Compare Insights and Offen Fair Web Analytics on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics, Matomo
Austria· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist when you need cookie-free hosted analytics with first-class custom events for SPAs from an Austrian operator. Skip when you need self-host, public ISO/SOC packs, or infrastructure without Google Firebase—consider Plausible Analytics, Simple Analytics, or Pirsch Analytics instead (or self-hosted Matomo).
Germany· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist when you want self-hosted, Apache-2.0 analytics that only measures after opt-in, encrypts events in the browser, and lets visitors open their own data in the Auditorium. Skip when you need cookieless full-coverage metrics, session replay/heatmaps, or zero-ops managed EU hosting—consider Plausible, Pirsch, or Friendly Analytics instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Insights | Offen Fair Web Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Austria | Germany |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | Austria | Germany |
| Legal entity | Unsourced Digital OG | Public legal notice lists Frederik Ring, Berlin (offen.software); product authors Frederik Ring and Hendrik Niefeld—no separate GmbH name verified on imprint |
| Governing law | Not listed | Germany (indicative from Berlin imprint) |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Medium | Low |
| Hosting / residency | Operator: Unsourced Digital OG (Austria). Vendor-documented infrastructure includes Google Firebase—Cloud Functions, Firebase Authentication (customer accounts), and Firebase Hosting—with temporary IP handling described for those Google services. Visitor analytics designed without cookies and without IP storage in DB/logs; still a US-group cloud path for processing/hosting/auth. | Product is operator self-hosted (your VPS/cloud/on-prem). No Offen multi-tenant analytics SaaS or vendor subprocessor list for visitor events. Related marketing site (offen.software) names Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) as host—not the analytics data path. Optional community deploys include Heroku (operator choice). |
| Summary | Austrian privacy-first hosted web analytics: page views and custom events without cookies or stored visitor IPs, with an MIT open-source JS client (backend uses Google Firebase). | Open-source, self-hosted web analytics with opt-in consent, browser-side end-to-end encryption, and a shared Auditorium so visitors can see and control their own usage data. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | Insights | Offen Fair Web Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| HQ / law | Austria (Unsourced Digital OG; Austrian governing law) | Not listed |
| Product type | Hosted privacy web analytics + custom events | Not listed |
| Client license | MIT (insights-js); backend proprietary | Not listed |
| Self-host | No public self-host option | Not listed |
| Commercial model | Free low-volume tier; paid by monthly event/pageview volume | Not listed |
| Known infra | Google Firebase (Functions, Auth, Hosting) per vendor docs | Not listed |
| HQ / authors | Not listed | Berlin, Germany (Frederik Ring & Hendrik Niefeld) |
| License | Not listed | Apache-2.0 (code/docs); logo CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0 |
| Delivery | Not listed | Self-host only (binary, Docker, community deploys) |
| Consent model | Not listed | Opt-in only; first-party cookies |
| Default retention | Not listed | 6 months (configurable shorter) |
| Funding note | Not listed | NLnet NGI support (project-stated) |
| Key capabilities | Insights | Offen Fair Web Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie-free tracking | Yes | Not listed |
| Custom events | Yes | Not listed |
| MIT client (insights-js) | Yes | Not listed |
| Austrian entity | Yes | Not listed |
| Hosted SaaS | Yes | Not listed |
| Firebase data path | Yes | Not listed |
| Opt-in only | Not listed | Yes |
| Browser E2E encryption | Not listed | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Not listed | Yes |
| Apache-2.0 | Not listed | Yes |
| Visitor data access | Not listed | Yes |
| Berlin-based project | Not listed | Yes |
Cookie-free page views and user flows
Tracks bounce rate, referrers, visits, and user-flow style page statistics without setting analytics cookies, so sites can avoid cookie banners driven solely by analytics. Script init plus trackPages() is the usual path for SPAs.
Custom and cancelable event tracking
insights-js supports named events with string parameters, unique-per-session flags, parameter-only updates, and remove/cancel for long-lived events (e.g. subscribe then unsubscribe). Built for product and funnel metrics, not pageviews only.
