- Controller entity: Countly Ltd [S6]
- Copyright: 2026 · Countly Ltd [S15]
- Documents: privacy policy · terms · cookie policy [S1]
- DPA entity: Countly Ltd. [S7]
- DPA last updated: 2026-10-19 [S7]
- DPA scope: Countly Enterprise, Countly-hosted [S7]
- Entity: Countly Ltd. [S1]
- Entity: Countly Ltd. [S13]
- Privacy policy updated: 2026-10-19 [S6]
- Trust center: yes [S4]

**Pricing**
- Enterprise custom: custom pricing [S5]
- Flex free trial: 14 · yes [S5]
- Flex price: 175 · month · USD · starts at [S5]
- Flex usage based: no · yes [S5]
- Free tier: yes [S10]
- Free tier: yes [S15]
- Free trial: yes [S2]

**Product**
- Ab testing: yes [S15]
- Access control: yes · yes · yes [S4]
- Adaptivity features: push notifications · A/B testing · journeys · in-app messaging · surveys · hooks · remote config (feature flags) [S5]
- Advanced analytics features: real-time analytics · event tracking · session analysis · user profiles · views · alerts & notifications · dashboards & reporting [S5]
- AI agent cee: AI Agent Cee - personal analytics concierge with natural language data exploration [S15]
- AI analytics: reports · dashboards · recommendations · yes [S1]
- AI assistant cee: Cee · yes · yes [S2]
- Analysis use cases: Conversions and drop-off points; retention and re-engagement; session frequency and duration; custom segmentation; feature adoption and release impact; feedback trends [S9]
- Analytics capabilities: Real-time product analytics: funnels, cohorts, retention, segmentation, user journeys [S9]
- Behavioral segmentation: yes [S9]
- Cohorts: yes [S15]
- Cohorts auto regeneration: yes [S11]
- Cohorts combined with drill: yes [S11]
- Cohorts combined with user profiles: yes [S11]
- Cohorts description: Group users based on their behavior and segment all your data and your actions using these groups. [S11]
- Cohorts filtering: yes [S11]
- Cohorts grouping basis: behavior · properties · demographics · timeframes · lifetime [S11]
- Cohorts retargeting: yes [S11]
- Cohorts usable as filters: use cohorts as filters in other Countly features such as retention, funnels, user profiles, flows, and drills [S11]
- Cohorts user guide: yes [S11]
- Company age: 13 [S1]
- Compliance hub consent: Compliance Hub powers Countly SDKs to only collect data to which users have consented. [S13]
- Consent scope: yes · yes [S13]
- Content builder: yes [S15]
- Crashes errors: yes [S15]
- Custom dashboards: yes · yes [S1]
- Custom dashboards: yes [S9]
- Dashboards: yes [S15]
- Data governance: plan · validate · filter · transform [S1]
- Data location: multiple global regions · fully customer-defined [S5]
- Data migration automation: yes · yes [S14]
- Data migration docs: yes [S14]
- Data migration export import: Move application data from server to server in only a few clicks [S14]
- Data migration modes: server_to_server · download_export [S14]
- Data migration purpose: Migrate data from one Countly server to another [S14]
- Data migration scope: all application-specific data · yes [S14]
- Data ownership: customer-owned, countly-managed infra · fully customer-owned & controlled [S5]
- Data practice transparency: Inform users on how their data is collected and where it is used [S13]
- Demo scheduling: yes [S11]
- Deployment options: managed private cloud · self-hosted [S5]
- Drill: yes [S15]
- Editions: Enterprise · Flex · Lite [S4]
- Editions: Enterprise · Flex · Lite [S1]
- Editions: Countly Enterprise · Countly Flex · Countly Lite [S6]
- Editions: Enterprise · Flex · Lite [S9]
- Editions: Countly Enterprise · Countly Flex · Countly Lite [S15]
- Engagement toolset: yes · yes · yes · yes · yes [S2]
- Enterprise all capabilities: yes [S5]
- Enterprise inclusions: self-hosted deployment · full customer control of infrastructure and data location · enterprise-grade security and compliance · included SLA · dedicated Customer Success Manager · tailored onboarding and support [S5]
- Enterprise only features: Some Compliance Hub features only available in the Enterprise Edition [S13]
- Enterprise security compliance: enterprise-grade security & compliance [S5]
- Enterprise self hosted: yes [S5]
- Enterprise vendor access: no [S5]
- Error tracking replays: JavaScript errors · 404s · slow loads · frustration signals · yes · yes [S2]
- Export purge requests: yes · yes [S13]
- Feature count: 70+ features [S15]
- Features list: User profiles · Journeys · AI Agent Cee · Crashes and errors · Dashboards · Surveys · A/B Testing · Push notifications · Cohorts · Funnels · Retention [S1]
- First party analytics: yes [S4]
- First party analytics: First-party analytics and customer experience [S1]
- Flex addon adaptivity: yes [S5]
- Flex hosting: managed private cloud · yes [S5]
- Flex includes advanced analytics: yes [S5]
- Formulas: yes [S15]
- Free tier available: yes [S12]
- Free tier cta: yes [S11]
- Free trial: yes [S1]
- Funnel analysis: yes [S9]
- Funnels: yes [S15]
- Intelligence features: funnels · retention · flows · formulas · crashes · AI insights (Cee) · DB viewer · advanced segmentation [S5]
- Journeys: yes · yes [S1]
- Journeys: yes [S15]
- Journeys funnels flows: yes · yes [S2]
- Legal entity: Countly Ltd. [S2]
- No per seat pricing: no [S5]
- No third party cookies: yes · yes · no [S2]
- Other features: Authentication · Cohorts · Desktop analytics [S10]
- Other modules: AI Agent Cee · Crashes and errors · Dashboards · Surveys · A/B Testing · Push notifications · Cohorts · Funnels · Retention · Journeys · User profiles [S9]
- Out of box metrics: Sessions & Monthly Active Users · Funnel conversion & drop-off rates · Revenue per session / LTV · Cohort retention & churn · Page view order & bounce rate by source · Session duration & time on page · Crash-free sessions & non-fatal error… [S2]
- Platforms: product · mobile · web · desktop [S1]
- Policy documents: countly.com/legal/flex-privacy · countly.com/legal/enterprise-privacy [S6]
- Positioning: Privacy-focused digital analytics, AI-ready [S1]
- Pricing cta free tier: yes [S9]
- Privacy first engagement: yes [S1]
- Push notifications: yes [S15]

