Friendly Analytics vs Matomo by Stackhero

Compare Friendly Analytics and Matomo by Stackhero on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics, Matomo

Friendly Analytics

Switzerland· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you need full Matomo depth (heatmaps, funnels, ecommerce, API) with Swiss product hosting and managed privacy defaults—especially regulated CH/EU orgs leaving Google Analytics. Skip when you only want a minimal pageview counter, a free self-serve tier, or pure DIY Matomo ops—consider Plausible, etracker, or self-hosted Matomo instead.

Matomo-as-a-ServiceCookieless by defaultSwiss product hostingISO 27001 (claimed)DPA availableEU / on-prem option

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Matomo by Stackhero

France· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you want full Matomo on a dedicated French-operated bare-metal instance with one-click updates and hourly billing—especially if you prefer unlimited site/seat product framing over hit-metered multi-tenant SaaS. Skip when you need EU-only with no US region option, root/SSH access, or a minimal cookieless counter—consider self-hosted Matomo, Friendly Analytics, or Plausible instead.

Managed MatomoDedicated instanceFrench PaaS operatorISO 27001 (claimed)Automatic DPAEU or US region

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Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

Friendly Analytics vs Matomo by Stackhero: Snapshot
Feature	Friendly Analytics	Matomo by Stackhero
Country of origin	Switzerland	France
Category	Web Analytics	Web Analytics
Open source	Yes	Yes
Self-hosted	Yes	No
Headquarters	Switzerland	France
Legal entity	Friendly LLC (Friendly GmbH on DPA), Werkhofstrasse 5, 6052 Hergiswil, Switzerland	Stackhero (RCS Paris 512 366 378, VAT FR92512366378), 1 rue de Stockholm, 75008 Paris, France
Governing law	Swiss law (per customer principal agreement / DPA framework)	French law; courts at registered head office (per Terms of service)
US parent / control	No known US parent	No known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Medium	Medium
Hosting / residency	Analytics product: Infomaniak (CH) primary hosting; Netstream and Hosttech (CH) backups. AWS listed only for Friendly Automate email, not Analytics. Enterprise marketing also offers EU or on-premise hosting. Company ops: US SaaS including Google Workspace, HelpScout, Stripe, Notion, Calendly, Cloudflare (help docs).	Primary compute: Stackhero bare-metal cloud, customer-chosen region EU (France) or USA. Backups: stored in the EU per Matomo FAQ; encrypted atomic images retained up to ~3 months. Not built on AWS/GCP/Azure as the stated compute substrate. Payment processor (unnamed) handles card data; privacy policy mentions third-party messaging/stats tools without a full named subprocessor table.
Summary	Swiss Matomo-as-a-Service: cookieless-by-default web analytics with heatmaps, funnels, and ecommerce, product data hosted in Switzerland, plus enterprise DPA and on-prem options.	French PaaS-managed Matomo on dedicated bare-metal instances: unlimited sites until capacity, one-click updates, EU or US region choice, with hourly billing and an automatic DPA.
Tags	analytics matomo privacy open-source gdpr switzerland nfadp enterprise self-hosted	analytics matomo privacy open-source gdpr saas france managed-hosting iso-27001

At a glance: Friendly Analytics vs Matomo by Stackhero
At a glance	Friendly Analytics	Matomo by Stackhero
HQ	Hergiswil, Switzerland	Paris, France (1 rue de Stockholm, 75008)
Legal entity	Friendly LLC / Friendly GmbH	Stackhero — RCS Paris 512 366 378
Stack	Matomo (unmodified + premium plugins)	Open-source Matomo on dedicated Stackhero VM
Product hosts	Infomaniak; backups Netstream & Hosttech (CH)	Not listed
Commercial model	Hit-based SaaS; enterprise custom; no free trial	Hourly instance billing; free trial; no standard commitment
Open source base	Matomo; portable to other Matomo hosts	Not listed
Hosting regions	Not listed	EU (France) or USA; backups in EU (vendor FAQ)
Certifications	Not listed	ISO 27001:2022 claimed (BAB #254338)