MIT open-source TypeScript client
The browser/npm client (insights-js) is MIT-licensed on GitHub with TypeScript types and helpers for locale, screen type, path, referrer, and duration buckets. Supports React, Angular, Vue, UMD script, and multi-project App instances. Backend remains proprietary SaaS.
Visitor anonymization pipeline (vendor-described)
Vendor docs: IPs hashed only in RAM for fraud checks (not stored in DB or logs); user agents reduced to browser/OS; optional screen sizes rounded to 50px; Do Not Track honoured. Confirm fit with your DPO—anonymous design is not a legal certification.
Developer-oriented integration
One-minute script install or npm package; docs cover multi-project tracking, ignoreErrors/disabled flags for production environments, and hash/search options on page paths. Lightweight client positioned against heavier GA-style tags.
Opt-in only collection with first-party cookies
No analytics events are recorded until the visitor actively consents. Cookies are first-party and the tracker is meant to run on a same-site subdomain so third-party cookie restrictions and cross-site tracking models do not apply. Visitors who never opt in leave no usage trail—expect lower absolute volumes than cookieless tools that measure by default.
Browser-side end-to-end encryption of usage events
Clients encrypt usage data before it leaves the browser; the server stores ciphertext and cannot decrypt events alone. Only the visitor (via their cookie) and the matching operator account can open that visitor's data in the Auditorium. Practical impact: a compromised database or overly broad ops access does not yield plaintext browsing histories the way a typical self-hosted analytics DB would.
Auditorium for both operators and visitors
Operators see aggregates across pages where the installation is active (unique users/sessions, top pages, filters). Each opted-in visitor can open the same style of UI for their own data only, with plain-language metric explanations, and can delete data or fully opt out later. This is the fair design point: measurement is not a one-way glass.
Essential metrics without IP or User-Agent capture
Dashboards cover real-time activity, page views, unique users and sessions, bounce rate, returning users, top pages, referrers, UTM campaign/source, landing and exit pages, weekly retention, and load time. Location is country-level from timezone mapping; mobile share uses orientation capability—not IP geolocation or UA parsing. No heatmaps, session replay, or warehouse-grade product analytics.
Lightweight self-host: binary, Docker, SQLite or SQL
Production installs use a single binary (Linux/Windows/macOS) or the offen/offen image; docs also cover Heroku, Uberspace, and YunoHost. Default store is SQLite; MySQL and Postgres are supported. AutoTLS can request Let's Encrypt certificates. Config is environment variables or offen.env. You own uptime, backups, SMTP for password reset, and the subdomain layout.
Multi-site accounts, teams, and short retention
One installation can cover multiple websites with shared team access. Default retention is six months with automatic deletion; operators can shorten retention (e.g. 12 weeks, 30 days, 7 days) knowing shorter values purge older events on startup. Consent banner appearance is customizable; UI locales include EN, DE, FR, ES, PT, and VI.
| Assurance & compliance | Insights | Offen Fair Web Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | Not found Vendor describes no IP storage in DB/logs and RAM-only hashing; no public third-party audit PDF found. | Not found No public third-party audit PDF found; coordinated disclosure via SECURITY.md email only. |
| ISO 27001 | Not found No public certificate on getinsights.io at research time. | Not found No public ISO 27001 certification claim found on official site or docs. |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Not found No public SOC report found. | Not found No public SOC 2/3 report found. |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Vendor claimed Austrian entity; privacy policy and data-collection docs; cookie-free/no-stored-IP design for visitors. Firebase/Google processing still requires transfer/DPA diligence. | Vendor claimed EU authors; opt-in, data minimization (no IP/UA), visitor access/erasure, short default retention, Datensparsamkeit framing. Self-host means operator remains controller—confirm your legal basis and notice. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Partial EU entity / no known US parent, but Google Firebase (US-group) used for Cloud Functions, Auth, and Hosting per vendor data page. Indicative medium exposure. Not legal advice. | Partial EuropeanStack assessment: no known US parent; product not delivered as US-hosted vendor SaaS. Operator-chosen infrastructure (including optional Heroku/US cloud) can still create CLOUD Act paths for stored ciphertext/metadata. Not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Not found No standalone public DPA page found; request from contact@getinsights.io for B2B use. | Not applicable No multi-tenant vendor analytics processing relationship documented; operator self-hosts and is typically controller. Custom development/support via offen.software is separate from a standard SaaS DPA. |
