Friendly Analytics vs Swetrix

Compare Friendly Analytics and Swetrix 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

View listing Visit Website

Swetrix

United Kingdom· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist Swetrix when you want cookieless traffic plus product-oriented tools (funnels, RUM, errors, optional Cloud replays) under a UK company with Hetzner DE hosting and AGPLv3 self-host CE. Skip when you need public ISO/SOC packs, zero US-group subprocessors, multi-year cookie retention cohorts, or free forever hosted analytics—consider Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics for minimal traffic-only privacy analytics, or Matomo for heavyweight self-host control.

Cookieless trackingHetzner DE hostingOpen source (AGPLv3)Self-host CEFunnels + errors + RUMPublic DPA

View listing Visit Website

Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

Friendly Analytics vs Swetrix: Snapshot
Feature	Friendly Analytics	Swetrix
Country of origin	Switzerland	United Kingdom
Category	Web Analytics	Web Analytics
Open source	Yes	Yes
Self-hosted	Yes	Yes
Headquarters	Switzerland	United Kingdom
Legal entity	Friendly LLC (Friendly GmbH on DPA), Werkhofstrasse 5, 6052 Hergiswil, Switzerland	Swetrix Ltd (SC797389), Edinburgh, Scotland
Governing law	Swiss law (per customer principal agreement / DPA framework)	Not listed
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).	Cloud analytics data: Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) per DPA/Data Policy. End User error monitoring sub-processor: Sentry / Functional Software Inc. (United States). Customer-side Privacy Policy list also includes Paddle (UK payments), Fastmail (Australia business email), AWS (US transactional/marketing email), OpenRouter (US optional AI chat). No known US parent.
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.	Cookieless, privacy-first web analytics from a UK company: traffic, funnels, errors, and performance on Hetzner in Germany, with AGPLv3 self-host Community Edition and optional Cloud session replays.
Tags	analytics privacy open-source gdpr matomo switzerland nfadp enterprise self-hosted	analytics privacy open-source gdpr cookieless self-host product-analytics

At a glance: Friendly Analytics vs Swetrix
At a glance	Friendly Analytics	Swetrix
HQ	Hergiswil, Switzerland	Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Legal entity	Friendly LLC / Friendly GmbH	Swetrix Ltd (SC797389)
Stack	Matomo (unmodified + premium plugins)	Not listed
Product hosts	Infomaniak; backups Netstream & Hosttech (CH)	Not listed
Commercial model	Hit-based SaaS; enterprise custom; no free trial	Event-volume Cloud subscription; free self-host CE; timed trial
Open source base	Matomo; portable to other Matomo hosts	Not listed
Governing law	Not listed	Scotland (Terms)
Primary hosting	Not listed	Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany
License	Not listed	AGPLv3 (Community Edition)
Open source	Not listed	Yes — github.com/Swetrix/swetrix

Key capabilities: Friendly Analytics vs Swetrix
Key capabilities	Friendly Analytics	Swetrix
Matomo-as-a-Service	Yes	Not listed
Cookieless by default	Yes	Not listed
Swiss product hosting	Yes	Not listed
ISO 27001 (claimed)	Yes	Not listed
DPA available	Yes	Not listed
EU / on-prem option	Yes	Not listed
Cookieless tracking	Not listed	Yes
Hetzner DE hosting	Not listed	Yes
Open source (AGPLv3)	Not listed	Yes
Self-host CE	Not listed	Yes
Funnels + errors + RUM	Not listed	Yes
Public DPA	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.

Swetrix

Cookieless traffic analytics with hashed sessions
Lightweight script captures pageviews, referrers/UTMs, devices, and city-level geo without cookies or client-side storage. Per the Data Policy, IP and User-Agent are hashed in memory with a daily rotating salt; only a random session id is stored—so you get sessions without long-term cross-day visitor retention.
Funnels, custom events, and goals
Instrument signups, purchases, and other conversions as custom events; build multi-step funnels and goals in the dashboard. Useful for product and growth teams who need drop-off analysis without bolting on a second product-analytics SaaS.
Real-user performance and client error tracking
Records Web Performance API timings (TTFB, DNS, TLS, render, full page load) and optional JavaScript errors with stack/context by page and browser. Bridges marketing traffic views with engineering signals that pure pageview tools omit.
Opt-in Cloud session replays with privacy modes
Cloud projects can call startSessionReplay() to record DOM and interactions; default modes mask text/inputs. Replays are not created by ordinary pageviews—customers must enable them and own consent, masking, and page exclusions. Cloud-only versus Community Edition.
AGPLv3 open source with Docker self-host CE
Core platform is public on GitHub under GNU AGPLv3; Community Edition deploys via official Docker docs with MySQL, ClickHouse, and Redis. CE includes core analytics, events, sessions, funnels, performance, and errors—but not all Cloud extras (replays, some alerts/org/AI features).
Alerts, API, GA import, and team access
Configure alerts to email, Slack, Telegram, Discord, webhooks, or push; pull or push data via the API; import GA4 history; invite organisations with roles or share password-protected/public dashboards. Fits agencies and multi-site operators who outgrow single-user tools.

