# Simple Analytics — Web Analytics

Simple Analytics by Simple Analytics B.V. holds a panel rating of 3/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-10-30. Provenance: EU-Made; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Simple Analytics B.V. (https://www.simpleanalytics.com)
- Category: [Web Analytics](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): EU-Made
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/simple-analytics
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/simple-analytics/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/simple-analytics/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: Simple Analytics B.V.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention the EU [S6]
- Free plan: Yes, per the vendor’s own page [S2]

## The panel's verdict

Simple Analytics is a cookieless web analytics tool from a Dutch vendor. Its strongest criterion is consent and privacy, where scores cluster at 8: no cookies or browser storage, IP addresses dropped rather than stored or hashed, no fingerprinting, a published counting method, and a consent-free position argued against named law including ePrivacy Article 5(3), Germany's TTDSG and the UK PECR. Data ownership and sovereignty cluster at 7–8, splitting on repeated grounds: we found no public information on a self-hosted edition, SOC 2 is stated as in progress, and the captured pages give different figures for the contracting entity — Simple Analytics B.V. with KvK 88269922 versus a sole proprietorship with KvK 60978856. Conversions and events is weakest, clustering at 5, with no public information on e-commerce revenue tracking, attribution models or cohorts; traffic reporting and pricing transparency cluster at 6, the latter with no price ladder above €20 /month on the captured pages. The public-sector site owner's column reads 0 on all seven criteria even though the rationale text discusses strengths; scores are reported as computed.

**Speaks for it:**
- Runs without cookies, browser storage or fingerprinting, with the visit-counting method published and the collection script open source
- Terms state the customer owns the analytics data, with raw exports in CSV, JSON, Parquet and other formats via dashboard and API, and deletion after a stated 90-day backup window
- States that analytics data is collected, processed and stored by EU-based providers, with a published subprocessor list naming each provider's location and the data it sees
- Installs with a single async script stated at under 5 KB, with an official WordPress plugin, a Google Tag Manager container and guides for frameworks from Next.js to Django
- Publishes the free plan limits (1 user, 5 websites, 1 month history), the paid tier at €20 /month, extra users at +€20/mo per extra user, and cancellation at any moment

**Held against it:**
- We found no public information on e-commerce order and revenue tracking, attribution models, cohorts and retention, or conversions sent back to ad platforms
- We found no public information on date comparisons, configurable channel grouping or roll-up reporting across several sites
- We found no public information on a price ladder above €20 /month, on which plans include the export API, or on VAT treatment
- We found no public information on an external audit or authority recognition of the consent-free mode, and SOC 2 is stated as in progress
- We found no public information on a self-hosted edition, single sign-on, per-site team roles or a public status page with uptime history

**Best for:**
- You need traffic and UTM campaign reporting without a cookie banner or consent management overlay
- You run client or department sites on WordPress or Google Tag Manager and want a single small script with automatic pageviews, client email reports and shareable dashboards
- You want your analytics data in your own tools — raw exports and APIs into Looker Studio, Power BI or a warehouse via CloudQuery, with a Google Analytics historical import
- You want the visitor-data path on named EU infrastructure — primary infrastructure in the Netherlands — with a published subprocessor list naming each provider's location

**Avoid if:**
- You need every visit recorded — the vendor states plainly that it cannot guarantee every visit is recorded
- Your procurement requires a completed security certification — SOC 2 is listed as in progress
- You need firm, predictable monthly costs — usage-based billing on data points can trigger an automatic plan upgrade after a one-week overage notice
- You cannot tolerate analytics access being paused over payment — the terms state you may be unable to view your data when a payment term of an invoice has expired

## 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 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 |
| Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 0/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Consent-free operation & data minimisation | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | 4/5 |
| Data access, export & self-hosting | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | 4/5 |
| Installation, integrations & performance | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 0/5 | 3.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | 4/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **0/5** | **3.5/5** |

