Friendly Analytics vs SEAL Metrics

Compare Friendly Analytics and SEAL Metrics on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Google Analytics

Logo: Friendly Analytics

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
Logo: SEAL Metrics

SEAL Metrics

Spain· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when European eCommerce or hospitality teams need cookieless full-traffic capture and last-click ROAS they can align with finance—without GA4 Consent Mode as the measurement backbone. Skip when you need self-host or open source, session replay and product analytics depth, or a certified ISO/SOC package today—consider Plausible, Simple Analytics, Pirsch, or Matomo-based hosts instead.

Cookieless first-party pixelEU-hosted (Dublin)Revenue / ROAS focusReal-time dashboardsDPA includedSaaS only
Friendly Analytics vs SEAL Metrics: Snapshot
FeatureLogo: Friendly AnalyticsFriendly AnalyticsLogo: SEAL MetricsSEAL Metrics
Country of originSwitzerlandSpain
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
Open sourceYesNo
Self-hostedYesNo
HeadquartersSwitzerlandSpain
Legal entityFriendly LLC (Friendly GmbH on DPA), Werkhofstrasse 5, 6052 Hergiswil, SwitzerlandSealMetrics (Spain; exact registered company name not found on public imprint)
Governing lawSwiss law (per customer principal agreement / DPA framework)Spain (Terms of Service; courts of Barcelona)
US parent / controlNo known US parentNo known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)MediumMedium
Hosting / residencyAnalytics 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).Customer analytics app, DB, and backups: Dublin, Ireland (EU data center, provider not named publicly). Subprocessor: Cloudflare for CDN/DDoS on encrypted transit at EU edge locations; vendor states no analytics data at rest on Cloudflare and no US cloud storage of customer analytics.
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.

Spanish cookieless web analytics for European eCommerce: first-party capture, Dublin EU storage, last-click revenue and ROAS without consent-dependent tags.

Tags
At a glance: Friendly Analytics vs SEAL Metrics
At a glanceLogo: Friendly AnalyticsFriendly AnalyticsLogo: SEAL MetricsSEAL Metrics
HQHergiswil, SwitzerlandSpain (Spanish law; Barcelona courts per Terms)
Legal entityFriendly LLC / Friendly GmbHNot listed
StackMatomo (unmodified + premium plugins)Not listed
Product hostsInfomaniak; backups Netstream & Hosttech (CH)Not listed
Commercial modelHit-based SaaS; enterprise custom; no free trialNot listed
Open source baseMatomo; portable to other Matomo hostsNot listed
FoundedNot listed2020 (vendor how-it-works page)
HostingNot listedDublin, Ireland — EU data center; Cloudflare edge transit
ModelNot listedSaaS; event-volume plans; free agentic tier + trial
Open sourceNot listedNo
Self-hostNot listedNo
Key capabilities: Friendly Analytics vs SEAL Metrics
Key capabilitiesLogo: Friendly AnalyticsFriendly AnalyticsLogo: SEAL MetricsSEAL Metrics
Matomo-as-a-ServiceYesNot listed
Cookieless by defaultYesNot listed
Swiss product hostingYesNot listed
ISO 27001 (claimed)YesNot listed
DPA availableYesNot listed
EU / on-prem optionYesNot listed
Cookieless first-party pixelNot listedYes
EU-hosted (Dublin)Not listedYes
Revenue / ROAS focusNot listedYes
Real-time dashboardsNot listedYes
DPA includedNot listedYes
SaaS onlyNot listedYes

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.

SEAL Metrics

  • 846-byte first-party cookieless pixel

    Install a tiny first-party script on your domain that logs pageviews without cookies, localStorage, or fingerprinting. Designed so ad blockers that target third-party analytics domains hit less often. Benefit: fuller traffic capture for teams stuck with consent-gated tags; trade-off: aggregate and channel metrics rather than person-level journey stitching.

  • Last-click revenue and ROAS attribution

    Attributes conversions and revenue to channels, campaigns, and landing pages with last-click models the vendor positions as CRM-alignable. Built for eCommerce and hospitality media decisions—not generic pageview vanity charts. Limits: not a full multi-touch marketing mix model out of the box; validate against your CRM as the case studies do.

  • Real-time promo and campaign dashboards

    Live views of revenue, channels, campaigns, and products during Promo Days so media teams can reallocate spend the same day. Suited to peak-load retail calendars. Constraint: value depends on tagging microconversions and keeping UTM hygiene; not a substitute for warehouse-grade BI alone.

  • LENS private AI on full capture

    Optional LENS layer answers growth, risk, and wasted-spend questions in plain language against SealMetrics data (vendor states exclusive private AI on Enterprise tiers). Useful when analysts are scarce. Caveat: AI outputs are assistive—confirm high-stakes budget cuts against raw reports and offline finance data.

  • MCP and AI-assisted provisioning

    Hosted MCP endpoint and docs let teams spin up accounts, pixels, and reports from AI coding assistants instead of a pure UI-only onboarding path. Speeds evaluation for engineering-heavy stacks. Still SaaS-only—there is no self-hosted SEAL Metrics server to run in your VPC.