Assurance & compliance: Friendly Analytics vs Swetrix
Assurance & compliance	Friendly Analytics	Swetrix
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 Searched marketing, DPA, privacy, and data policy; no public independent audit PDF located. Open-source code is available for review.
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 No public ISO 27001 certification claim found on primary pages.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found No SOC 2/3 claim found on security/about pages reviewed.	Not found No public SOC 2/3 report found.
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 UK company; public GDPR/PECR discussion in Data Policy; cookieless design with non-stored IPs for standard analytics; Hetzner DE hosting; public DPA. Optional replays may be personal data depending on configuration—customer assesses legal basis.
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 No known US parent; primary analytics on Hetzner DE. Material exception: Sentry (US) processes End User error data per DPA; Privacy Policy also lists AWS and OpenRouter (US) for customer email/AI. Indicative medium exposure—not a clean bill. 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 at swetrix.com/dpa incorporated by Terms; acceptance by use of Service; signed copy on request.
EU AI Act	Not applicable Web analytics SaaS; not positioned as an AI system product.	Not applicable Core product is web analytics, not an AI system. Optional Ask AI / OpenRouter is ancillary; confirm if your deployment enables it.
ISO 9001	Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO 9001 certification materials alongside ISO 27001.	Not listed

Considerations & known limitations: Friendly Analytics vs Swetrix
Considerations & known limitations	Friendly Analytics	Swetrix
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 subprocessors (Sentry, AWS, OpenRouter)	Not listed	Medium Primary analytics hosting is Hetzner DE, but Sentry (US) is an End User error-tracking sub-processor on the DPA, and AWS/OpenRouter appear for customer email/AI. Orgs with strict no-US-cloud rules need explicit acceptance or self-host CE to avoid those paths.
Session replay is opt-in and controller-owned	Not listed	Medium Cloud replays can capture DOM and inputs unless masked. Customers must enable startSessionReplay(), configure privacy modes/exclusions, and provide notices/consent where required—misconfiguration can reintroduce personal data risk that standard cookieless pageviews avoid.
No public ISO/SOC or third-party audit	Not listed	Medium Assurance relies on first-party policies, Hetzner infrastructure claims, and open source. Enterprise questionnaires that hard-gate on certs will stall until materials are provided under NDA or produced.
Cloud vs Community Edition feature gap	Not listed	Low Self-host CE is free and covers core analytics, but replays and several Cloud growth/ops features are limited or Cloud-only. Budget and feature planning must not assume feature parity.
Daily salt rotation limits retention metrics	Not listed	Low Cookieless design deliberately prevents classic multi-day visitor retention. Teams that need that metric class need another product or consented identity.

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.

Swetrix

Best fit when

SMEs, agencies, and product teams replacing GA4 who need cookieless traffic stats without a cookie banner driven only by analytics
Engineering-minded buyers who want error tracking and real-user performance in the same privacy-first dashboard as pageviews
Teams that may enable Cloud session replays later but can treat them as explicit opt-in with their own legal basis
Operators willing to run Docker Community Edition (MySQL/ClickHouse/Redis) when Cloud commercial terms or feature limits do not fit
Buyers who need a public B2B DPA, API access, GA4 import, and multi-channel alerts under a UK legal entity

Poor fit when

Enterprises that require published ISO 27001 / SOC 2 certificates or independent audit PDFs before shortlist
Policies that forbid any US-group subprocessors (Sentry is listed for End User error data; AWS/OpenRouter appear for customer services)
Use cases that depend on long-term cookie-based retention or cross-device identity graphs
Buyers who only want free hosted analytics with no paid Cloud tier and no self-host operations burden
Sites that will run session replays on sensitive flows without capacity to configure masking, exclusions, and consent

Consider instead when

When: You only need minimal cookieless pageviews/referrers with the smallest possible product surface
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics
Swetrix adds funnels, errors, RUM, and Cloud replays; peers stay closer to pure traffic analytics.
When: You need deep on-prem control, plugins, and mature enterprise self-host packaging
Consider: Matomo (self-host or managed EU hosts such as Matomo by Stackhero)
Heavier ops and optional cookies; stronger fit for large controlled deployments.
When: You must stay inside Google advertising measurement and free GA4 ecosystem tooling
Consider: Google Analytics
Trade privacy, consent, and transfer complexity for ads integration and zero software fee.

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?

Swetrix

Can Enterprise contracts exclude or replace Sentry (and other US-group subprocessors) for End User data paths?
Are ISO 27001, SOC 2, or pen-test summaries available under NDA?
What is the exact backup/DR location topology beyond “secure backups” wording on the DPA?
Which Cloud-only features remain permanently out of CE versus delayed open-source release?
For session replay at your traffic volumes, what retention defaults and export/delete SLAs apply on your plan?