### 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**
- Capterra rating: 4.8 [S1]
- CCPA: yes [S15]
- Consent not exempt: no [S3]
- DPA not required: no personal data processing · no [S8]
- DPA signing offered: yes · agreement must align with how the service operates [S8]
- Eprivacy: ePrivacy Article 5(3) applies to device access, not only cookies [S3]
- Eprivacy ttdsg: yes · yes · yes [S15]
- GDPR: yes [S1]
- GDPR: yes [S5]
- GDPR applicability: no [S14]
- GDPR basis: GDPR consent is one possible lawful basis among others [S3]
- GDPR no personal data: yes · no personal data collected: no cookies, no IPs, no fingerprinting, no device identifiers [S15]
- HIPAA no baa: yes · no [S15]
- No consent needed: yes [S15]
- Privacy laws: GDPR · PECR · ePrivacy · CNIL · DSGVO · CCPA [S1]
- Regulations: GDPR · ePrivacy Directive · UK GDPR · PECR [S5]
- SOC 2: in progress [S1]

**Data**
- Account deletion: 90 · yes [S7]
- Collected visitor: country · pages visited · device and browser · referrer [S7]
- Dashboard export location: Export available in dashboard [S17]
- Export: yes [S7]
- Export formats: CSV · Excel CSV · TSV · JSON · NDJSON · Avro · Parquet [S17]
- Export methods: yes · yes [S17]
- Export UI options: page_views · events · both · yes · yes [S17]
- Export URL shown: Export page shows API URL for the selection [S17]
- Invoice retention: 7 · yes [S7]
- Ip addresses: no · no · no [S14]
- Marketing email: yes [S7]
- Ownership: no · yes [S5]
- Ownership: no [S16]
- Ownership: 10 · yes [S17]
- Pageviews free: unlimited pageviews (fair use policy) [S5]
- Password: yes [S7]
- Raw export: yes [S16]
- Retention free: 30 [S5]

**Hosting**
- Data transfers: no [S14]
- EU hosted: EU [S5]
- EU processing: yes [S8]
- EU providers only: 2018 · yes [S14]
- Non EU transfer: yes [S5]
- Primary region: EU · Netherlands [S5]
- Region: yes [S1]
- Region: EU · yes [S6]
- Servers: Netherlands · yes · yes [S7]

**Integrations**
- Admin API: Manage websites [S16]
- API: yes · pageviews · events · referrers · campaign data · yes [S1]
- API authentication: depends on public settings of a website · yes [S16]
- API bi: yes · yes [S5]
- API surface: listing and adding websites · aggregated data · raw level data [S16]
- Auto events script: https://scripts.simpleanalyticscdn.com/auto-events.js · script [S12]
- Bi tools: Looker Studio · Power BI · internal dashboards [S1]
- Chartbrew: Chartbrew · dashboards · yes [S19]
- Cloudquery: CloudQuery · export to data warehouses · yes [S19]
- CSV API export: CSV · APIs [S2]
- Dailytics: Dailytics · email reports · yes [S19]
- Data warehouse: yes [S1]
- Export API: Raw data points data [S16]
- Export API: Export API · CSV · JSON · raw data [S19]
- Export API raw: raw [S1]
- Export formats: CSV · JSON [S1]
- Ga4 import: Import Google Analytics GA4 historical data [S2]
- Google analytics import: yes [S14]
- Looker studio: Google Looker Studio · data source for custom dashboards · yes [S19]
- Power bi: Power BI · enterprise reporting · yes [S19]
- Sources: Website · First-party proxy · GTM · WordPress [S1]
- Stats API: Aggregated data [S16]
- Stats API: Stats API · aggregated statistics programmatically · yes [S19]
- Stats API aggregated: aggregated [S1]

**Legal**
- Company id: KvK (Chamber of Commerce) · 88269922 [S6]
- Company name: Simple Analytics B.V. [S6]
- Entity: controller · Simple Analytics (sole proprietorship) · Hooftlaan 4, 1401 ED Bussum, Netherlands · 60978856 [S7]
- Founding: September 2018 · Adriaan van Rossum · 2022, Iron Brands [S6]
- GDPR: EU · yes [S6]
- Location: Amsterdam [S1]
- Ownership: yes · yes [S6]
- Team: Adriaan van Rossum · Iron Brands · Aleksandar Ivanov · 3 [S6]
- VAT id: NL864560011B01 [S6]