| EU AI Act | Not applicable Web analytics product, not an AI system product page. | Not applicable Web analytics metrics product; not an AI system product. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Insights | Offen Fair Web Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase on critical path | High Vendor documents Firebase Cloud Functions, Auth, and Hosting. Anonymous visitor design does not remove US-group cloud dependency for hosting/auth/processing—material for sovereignty-sensitive buyers. | Not listed |
| No public independent audit or certs | Medium No ISO 27001, SOC 2, or third-party no-logs audit found on the public site. Rely on vendor claims plus your own review of the open client. | Not listed |
| Client open source only; no self-host | Medium insights-js is MIT; dashboard/backend are closed SaaS. You cannot run the full product on your infrastructure. | Not listed |
| Small team / continuity | Medium Product presented as built by two freelance developers under Unsourced Digital OG. Assess vendor longevity and support SLAs for business-critical analytics. | Not listed |
| Bounce/unique metrics need SPA routing | Low Client docs: trackPages bounce and unique views expect a client-side router and do not use cookies/localStorage; multi-page full reloads can skew metrics. | Not listed |
| Opt-in undercounts absolute traffic | Not listed | High Visitors who never consent generate no events. Growth and content KPIs will not match cookieless tools or GA-style default measurement—treat as design, not a misconfiguration. |
| You own uptime, backups, and secrets | Not listed | Medium No managed Offen cloud. Operators must run HTTPS/subdomain layout, set OFFEN_SECRET for stable sessions, configure SMTP for resets, and back up SQLite/SQL—plus avoid reverse proxies that log IPs if minimization is a goal. |
| E2E crypto is vendor-claimed architecture | Not listed | Medium Browser-side encryption and server inability to decrypt are core claims from project docs/README, not independently audited in public materials found. Security-sensitive orgs should review source or commission assessment. |
| Hosting choice reintroduces cloud jurisdiction | Not listed | Medium Self-host on US-group cloud or Heroku means CLOUD Act/subprocessor analysis shifts to your host even though Offen itself is Berlin-based OSS without a vendor SaaS region map. |
| No public ISO/SOC or audit pack | Not listed | Low Procurement checklists that require vendor ISO 27001/SOC 2 will stall; evidence is open source and design docs, not cert registry entries. |
| Essential metrics only | Not listed | Medium No heatmaps, session replay, advanced funnels, or product-analytics warehouse features. Wrong tool if the shortlist criterion is UX research depth rather than fair traffic statistics. |
When: You want simple hosted EU privacy page analytics with a strong Plausible-style product footprint
Consider: Plausible Analytics
Compare event depth: Insights markets custom events as a core differentiator vs simpler page-focused tools.
When: You want cookie-free analytics with an explicit privacy brand and different commercial packaging
Consider: Simple Analytics
Verify each vendor's hosting and subprocessor pages side by side.
When: You prefer a German peer privacy analytics product
Consider: Pirsch Analytics
Compare event features, regions, and legal docs for your DPA process.
When: You need full control of the stack or on-prem processing
Consider: Self-hosted Matomo (or similar open analytics)
Higher ops cost; no dependency on Insights SaaS or Firebase.
When: You want privacy-oriented analytics with managed EU hosting and lower consent friction
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Pirsch Analytics
Typically optimised for simpler cookieless or low-friction models and hosted plans; less radical visitor Auditorium design than Offen.
When: You need EU hosted privacy analytics with operator support and less self-host burden
Consider: Friendly Analytics
European catalog peer oriented to hosted privacy analytics; compare consent model and feature depth to Offen’s opt-in + E2E approach.
When: You need deep product analytics, funnels, or session UX tooling rather than fair traffic metrics
Consider: Hotjar, Mixpanel, or a full GA4 stack (with legal review)
Different category: richer product/UX analytics, different jurisdiction and subprocessor profile.