Compare Insights and StatCounter on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: 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).
Ireland· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist when you want Irish-hosted, SMB-friendly analytics with real-time individual visitor feeds, optional session replay/heatmaps, and paid-traffic forensics. Skip when you need cookieless/minimal data collection, self-hosting, or published ISO/SOC and subprocessors—consider Plausible Analytics, Simple Analytics, or Piwik PRO instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Insights | StatCounter |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Austria | Ireland |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hosted | No | No |
| Headquarters | Austria | Ireland |
| Legal entity | Unsourced Digital OG | Statcounter Limited (Dublin; VAT IE 9582511F) |
| Governing law | Not listed | Republic of Ireland (venue Dublin) |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Medium | Unknown |
| 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. | Vendor describes visitor data as stored on StatCounter servers; no public subprocessor list or named cloud regions (AWS/GCP/Azure etc.) found on primary pages at research time. Marketing site monetization references Snigel—not a documented analytics data-path subprocessor list. |
| 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). | Irish-hosted web analytics with real-time individual visitor feeds, session replay, heatmaps, and paid-traffic tools—cookie and IP based, not cookieless privacy analytics. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | Insights | StatCounter |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Free Basic + session-volume paid tiers |
| Known infra | Google Firebase (Functions, Auth, Hosting) per vendor docs | Not listed |
| HQ | Not listed | Dublin, Ireland |
| Legal entity | Not listed | Statcounter Limited (CRO 431839) |
| Product since | Not listed | 1999 (company 2006) |
| Deployment | Not listed | Hosted SaaS only |
| Tracking model | Not listed | Cookies + IP + optional session replay |
| Open source | Not listed | No |
| Key capabilities | Insights | StatCounter |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Ireland-operated SaaS | Not listed | Yes |
| Real-time visitor feeds | Not listed | Yes |
| Session replay + heatmaps | Not listed | Yes |
| Cookie + IP tracking | Not listed | Yes |
| Free Basic tier | Not listed | Yes |
| Hosted only | 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.
Real-time individual visitor feeds
Live and recent-activity views show sessions as they happen with location, system stats, referrers, and navigation paths—not only aggregate totals. Magnify drills into a single visit for ops-style investigation. Best for SMBs and agencies that react to traffic in the moment; free Basic caps monthly sessions and short retention.
Session replay and heatmaps
Optional session replay plays back clicks, taps, scrolling, mouse movement, and form interactions so teams see friction visually. Heatmaps (higher paid tier) show attention and ignored elements. Recording volume is sold as an add-on pack; treat replay as high-sensitivity processing that usually needs clear notice and lawful basis.
Paid traffic, UTM, and Google Ads session detail
Conversion tracking, UTM campaign trends, paid-traffic analysis for repeat IPs, and Google Ads integration that attaches campaign/keyword context to individual sessions. Aimed at marketers defending ad spend and spotting click fraud—not a full marketing automation suite.
Cookie-based unique-visitor tracking with optional IP mask
Official docs describe an is_unique cookie for first-time vs returning visitors plus collection of IP, browser, OS, device, and page metadata. Project settings can mask the last IP octet when you treat addresses as personal data. This is classic analytics tracking—not a cookieless, consent-light design.
Broad CMS installs, API, apps, and Global Stats
Install guides cover 70+ platforms; paid tiers add CSV export and API access; mobile apps cover on-the-go stats and visitor alerts. Separately, Statcounter Global Stats publishes public browser/OS market-share charts from the tracking network—useful industry context, not a substitute for your site's private reports.
| Assurance & compliance | Insights | StatCounter |
|---|---|---|
| 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 independent security or no-logs audit PDF found on primary site. |
| ISO 27001 | Not found No public certificate on getinsights.io at research time. | Not found No ISO 27001 claim or certificate located on official pages. |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Not found No public SOC report found. | Not found No SOC 2/3 report referenced on official marketing/legal pages. |
| 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. | Partial Irish controller/processor entity and GDPR FAQ materials exist, but tracking uses cookies + IPs + optional session replay; vendor IP-not-personal-data stance is contested. Confirm DPA, consent, and retention for your use case. |
| 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. | Unknown No known US parent, but subprocessors and hosting regions are not published—cannot truthfully score low/medium without that list. EuropeanStack assessment, not a vendor claim. Not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Not found No standalone public DPA page found; request from contact@getinsights.io for B2B use. | Not found No clearly published self-serve DPA found; request under contract before regulated use. |
| EU AI Act | Not applicable Web analytics product, not an AI system product page. | Not applicable Classic web analytics / session recording product, not an AI-system offering. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Insights | StatCounter |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Classic cookies + IP + visitor-level detail | Not listed | High Not cookieless privacy analytics. is_unique cookies, IPs, and per-visitor forensics increase ePrivacy/GDPR programme burden versus aggregate-only EU tools. |
| Session replay captures rich interactions | Not listed | High Official replay guide includes clicks, scrolling, and form interactions. Usually needs explicit notice/consent and careful redaction policies for sensitive fields. |
| Terms claim joint ownership of visitor data | Not listed | Medium Legal terms state both the site owner and StatCounter own collected visitor data—review implications for controller/processor roles and secondary use. |
| No public subprocessor / region list | Not listed | Medium Hosting described only as vendor servers. Without named providers/regions, transfer and CLOUD Act diligence stays incomplete. |
| No public ISO/SOC/independent audit | Not listed | Medium Enterprise security questionnaires will lack downloadable certs/audit reports from the public site. |
| Vendor IP personal-data interpretation is contested | Not listed | Medium GDPR FAQ leans on older Irish case law; many EU programmes still treat IPs/cookie IDs as personal data. Use IP masking and counsel review where needed. |
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 need cookieless, aggregate-only metrics with a lighter ePrivacy consent story
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics
Both are EU-hosted privacy-oriented analytics; far less per-visitor forensics than StatCounter.
When: You need enterprise privacy packaging, stronger controller tooling, or optional self-host paths
Consider: Piwik PRO (or self-hosted Matomo-class stacks)
Heavier setup and product surface; better when DPA/hosting artefacts are mandatory.
When: You are deep in Google's marketing stack and need free default reporting at huge scale
Consider: Google Analytics (with full transfer/risk review)
US-group processing and steeper UX; stronger ecosystem integrations.