Compare Insights and Swetrix 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).
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.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Insights | Swetrix |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Austria | United Kingdom |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | Austria | United Kingdom |
| Legal entity | Unsourced Digital OG | Swetrix Ltd (SC797389), Edinburgh, Scotland |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Medium | Medium |
| 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. | 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 | 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). | 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 |
| At a glance | Insights | Swetrix |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Event-volume Cloud subscription; free self-host CE; timed trial |
| Known infra | Google Firebase (Functions, Auth, Hosting) per vendor docs | Not listed |
| HQ | Not listed | Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Legal entity | Not listed | Swetrix Ltd (SC797389) |
| 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 | Insights | Swetrix |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
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.
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 | Insights | Swetrix |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Searched marketing, DPA, privacy, and data policy; no public independent audit PDF located. Open-source code is available for review. |
| ISO 27001 | Not found No public certificate on getinsights.io at research time. | Not found No public ISO 27001 certification claim found on primary pages. |
| 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 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 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 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) | Not found No standalone public DPA page found; request from contact@getinsights.io for B2B use. | 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 product, not an AI system product page. | Not applicable Core product is web analytics, not an AI system. Optional Ask AI / OpenRouter is ancillary; confirm if your deployment enables it. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Insights | Swetrix |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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. |
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 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.