Compare digistats Analytics and Pirsch Analytics on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics, Matomo
Switzerland· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist digistats when you want managed Swiss cookieless analytics with multi-site, events, API, and CSV on every listed tier and you accept SaaS-only operations. Skip when you need self-host/OSS, GA4-depth product analytics, or published ISO 27001/SOC 2—consider Plausible, Simple Analytics, Pirsch, or Matomo instead.
Germany· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist Pirsch when you want German-operated, cookie-free web analytics with funnels/events, agency white-label, and a public DPA—hosted on Hetzner per vendor docs. Skip when you need free full-product self-host, session replay/heatmaps, or a stack with zero US-group subprocessors; consider Plausible or Simple Analytics instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | digistats Analytics | Pirsch Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Switzerland | Germany |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Self-hosted | No | No |
| Headquarters | Switzerland | Germany |
| Legal entity | digistats Analytics Ltd., Täfernstrasse 2A, CH-5405 Dättwil AG (UID CHE-296.235.462) | Emvi Software GmbH (Nickelstraße 1b, 33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück; HRB 11575, AG Gütersloh) |
| Governing law | Swiss law; venue Bremgarten AG (per AGB) | Germany / EU GDPR |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Medium | Medium |
| Hosting / residency | Privacy policy: customer data processed/stored in Switzerland, not in the USA or outside the EU; pricing lists Switzerland Data Center. Hosting provider legal name not in a public subprocessor list. Payment subprocessors: Stripe, Inc. (USA) and Coinbase (crypto; German entity listed in AGB). | Analytics: Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany (vendor claims Nuremberg/Falkenstein). Account/ops subprocessors named in privacy policy include AWS SES (Amazon Web Services EMEA), Google Workspace (Google Cloud EMEA), Stripe, Inc. (US), Intuition Machines, Inc. (US CAPTCHA), and Datev eG (DE). |
| Summary | Swiss cookieless web analytics SaaS from digistats Analytics Ltd.: realtime traffic, city-level geo, events, and multi-site dashboards without storing cookies, IPs, or fingerprints. | Cookie-free web analytics from Emvi Software GmbH in Germany: hash-based visitor IDs, open-source core, Hetzner-hosted SaaS with funnels, events, and agency white-label. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | digistats Analytics | Pirsch Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| HQ | Dättwil AG, Switzerland | Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany |
| Legal entity | digistats Analytics Ltd. (CHE-296.235.462) | Emvi Software GmbH |
| Hosting | Switzerland data center (host brand not named publicly) | Not listed |
| Deployment | Managed SaaS only | Not listed |
| Open source | No | Core library AGPL-3.0; full SaaS commercial |
| Commercial model | Free low-traffic tier + pageview-based subscription | Usage-based (monthly page views); trial available |
| Category | Not listed | Web analytics (SaaS) |
| Self-host | Not listed | Enterprise on-prem option; not free CE |
| Primary hosting (claimed) | Not listed | Hetzner Germany (Nuremberg/Falkenstein) |
| Key capabilities | digistats Analytics | Pirsch Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Cookieless tracking | Yes | Not listed |
| No stored visitor IPs | Yes | Not listed |
| Swiss data center | Yes | Not listed |
| Unlimited websites | Yes | Not listed |
| API + CSV export | Yes | Not listed |
| Managed SaaS | Yes | Not listed |
| Cookie-free hashing | Not listed | Yes |
| Open-source core (AGPL) | Not listed | Yes |
| Hetzner DE hosting (claimed) | Not listed | Yes |
| Server-side tracking | Not listed | Yes |
| Agency white-label | Not listed | Yes |
| Public DPA/AVV | Not listed | Yes |
Cookieless script without stored IPs or fingerprints
Vendor docs describe a sub-1 kB tag that measures traffic without cookies, without retaining visitor IPs (IP used only for live geo lookup), and without fingerprinting—aimed at sites that want analytics without a consent banner for non-essential cookies.