Key capabilities: Friendly Analytics vs Matomo by Stackhero
Key capabilities	Friendly Analytics	Matomo by Stackhero
Matomo-as-a-Service	Yes	Not listed
Cookieless by default	Yes	Not listed
Swiss product hosting	Yes	Not listed
ISO 27001 (claimed)	Yes	Yes
DPA available	Yes	Not listed
EU / on-prem option	Yes	Not listed
Managed Matomo	Not listed	Yes
Dedicated instance	Not listed	Yes
French PaaS operator	Not listed	Yes
Automatic DPA	Not listed	Yes
EU or US region	Not listed	Yes

Friendly Analytics

Matomo-as-a-Service with privacy defaults
Runs unmodified Matomo plus selected premium plugins, preconfigured for cookieless tracking, IP truncation, and nFADP/GDPR-oriented defaults so teams avoid operating Matomo themselves while keeping exit paths to another Matomo host.
Heatmaps, funnels, session recording, and ecommerce
Beyond pageviews: heatmaps, privacy-oriented session replays, conversion funnels, form analytics, A/B tests, and ecommerce reporting for UX and revenue analysis without bolting on a separate US product suite.
Swiss product hosting with EU or on-prem options
Visitor analytics hosted with Infomaniak in Switzerland; backups via Netstream and Hosttech (CH). Enterprise can contract Swiss, EU, or on-premise placement—confirm region in the order form rather than assuming SaaS-only CH.
Ads conversion export without third-party pixels
Advertising Conversion Export sends conversions to Google or Bing via API so campaigns can be optimized without placing those vendors' tracking codes on your site—useful when privacy policy bans extra ad tags.
GA import, reporting API, and Matomo portability
Historical Google Analytics data can be imported (manual, effort-billed). Reporting API and live export links feed BI tools; data can move to another Matomo instance, limiting classic SaaS lock-in.
Enterprise contracts, SSO, and dedicated instances
Enterprise tier adds custom DPA/DORA/NDA/SLA paperwork, dedicated account management, SSO, custom domain, dedicated instance, and phone/video support for banks, insurers, and public bodies.

Matomo by Stackhero

Dedicated bare-metal Matomo instance
Each customer gets an isolated VM on Stackhero’s own bare-metal cloud (Stackhero DC OS), not shared multi-tenant Matomo. Local disks and included Redis are positioned for high IOPS and heavy traffic—fit teams that outgrow noisy-neighbor shared analytics clouds.
Unlimited sites, members, segments, and goals until capacity
Stackhero does not meter websites, team seats, segments, or goals as product SKUs; you scale by instance size (published up to 16 vCPUs / 64 GB RAM). Retention is limited by disk, not a fixed product TTL—plan storage for long history.
One-click Matomo updates and managed ops (no SSH)
Stackhero delivers Matomo updates for dashboard application; firewall IP rules are customer-configurable. SSH is intentionally unavailable on the managed service—good for reduced surface area, poor fit if you need custom OS packages.
Custom domain, GeoIP2, and dedicated notification email
Point matomo.yourdomain.com with TLS 1.3/ECDSA, ship visitor location via bundled GeoIP2, and send unlimited Matomo reports/alerts through a per-instance email path—reduces glue work after first deploy.
Atomic encrypted daily backups (EU vault)
24-hour atomic image backups (plus event-driven backups on upgrades) are validated, then encrypted (OpenPGP ECDH/Curve25519) and retained up to three months. Vendor FAQ states backups are stored in the EU even when regions differ—confirm dual-region implications for US instances.
Hourly billing with EU or US region choice
Spin services up/down with hourly charging and a single monthly invoice; free trial without payment method. Choose European (France) or USA placement at create time—region is a first-class control for residency, not a hidden default.

