Matomo by Stackhero vs StatCounter

Compare Matomo by Stackhero and StatCounter on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Google Analytics, Matomo

Matomo by Stackhero

France· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you want full Matomo on a dedicated French-operated bare-metal instance with one-click updates and hourly billing—especially if you prefer unlimited site/seat product framing over hit-metered multi-tenant SaaS. Skip when you need EU-only with no US region option, root/SSH access, or a minimal cookieless counter—consider self-hosted Matomo, Friendly Analytics, or Plausible instead.

Managed MatomoDedicated instanceFrench PaaS operatorISO 27001 (claimed)Automatic DPAEU or US region

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StatCounter

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.

Ireland-operated SaaSReal-time visitor feedsSession replay + heatmapsCookie + IP trackingFree Basic tierHosted only

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Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

Matomo by Stackhero vs StatCounter: Snapshot
Feature	Matomo by Stackhero	StatCounter
Country of origin	France	Ireland
Category	Web Analytics	Web Analytics
Open source	Yes	No
Self-hosted	No	No
Headquarters	France	Ireland
Legal entity	Stackhero (RCS Paris 512 366 378, VAT FR92512366378), 1 rue de Stockholm, 75008 Paris, France	Statcounter Limited (Dublin; VAT IE 9582511F)
Governing law	French law; courts at registered head office (per Terms of service)	Republic of Ireland (venue Dublin)
US parent / control	No known US parent	No known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Medium	Unknown
Hosting / residency	Primary compute: Stackhero bare-metal cloud, customer-chosen region EU (France) or USA. Backups: stored in the EU per Matomo FAQ; encrypted atomic images retained up to ~3 months. Not built on AWS/GCP/Azure as the stated compute substrate. Payment processor (unnamed) handles card data; privacy policy mentions third-party messaging/stats tools without a full named subprocessor table.	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	French PaaS-managed Matomo on dedicated bare-metal instances: unlimited sites until capacity, one-click updates, EU or US region choice, with hourly billing and an automatic DPA.	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	analytics gdpr matomo privacy open-source saas france managed-hosting iso-27001	analytics gdpr web-analytics session-replay heatmaps ireland cookies real-time

At a glance: Matomo by Stackhero vs StatCounter
At a glance	Matomo by Stackhero	StatCounter
HQ	Paris, France (1 rue de Stockholm, 75008)	Dublin, Ireland
Legal entity	Stackhero — RCS Paris 512 366 378	Statcounter Limited (CRO 431839)
Stack	Open-source Matomo on dedicated Stackhero VM	Not listed
Hosting regions	EU (France) or USA; backups in EU (vendor FAQ)	Not listed
Commercial model	Hourly instance billing; free trial; no standard commitment	Free Basic + session-volume paid tiers
Certifications	ISO 27001:2022 claimed (BAB #254338)	Not listed
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: Matomo by Stackhero vs StatCounter
Key capabilities	Matomo by Stackhero	StatCounter
Managed Matomo	Yes	Not listed
Dedicated instance	Yes	Not listed
French PaaS operator	Yes	Not listed
ISO 27001 (claimed)	Yes	Not listed
Automatic DPA	Yes	Not listed
EU or US region	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

Matomo by Stackhero

Dedicated bare-metal Matomo instance
Each customer gets an isolated VM on Stackhero’s own bare-metal cloud (Stackhero DC OS), not shared multi-tenant Matomo. Local disks and included Redis are positioned for high IOPS and heavy traffic—fit teams that outgrow noisy-neighbor shared analytics clouds.
Unlimited sites, members, segments, and goals until capacity
Stackhero does not meter websites, team seats, segments, or goals as product SKUs; you scale by instance size (published up to 16 vCPUs / 64 GB RAM). Retention is limited by disk, not a fixed product TTL—plan storage for long history.
One-click Matomo updates and managed ops (no SSH)
Stackhero delivers Matomo updates for dashboard application; firewall IP rules are customer-configurable. SSH is intentionally unavailable on the managed service—good for reduced surface area, poor fit if you need custom OS packages.
Custom domain, GeoIP2, and dedicated notification email
Point matomo.yourdomain.com with TLS 1.3/ECDSA, ship visitor location via bundled GeoIP2, and send unlimited Matomo reports/alerts through a per-instance email path—reduces glue work after first deploy.
Atomic encrypted daily backups (EU vault)
24-hour atomic image backups (plus event-driven backups on upgrades) are validated, then encrypted (OpenPGP ECDH/Curve25519) and retained up to three months. Vendor FAQ states backups are stored in the EU even when regions differ—confirm dual-region implications for US instances.
Hourly billing with EU or US region choice
Spin services up/down with hourly charging and a single monthly invoice; free trial without payment method. Choose European (France) or USA placement at create time—region is a first-class control for residency, not a hidden default.