  • EU Dublin storage with exports

    Vendor documents processing and backups in Dublin, Ireland, with TLS 1.3, AES-256 at rest, and roughly 24-month analytics retention. API and BigQuery-style exports support dual-running with GA4. Hosting operator is described generically as an EU data center; Cloudflare sits on the transit path only.

Assurance & compliance: Friendly Analytics vs SEAL Metrics
Assurance & complianceLogo: Friendly AnalyticsFriendly AnalyticsLogo: SEAL MetricsSEAL Metrics
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

Vendor mentions regular security audits and independent legal audits; no public third-party audit PDF found on site/docs.

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.

Not found

Data location docs list ISO 27001 as planned, not certified.

SOC 2 / SOC 3
Not found

No SOC 2/3 claim found on security/about pages reviewed.

Partial

Vendor docs list SOC 2 Type II as in progress — not a completed public report.

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

Spanish entity; cookieless architecture; EEA processing claims; DPA published. Legal conclusion remains for counsel.

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

EU entity / no known US parent; analytics at rest in Dublin. Cloudflare (US group) processes TLS transit at EU edge. 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

Public DPA page; vendor states standard DPA with every plan, custom on Enterprise.

EU AI Act
Not applicable

Web analytics SaaS; not positioned as an AI system product.

Not applicable

Core product is measurement analytics; optional LENS private AI is a feature—confirm classification if heavily relied on for automated decisions.

ISO 9001
Vendor claimed

Vendor publishes ISO 9001 certification materials alongside ISO 27001.

Not listed
Considerations & known limitations: Friendly Analytics vs SEAL Metrics
Considerations & known limitationsLogo: Friendly AnalyticsFriendly AnalyticsLogo: SEAL MetricsSEAL Metrics
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.

Not listed
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
US-group edge subprocessor (Cloudflare)Not listed
Medium

Even with Dublin storage, Cloudflare sits on encrypted traffic. Procurement that bans any US-group vendor in the path will need a written exception or alternative edge posture.

ISO/SOC not fully certified yetNot listed
Medium

SOC 2 in progress and ISO planned per vendor docs. Enterprise security questionnaires may block until reports are available under NDA.

Consentless claim is architectural, not a warrantyNot listed
Medium

Vendor argues no personal data / no cookies so analytics need no banner. Other scripts on the same site and national guidance still matter—get DPO sign-off.

SaaS-only, proprietary pipelineNot listed
Low

No self-host path. Mitigate with API/BigQuery export and dual-running with GA4 during evaluation.

Hosting operator not namedNot listed
Low

Docs say EU data center in Dublin without naming the cloud or colo operator. Ask for the concrete provider in the TPSR pack.

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.

SEAL Metrics

Best fit when

  • European eCommerce, DTC, and hospitality brands measuring paid media ROAS against incomplete consent-gated analytics
  • Marketing ops and agencies that need a single channel revenue source of truth finance can challenge less often
  • Teams that want side-by-side GA4 calibration without migrating off Google Ads tooling immediately
  • DPOs and CISOs evaluating analytics that claim no cookies, no fingerprinting, and EEA-only storage of analytics data
  • Stacks that prefer SaaS plus API/BigQuery export over running Matomo themselves

Poor fit when

  • Organizations that require self-hosted or open-source analytics under their own admin control
  • Product teams needing session replay, heatmaps, or deep multi-touch product analytics (Heap/FullStory class)
  • Buyers that will not accept SaaS until ISO 27001 or SOC 2 Type II is fully certified and publicly evidenced
  • Hobby sites and blogs that only need lightweight open-source pageview analytics

Consider instead when

  • When: You need open-source or self-hosted cookieless analytics

    Consider: Plausible Analytics (self-host Community Edition) or Matomo

    SEAL Metrics is SaaS-only with no public source license.

  • When: You want simple privacy-first page analytics without eCommerce ROAS tooling

    Consider: Simple Analytics or Pirsch Analytics

    Lighter EU privacy analytics peers; less paid-media attribution depth.

  • When: You need managed Matomo with Swiss hosting or enterprise on-prem options

    Consider: Friendly Analytics

    Matomo ecosystem plugins and heatmaps vs SealMetrics proprietary ROAS focus.

  • When: You need Google Ads-native reporting and free-tier product analytics breadth

    Consider: Google Analytics 4

    Different sovereignty and consent trade-offs; often kept alongside SealMetrics.

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?

SEAL Metrics

  • What is the exact legal entity name (e.g. S.L.) and registered address for contracts?
  • Which Dublin operator hosts app/DB/backups (name on the infrastructure questionnaire)?
  • Current status and availability date of SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001 certification?
  • Does any account data, billing, or support channel leave the EEA (email, payments, CRM)?
  • For LENS AI: training data isolation guarantees and EU AI Act role for customer use cases?