Realtime dashboard with geo, tech, events, and channels
Live visitor and pageview views plus city-level geography, browser/OS/device signals, custom conversion events, referrer/search/social acquisition, landing pages, and continuous site reachability (online status)—enough for content and marketing ops, not a full product-analytics suite.
Ad-blocker-resistant capture (vendor claim)
Marketing materials contrast digistats with Google Analytics being stripped by major blockers and state digistats is not blocked by common ad-block extensions. Useful for traffic completeness debates; treat as first-party claim until you validate on your stack.
Multi-site SaaS with API, email reports, and CSV on every tier
Published plans include unlimited websites and events, API access, email reports, Swiss data-center storage, and CSV export—even on the free low-traffic tier—so agencies can run multiple client properties without plan-gated feature cliffs.
Swiss entity and Swiss analytics data center
Operated by digistats Analytics Ltd. (Dättwil AG); privacy policy commits to storing customer data in Switzerland. Managed hosting only—no self-hosted edition in public materials.
Cookie-free 24-hour visitor hashing
Recognizes visitors without cookies by hashing IP, User-Agent, date, and a per-site salt into a short ID. The vendor states IPs are not stored and cross-site linkage is blocked by the salt; sessions expire after 24 hours so long-term profiles are not built. Best for sites that want aggregate traffic metrics without a dedicated analytics cookie banner—confirm ePrivacy/TTDSG fit with counsel.
Server-side and script integrations
Instrument via JS snippet, CMS plugins (e.g. WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Framer), or backend SDKs/API (Go library and other stacks). Server-side collection improves resilience when ad blockers strip client scripts. Tradeoff: backend integration costs more engineering time than a single script tag.
Funnels, events, goals, and tag segmentation
Goes past pageviews with custom events, conversion goals, multi-step funnels, session path exploration, outbound/download/404 tracking, and tags for A/B tests or channel segmentation. Webhooks and email reports push insights into existing tools. Some advanced metrics (e.g. custom event metrics, e-commerce revenue tracking) sit on higher commercial tiers—verify the live feature matrix.
Agency white-label and shared dashboards
Custom domains, themes, logos, and broader white-label options let agencies present analytics under their own brand. Public dashboards and unique access links support clients without full account sprawl; roles/teams scale collaboration. Strong fit for multi-client portfolios; less relevant for a single personal blog.
Migration imports, API, and unlimited retention (stated)
Import historical data from Google Analytics, Plausible, or Fathom; export CSV; use the REST API and SDKs for custom pipelines. Pricing docs state unlimited data retention across Standard, Plus, and Enterprise. Limits are usage-based on monthly page views (events and a share of session extensions count)—plan for growth, not perpetual free volume.
| Assurance & compliance | digistats Analytics | Pirsch Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | Not found Vendor claims no IP storage and no fingerprints; no public third-party audit PDF found. | Not found Open-source core allows code review; no public third-party audit PDF located in this research pass. |
| ISO 27001 | Not found Not claimed on reviewed pages. Host partner ISO 14001 (environmental) is not an ISMS cert. | Not found No ISO 27001 certificate or registry entry found on official trust pages reviewed. |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Not found | Not found No public SOC 2/3 report referenced on official pages reviewed. |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Vendor claimed Swiss entity; privacy policy cites DSG and GDPR/DSGVO, cookieless design, Swiss storage. Not legal advice. | Vendor claimed German controller/processor Emvi Software GmbH; cookie-free hashing design; public DPA; German Hetzner hosting claims. Vendor also cites CCPA/PECR/Schrems II—treat as claims, confirm with counsel. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Partial Swiss Ltd, no known US parent, analytics residency claimed in Switzerland; billing via Stripe, Inc. (US) and Coinbase. EuropeanStack assessment — not a vendor certification. Not legal advice. | Partial EU entity / no known US parent and Hetzner DE analytics hosting, but privacy policy names AWS SES, Google Workspace, Stripe, and Intuition Machines (US-group services) for email/CAPTCHA/payments. Not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Partial Privacy policy describes Art. 28-style processing on behalf of customers; dedicated public DPA download not found — request signed DPA. | Vendor claimed Downloadable English DPA and German AVV PDFs linked from docs.pirsch.io/privacy. |