**Pricing**
- Annual discount: yes · 2 months free [S5]
- Bank transfer: 10 · 500 [S5]
- Cancel anytime: yes [S5]
- Currencies: EUR · USD · GBP [S5]
- Enterprise pricing model: custom quoted [S5]
- Enterprise trial: yes · 30 [S5]
- Export API plan required: yes [S17]
- Extra user fee: 1 · 20 [S5]
- Free plan limits: 1 · 5 · 1 [S5]
- Free tier: yes · yes · no [S2]
- Free tier: yes [S1]
- Free tier: yes [S11]
- Free tier: Free forever [S19]
- Free trial: 30 [S3]
- Model: yes · yes · yes · 14 · on request · no [S6]
- Paid price: 20 · month · EUR [S5]
- Payment methods: credit card · debit card · bitcoin · apple pay · google pay · 10 [S5]
- Poc: yes · 30 [S1]
- Usage based billing: usage-based on data points, 3-month average [S5]
- Yearly overage: email notice, one week, auto-upgrade [S5]

**Product**
- Adblocker bypass: Bypass ad-blockers via own subdomain [S2]
- AI assistant: AI-powered analytics features [S2]
- Annotations: Annotations on charts [S2]
- API access: yes [S19]
- Automated events: outbound clicks · emails · downloads · yes [S12]
- Automated plan upgrade: yes · yes [S7]
- Browser extension: Browser extension to block own visits; Chrome and Firefox [S2]
- Cannot guarantee collection: no [S3]
- Collected data: pageviews and events with page, referrer and campaign parameters [S3]
- Collected data types: UTM codes, referrer, time zone (as privacy-preserving proxy for country), anonymized user agent values [S14]
- Conversion rate tracking: yes [S13]
- Cookies: 0 · no · no [S6]
- Core capabilities: Understand your traffic (works even when visitors reject consent) · Track events and goals · Export, embed, or email reports [S2]
- Country level location: no · yes [S1]
- Custom domain feature: yes [S12]
- Custom events: yes · sa_event() [S12]
- Custom views: Filtered dashboards and shared access [S2]
- Dashboard drilldown: Clicking a UTM source shows traffic, devices, browsers, and countries [S11]
- Data scope: Page URL · Referrer · UTM parameters · Time zone · Device and browser type [S8]
- Description: Privacy-first web analytics showing pageviews, referrers, campaigns and events without cookies or personal data [S6]
- Dev script localhost: https://scripts.simpleanalyticscdn.com/latest.dev.js · yes [S18]
- Embed charts: Embed live visitor stats on your website [S2]
- Enterprise capabilities: observed traffic without consent mode · campaign comparisons vs GA4 · API & BI access [S5]
- Event tracking: Track button clicks, form submissions, downloads, custom interactions; automated events script included [S2]
- Event tracking: yes [S13]
- Events explorer dashboard: yes [S12]
- Events tab: Events [S13]
- Export dashboard data: download data directly · yes [S19]
- Filters: Filter by country, referrer, UTM parameters, device type, browser, and more [S2]
- Founded: 2018 [S1]
- Frameworks list: Next.js · Nuxt.js · React · Vue · Gatsby · Hugo · Astro · Django [S19]
- Free forever plan: yes [S5]
- Free tier claim: yes [S13]
- Ga4 comparison: metrics calculated from recorded events vs GA4 behavioral modeling estimates [S3]
- Ga import: Google Analytics historical data import · yes [S19]
- Goal importance flag: yes [S13]
- Goals: yes [S13]