StatCounter

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: Matomo by Stackhero vs StatCounter
Assurance & compliance	Matomo by Stackhero	StatCounter
Independent security / no-logs audit	Not found ISO 27001 and bug-bounty openness claimed; no public independent no-logs audit report specific to analytics found.	Not found No public independent security or no-logs audit PDF found on primary site.
ISO 27001	Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate #254338 from the British Assessment Bureau (PDF). Not re-verified against the issuer’s public register in this draft.	Not found No ISO 27001 claim or certificate located on official pages.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found No SOC 2/3 claim found on certifications/privacy/GDPR pages reviewed.	Not found No SOC 2/3 report referenced on official marketing/legal pages.
GDPR / EU data protection	Vendor claimed French entity; public GDPR & DPA page; customer controller / Stackhero processor model; EU region option for service data.	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 French entity, no known US parent, non-hyperscaler bare-metal hosting claimed. Medium/partial because USA is a first-class hosting region; EU-only only when the customer creates the service in Europe. Backups stated as EU-stored. 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)	Vendor claimed DPA applies automatically with Terms of service; PDF downloadable from the GDPR & DPA page.	Not found No clearly published self-serve DPA found; request under contract before regulated use.
EU AI Act	Not applicable Web analytics hosting; not positioned as an AI system product.	Not applicable Classic web analytics / session recording product, not an AI-system offering.

Considerations & known limitations: Matomo by Stackhero vs StatCounter
Considerations & known limitations	Matomo by Stackhero	StatCounter
Optional US hosting region	Medium Platform offers USA placement alongside France/EU. Mis-selected region or unclear contract language can put visitor analytics outside the EU. Procurements that require EU-only must pin region at create time and in the order form.	Not listed
EU backups when primary is US	Medium FAQ states backups are stored in the EU. If an instance runs in the USA, confirm whether visitor data is dual-homed (US primary + EU backup) and how that affects DPIA and transfer tools.	Not listed
No SSH / managed-only host	Low Cannot install arbitrary system software or agents; support hours stated as CET office hours for basic platform support—not full Matomo application consulting.	Not listed
Limited named subprocessor list	Medium Privacy policy mentions third-party tools and a payment processor without a detailed public subprocessor register. Request the annex in diligence if procurement requires named processors.	Not listed
ISO certificate vendor-published	Low ISO 27001:2022 is claimed with a public PDF and BAB certificate number; validate scope, sites, and validity dates with the certification body before treating it as verified.	Not listed
Matomo privacy configuration is yours	Low Hosting in the EU does not auto-configure consent, IP anonymization, or cookieless modes. Controllers remain responsible for Matomo GDPR tooling and site policy.	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.

Fit

Matomo by Stackhero

Best fit when

Teams that want Matomo’s full analytics/admin surface without running OS or Matomo upgrades themselves
Buyers who prefer a dedicated VM and capacity-based limits over multi-tenant hit metering
Orgs consolidating Matomo with other Stackhero-managed open-source services under one French operator
Projects that need hourly elasticity and the ability to stop billing with one click
Controllers who will configure Matomo privacy features themselves and want a signed/automatic DPA plus ISO 27001 claims

Poor fit when

Requirements that forbid any US hosting option or dual-region backup stories—platform publicly offers USA regions
Teams that need SSH, custom kernels, or non-Matomo system agents on the host
Buyers seeking only a lightweight cookieless pageview product (Plausible-class tools are simpler)
Organizations that must self-host inside their own cloud account with no third-party PaaS operator
Use cases needing a named public subprocessor register beyond Stackhero’s high-level privacy/GDPR pages

Consider instead when

When: You want Swiss Matomo-as-a-Service with cookieless defaults and CH product hosts
Consider: Friendly Analytics
Different operator, residency story, and privacy defaults; still Matomo-based.
When: You need enterprise analytics packaging beyond plain managed Matomo
Consider: Piwik PRO
Compare modules, contracts, and hosting regions independently.
When: You only need a minimal open-source-friendly counter with simple SaaS UX
Consider: Plausible Analytics
Far less Matomo depth; different product surface.
When: You require full root control and in-house residency guarantees
Consider: Self-hosted Matomo on your own EU IaaS
Maximum control; you own updates, backups, and hardening.

StatCounter

Best fit when

SMBs, freelancers, and agencies that want simple dashboards plus per-visitor detail without GA complexity
Marketers who need session-level paid-traffic and Google Ads context to investigate click patterns
Teams that value live visitor feeds, alerts, mobile apps, and human support on paid plans
Buyers preferring an independent Irish commercial analytics vendor over US ad-tech defaults
Sites already prepared to run classic analytics cookies and document processing in privacy notices

Poor fit when

Cookieless or consent-light privacy programmes (CNIL-style minimal analytics)
Organisations that require self-hosting or full infrastructure control
Procurement that mandates public ISO 27001/SOC 2 and a published subprocessor list before shortlist
Use cases that must avoid session recording or individual IP-level visitor inspection
Enterprise product analytics needing deep funnel/experimentation stacks beyond SMB web stats

Consider instead when

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.

Open questions for due diligence

Matomo by Stackhero

Will the order form and DPA annex permanently pin the Matomo instance to the EU (France) region with no US failover?
For US-region instances, what exact data is copied to EU backup vaults and under which transfer mechanism?
Who is the unnamed parent company referenced on the About page, and is there any US ownership or PE?
Can ISO 27001 certificate 254338 be validated on the British Assessment Bureau (or successor) public register for current scope/dates?
Which payment, support, and website analytics providers process Stackhero account data (named subprocessor list)?

StatCounter

Will StatCounter sign a GDPR DPA and name all subprocessors and hosting regions in writing?
Where exactly is customer analytics data stored and backed up (country and provider)?
What field-redaction / exclusion controls exist for session replay on password and payment forms?
Is there any ISO 27001, SOC 2, or independent penetration-test summary available under NDA?
How should controllers interpret joint ownership wording in the terms relative to controller/processor roles?