| EU AI Act | Not applicable Web analytics product; not positioned as an AI system product. | Not applicable Classical web analytics product; not marketed as an AI system. |
| Considerations & known limitations | digistats Analytics | Pirsch Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| No public independent security audit | Medium Cookieless and no-IP claims are first-party only. Security questionnaires that require audit reports will need vendor outreach or a different product. | Not listed |
| US-linked payment subprocessors | Medium AGB names Stripe, Inc. (San Francisco) for cards and Coinbase for crypto. Billing and account data may leave the pure Swiss analytics path even if telemetry stays in Switzerland. | Not listed |
| Hosting provider not named publicly | Low Switzerland data-center claim without a published host legal name or full subprocessor list complicates transfer and residual-risk assessments. | Not listed |
| No self-host or open-source path | Medium Cannot pin collector versions, run fully air-gapped, or satisfy hard self-host mandates. Operational dependency on digistats uptime and roadmap. | Not listed |
| Registration path may be restricted | Low At research time the login UI stated registrations were disabled and /developers redirected to login. Confirm trial and API access before scheduling migration. | Not listed |
| US-group account/ops subprocessors | Not listed | Medium Even with German analytics hosting claims, customer email, CAPTCHA, and payments involve AWS, Google, Stripe, and Intuition Machines. Sovereign or “no US cloud” policies need explicit exception handling or Enterprise architecture review. |
| No public ISO/SOC or third-party audit | Not listed | Medium Procurement teams that require ISO 27001 or SOC 2 evidence will need vendor questionnaires or NDA materials; public pages did not show those certs. |
| Open-source core ≠ free full self-host | Not listed | Low Teams assuming AGPL means free on-prem of the entire product may be surprised; full on-prem is positioned as Enterprise. |
| Fingerprinting still needs legal fit review | Not listed | Low Cookie-free hashing is not automatically lawful everywhere without information/consent analysis. Banner removal should be validated for your jurisdiction and tag stack. |
| Page-view usage limits | Not listed | Low Plans are metered on monthly page views (with events and partial session extensions counting). Hitting the cap can restrict dashboard access until upgrade or cycle reset—model traffic before cutover. |
When: You need open-source and optional self-hosting with a large community
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Matomo
Plausible is cookieless SaaS + self-host; Matomo is the full self-host suite.
When: You want another lightweight EU cookieless SaaS without Swiss seat as a requirement
Consider: Simple Analytics or Pirsch Analytics
NL and DE peers in the same category band.
When: You need enterprise analytics, tag manager, and formal compliance packaging
Consider: Piwik PRO or Matomo Cloud
Heavier stacks with more modules and B2B assurance artifacts.
When: You are comparing global privacy-analytics brands rather than Swiss residency
Consider: Fathom Analytics
Different ownership and data-path story—verify residency independently.
When: You need a free full-stack self-hosted analytics product with AGPL community edition
Consider: Plausible Analytics (CE) or other open full products in your shortlist
Pirsch open-sources the tracking core; on-prem of the full product is Enterprise-scoped.
When: You want the simplest possible privacy-first metrics with a Dutch vendor
Consider: Simple Analytics
Fewer advanced funnel/white-label features; different packaging tradeoffs.
When: You need heatmaps or session replay more than classical web analytics
Consider: Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, or EU UX-analytics peers
Expect heavier consent and data-minimization review.
When: You must stay inside Google’s advertising and BigQuery measurement ecosystem
Consider: Google Analytics / Google Tag Manager stack
Opposite privacy and transfer posture—only if legal review accepts it.