**Subprocessors**
- Bunny: IP addresses (not logged) · CDN, DNS · EU (Slovenia) [S9]
- Bunq: Business bank account · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- Cal com: Scheduling calls, such as demos · US [S9]
- Cirrux: Team email and calendar · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- Deepl: Translations · EU (Germany) [S9]
- Digitalocean: Website domains, no visitor data · Website thumbnails in the dashboard and internal alerts · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- DPA reference: DPA page referenced for data processing agreements [S9]
- EU infrastructure statement: Analytics data is collected, processed, and stored by EU-based providers [S9]
- Exchangeratesapi: Currency exchange rates for pricing · EU (Austria) [S9]
- Github: Source code, CI, and container images · US [S9]
- Google: Google Analytics import and Google Data Studio connector · US [S9]
- Hetzner: IP addresses · Infrastructure hosting · EU (Germany) [S9]
- Hyperping: System-level metrics only · Uptime monitoring · EU (France) [S9]
- Intention: Domain name provider · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- Last updated: 2026-10-27 [S9]
- Leaseweb: IP addresses · Hosting for the event queue and website · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- Legacy infrastructure statement: Legacy providers planned to be migrated; DigitalOcean used via Amsterdam data center [S9]
- Mailgun: US company, EU-based alternative being sought · Account emails and email reports · EU region [S9]
- Migadu: Email for service addresses · Switzerland [S9]
- Moneybird: Invoices and bookkeeping · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- No sale statement: Data never sold or shared for others' use [S9]
- Onepassword: Password manager · Canada [S9]
- Openai: AI assistant, opt-in only · US [S9]
- Openai AI chat: OpenAI · yes · opt-in AI chat in dashboard, sends aggregated analytics data · yes [S14]
- Pagerduty: On-call alerts for infrastructure · EU region [S9]
- Primary infrastructure location: Netherlands [S9]
- Processing agreements: no · yes [S7]
- Stripe: Stripe · payment provider, VAT validation [S7]
- Stripe: Name, email address, and billing details · Payments and invoices · US [S9]
- Tally: Forms · EU (Belgium) [S9]
- Worldstream: IP addresses · Infrastructure hosting · EU (Netherlands) [S9]
- Zoom: Video calls · US [S9]

**Support**
- Browser testing: BrowserStack · 2 [S18]
- Demo: demo booking available [S3]
- Setup wizard: yes [S18]

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

## Questions

### Is Simple Analytics European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Simple Analytics as EU-Made.

### Where does Simple Analytics store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention the EU as hosting location, per [the vendor’s page captured 29 Oct 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/12291).

### Does Simple Analytics have a free plan?

Yes. Simple Analytics has a free plan, per [the vendor’s page captured 29 Oct 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/12287).

### What are the best alternatives to Simple Analytics?

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: [Simple Analytics alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/web-analytics/simple-analytics/alternatives).

## Head-to-head

- [Simple Analytics vs Plausible Analytics](https://whats-best.ai/compare/plausible-vs-simple-analytics.md)

## What this page leaves out

- 11 legal 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.
- 8 hosting 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.
- 5 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.
- 3 compliance 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.
- 3 subprocessors 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.
- 2 integrations 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 pricing 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://www.simpleanalytics.com/ (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S2] Features page: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/features (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S3] Features page (analytics without consent): https://www.simpleanalytics.com/analytics-without-consent (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S4] API documentation: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/api (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S5] Pricing page: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S6] Legal notice (company details): https://www.simpleanalytics.com/about (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S7] Privacy policy: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/privacy-policy (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S8] Data processing agreement (dpa): https://www.simpleanalytics.com/data-processing-agreement (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S9] Subprocessor list: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/subprocessors (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S10] Traffic, sources & campaign reports — found from sitemap: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/guides/track-utm-traffic (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S11] Traffic, sources & campaign reports — found from sitemap: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/guides/how-to-use-utm-codes-with-simple-analytics (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S12] Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce — found from sitemap: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/guides/event-tracking (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S13] Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce — found from sitemap: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/guides/conversion-tracking (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S14] Consent-free operation & data minimisation — found from sitemap: https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/privacy (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S15] Consent-free operation & data minimisation — found from sitemap: https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/compliance (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S16] Data access, export & self-hosting — found from sitemap: https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/api (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S17] Data access, export & self-hosting — found from sitemap: https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/export-data (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S18] Installation, integrations & performance — found from sitemap: https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/script (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S19] Installation, integrations & performance — found from sitemap: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/integrations (checked 2026-10-29)
- [S20] Security / trust page — found from the homepage: https://www.simpleanalytics.com/gdpr-compliance (checked 2026-11-01)

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

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1139?target=page