Assurance & compliance: Friendly Analytics vs Matomo by Stackhero
Assurance & compliance	Friendly Analytics	Matomo by Stackhero
Independent security / no-logs audit	Not found Vendor describes anonymization defaults and mentions external pen tests in ISO materials; no public independent no-logs audit report found.	Not found ISO 27001 and bug-bounty openness claimed; no public independent no-logs audit report specific to analytics found.
ISO 27001	Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification covering the company/products with a certificate PDF; not independently re-verified against the cert body registry in this draft.	Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate #254338 from the British Assessment Bureau (PDF). Not re-verified against the issuer’s public register in this draft.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found No SOC 2/3 claim found on security/about pages reviewed.	Not found No SOC 2/3 claim found on certifications/privacy/GDPR pages reviewed.
GDPR / EU data protection	Vendor claimed Swiss entity; public materials assert nFADP and GDPR alignment; cookieless defaults and CH processing described in DPA.	Vendor claimed French entity; public GDPR & DPA page; customer controller / Stackhero processor model; EU region option for service data.
US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Partial Swiss entity, no known US parent; Analytics product hosts are Swiss (Infomaniak/Netstream/Hosttech). Medium/partial because company subprocessors include US SaaS (e.g. Google Workspace, HelpScout, Stripe, Cloudflare). AWS not used for Analytics per vendor list. Indicative only—not legal advice.	Partial French entity, no known US parent, non-hyperscaler bare-metal hosting claimed. Medium/partial because USA is a first-class hosting region; EU-only only when the customer creates the service in Europe. Backups stated as EU-stored. Not legal advice.
Data processing agreement (B2B)	Vendor claimed Public DPA text for Friendly GmbH; customers asked to contact to sign. Enterprise also references DORA/NDA/SLA packs.	Vendor claimed DPA applies automatically with Terms of service; PDF downloadable from the GDPR & DPA page.
EU AI Act	Not applicable Web analytics SaaS; not positioned as an AI system product.	Not applicable Web analytics hosting; not positioned as an AI system product.
ISO 9001	Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO 9001 certification materials alongside ISO 27001.	Not listed

Considerations & known limitations: Friendly Analytics vs Matomo by Stackhero
Considerations & known limitations	Friendly Analytics	Matomo by Stackhero
US company-operation subprocessors	Medium Support, email/calendar, payments, CRM/docs, and help-docs edge use US-headquartered SaaS even though Analytics visitor data hosts are Swiss. Material for DPIAs that demand zero US processors in any vendor process.	Not listed
Cookie features can reintroduce consent needs	Low Default is cookieless, but enabling cookie-based Matomo capabilities may require banners for EU visitors—configuration discipline required.	Not listed
Small Swiss operator dependency	Low Seven-person-scale Open Startup; mitigations include Matomo portability and open financial transparency, but capacity and roadmap still depend on a small firm.	Not listed
Certifications vendor-published	Low ISO 27001/9001 are claimed with PDFs on the vendor site; procurement should verify certificate validity with the issuing body.	Low ISO 27001:2022 is claimed with a public PDF and BAB certificate number; validate scope, sites, and validity dates with the certification body before treating it as verified.
Do not conflate with Friendly Automate	Medium Automate uses AWS for email sending. Scope assessments to Analytics-only subprocessors unless you also buy Automate.	Not listed
Optional US hosting region	Not listed	Medium Platform offers USA placement alongside France/EU. Mis-selected region or unclear contract language can put visitor analytics outside the EU. Procurements that require EU-only must pin region at create time and in the order form.
EU backups when primary is US	Not listed	Medium FAQ states backups are stored in the EU. If an instance runs in the USA, confirm whether visitor data is dual-homed (US primary + EU backup) and how that affects DPIA and transfer tools.
No SSH / managed-only host	Not listed	Low Cannot install arbitrary system software or agents; support hours stated as CET office hours for basic platform support—not full Matomo application consulting.
Limited named subprocessor list	Not listed	Medium Privacy policy mentions third-party tools and a payment processor without a detailed public subprocessor register. Request the annex in diligence if procurement requires named processors.
Matomo privacy configuration is yours	Not listed	Low Hosting in the EU does not auto-configure consent, IP anonymization, or cookieless modes. Controllers remain responsible for Matomo GDPR tooling and site policy.