**Subprocessors**
- Brevo: Brevo · Email marketing services · EU [S8]
- Change notice: 30 · 14 [S7]
- Clari: Clari · Call recording tool · USA [S8]
- Easydmarc: EasyDMARC · Email security and deliverability · USA [S8]
- Gcp: GCP · Cloud hosting and infrastructure provider (IaaS) · EU, USA, Asia [S8]
- General authorization: yes [S7]
- Hsbc: HSBC · Online banking · Global [S8]
- Last updated: Countly Enterprise, Countly-hosted · October 19, 2026 [S8]
- Liability: yes [S7]
- Openai: OpenAI · AI assistant feature (effective from version 25.10) · USA [S8]
- Pandadoc: PandaDoc · E-signature platform · USA [S8]
- Postmark: Postmark · External mail server · USA [S8]
- Scope: infrastructure & service providers · limited to customer-controlled integrations [S5]
- Scope: Covers Countly-hosted servers and dedicated Countly servers for enterprise customers [S8]
- Sendsafely: Sendsafely · File sharing · USA, EU, Australia [S8]
- Slack: Slack · Chat communication · USA [S8]
- Stitchdata: Stitchdata · Data processing/ETL · USA [S8]
- Stripe: Stripe · Payment processor · USA, Ireland [S8]
- Typeform: Typeform · Surveys creation platform · USA, EU [S8]
- Website providers separate: Website service providers listed on a separate page [S8]
- Wise: Wise · Payment processor · EU [S8]
- Xero: XERO · Financial management · New Zealand [S8]
- Zendesk: Zendesk · Customer account administration and support · USA [S8]
- Zoom: Zoom · Video conferencing provider · USA [S8]

**Support**
- SLA: optional · included [S5]

24 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/countly

## Questions

### Is Countly European?

Yes, though not from the EU. whats-best.ai classifies Countly as UK / wider Europe.

### Where does Countly store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026.

### Does Countly have a free plan?

Yes. Countly has a free plan, per [the vendor’s page captured 29 Oct 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/12138).

### What are the best alternatives to Countly?

As of 4 Nov 2026, the panel rates [Matomo (4/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/matomo), [Piwik PRO Analytics Suite (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/piwik-pro) and [Pirsch Analytics (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/pirsch) highest among the other 17 Web Analytics products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Piwik PRO Analytics Suite](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/piwik-pro) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Countly alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/countly/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 17 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 compliance fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 support fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://countly.com/ (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S2] Features page (web analytics): https://countly.com/solutions/web-analytics (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S3] Features page (funnels): https://countly.com/feature/funnels (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S4] Features page (privacy by design): https://countly.com/privacy-by-design (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S5] Pricing page: https://countly.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S6] Privacy policy: https://countly.com/legal/privacy-policy (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S7] Data processing agreement (dpa): https://countly.com/legal/enterprise-hosted-dpa (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S8] Subprocessor list: https://countly.com/legal/enterprise-hosted-subprocessors (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S9] Traffic, sources & campaign reports — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/analytics-and-reporting (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S10] Traffic, sources & campaign reports — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/feature/sources (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S11] Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/feature/cohorts (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S12] Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/feature/revenue (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S13] Consent-free operation & data minimisation — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/feature/compliance-hub (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S14] Data access, export & self-hosting — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/feature/data-migration (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S15] Installation, integrations & performance — found from sitemap: https://countly.com/feature/plugin-uploader (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S16] Terms of service — found from the homepage: https://countly.com/legal/terms-of-use (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S17] Self-hosting / on-premises installation docs — found from the homepage: https://countly.com/demo (checked 2026-11-01)
- [S18] Code repository (open-source licence) — found from the homepage: https://github.com/Countly (checked 2026-11-01)

---

Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Countly — Web Analytics", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-04. https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/countly

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1143?target=page