Fit

Friendly Analytics

Best fit when

Teams that want Matomo's full feature set without self-hosting ops burden
Swiss and EU organizations prioritizing CH product residency (Infomaniak + CH backups)
Sites aiming for cookieless measurement under default privacy configuration
Marketing teams needing heatmaps, funnels, ecommerce, and ad conversion export without Google Analytics
Enterprises needing DPA/DORA/SLA paperwork, SSO, or dedicated instances

Poor fit when

Buyers who only need lightweight pageview analytics and prefer a free tier (see Plausible-class tools)
Teams that must self-operate every component with no SaaS operator in the path
Orgs that require zero US-headquartered tools anywhere in the vendor's company stack (support/billing SaaS is disclosed)
Use cases outside web/app analytics (Friendly Automate is a different product with different subprocessors)

Consider instead when

When: You want a minimal, open-source, cookieless counter with simpler SaaS UX
Consider: Plausible Analytics
Less Matomo plugin depth; different hosting/operator story (Estonia).
When: You need German enterprise analytics with long public-sector track record
Consider: etracker
Different stack (not Matomo); compare cookieless claims and contracts directly.
When: You prefer a modern EU analytics product with open-source core and lean UI
Consider: Pirsch Analytics
Germany-based; trade Matomo feature breadth for a different product surface.
When: You already run Matomo well and only need software, not a Swiss operator
Consider: Self-hosted Matomo
Maximum control; you own privacy config, updates, and hosting risk.

Matomo by Stackhero

Best fit when

Teams that want Matomo’s full analytics/admin surface without running OS or Matomo upgrades themselves
Buyers who prefer a dedicated VM and capacity-based limits over multi-tenant hit metering
Orgs consolidating Matomo with other Stackhero-managed open-source services under one French operator
Projects that need hourly elasticity and the ability to stop billing with one click
Controllers who will configure Matomo privacy features themselves and want a signed/automatic DPA plus ISO 27001 claims

Poor fit when

Requirements that forbid any US hosting option or dual-region backup stories—platform publicly offers USA regions
Teams that need SSH, custom kernels, or non-Matomo system agents on the host
Buyers seeking only a lightweight cookieless pageview product (Plausible-class tools are simpler)
Organizations that must self-host inside their own cloud account with no third-party PaaS operator
Use cases needing a named public subprocessor register beyond Stackhero’s high-level privacy/GDPR pages

Consider instead when

When: You want Swiss Matomo-as-a-Service with cookieless defaults and CH product hosts
Consider: Friendly Analytics
Different operator, residency story, and privacy defaults; still Matomo-based.
When: You need enterprise analytics packaging beyond plain managed Matomo
Consider: Piwik PRO
Compare modules, contracts, and hosting regions independently.
When: You only need a minimal open-source-friendly counter with simple SaaS UX
Consider: Plausible Analytics
Far less Matomo depth; different product surface.
When: You require full root control and in-house residency guarantees
Consider: Self-hosted Matomo on your own EU IaaS
Maximum control; you own updates, backups, and hardening.

Open questions for due diligence

Friendly Analytics

Will the signed DPA and order form pin hosting to Switzerland only, or allow EU/on-prem variants?
Which company subprocessors (HelpScout, Google Workspace, Stripe, etc.) receive which categories of customer personal data in practice?
Can the current ISO 27001 certificate be validated against the certification body's public register (scope, dates, sites)?
For enterprise: what is the RPO/RTO and whether backups remain exclusively in Switzerland?
If both Analytics and Automate are purchased, how are subprocessors and data paths segmented contractually?

Matomo by Stackhero

Will the order form and DPA annex permanently pin the Matomo instance to the EU (France) region with no US failover?
For US-region instances, what exact data is copied to EU backup vaults and under which transfer mechanism?
Who is the unnamed parent company referenced on the About page, and is there any US ownership or PE?
Can ISO 27001 certificate 254338 be validated on the British Assessment Bureau (or successor) public register for current scope/dates?
Which payment, support, and website analytics providers process Stackhero account data (named subprocessor list)?