Plausible Analytics vs Wide Angle Analytics

Compare Plausible Analytics and Wide Angle Analytics on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics, Matomo

Plausible Analytics

Estonia· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you need cookieless website analytics with EU-owned visitor hosting, a lightweight script, AGPL transparency, and either managed Cloud or self-hosted CE. Skip when you need heatmaps/session replay, multi-day user-level product analytics, HIPAA/BAA, free forever hosted analytics, or zero non-EU SaaS anywhere in vendor ops—consider Matomo-class (e.g. Friendly Analytics / Piwik PRO), Pirsch, or Simple Analytics depending on depth vs simplicity.

Cookieless by designEU-owned visitor hostsAGPLv3 open sourceSelf-host CEDPA automaticLightweight script

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Wide Angle Analytics

Germany· Web Analytics

Needs review

Do not shortlist Wide Angle for new multi-year analytics: the vendor is winding the product down by end of August 2026. Existing customers should migrate using the promised data snapshot. For new EU privacy-analytics shortlists prefer Plausible, Pirsch, Simple Analytics, or Piwik PRO; keep Matomo-class stacks when self-host control is mandatory.

Cookieless by defaultGerman GmbH (Berlin)OVHcloud FR/DE hostingSaaS only (no self-host)EOL Aug 2026

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Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

Plausible Analytics vs Wide Angle Analytics: Snapshot
Feature	Plausible Analytics	Wide Angle Analytics
Country of origin	Estonia	Germany
Category	Web Analytics	Web Analytics
Open source	Yes	No
Self-hosted	Yes	No
Headquarters	Estonia	Germany
Legal entity	Plausible Insights OÜ, Västriku tn 2, 50403 Tartu, Estonia	Input Objects GmbH, Scharnhorststraße 24, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Governing law	Estonian / EU law context for the OÜ; confirm contract terms for governing law clauses	Not listed
US parent / control	No known US parent	No known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Medium	Medium
Hosting / residency	Visitor analytics: Hetzner (Falkenstein, Germany), UpCloud (Finland, DB/exports), Bunny (Slovenia, CDN/DNS/DDoS)—European-owned; vendor states visitor data never leaves the EU. Customer-account subprocessors include Paddle (payments), Postmark (email), Gravatar, optional Google (GA import), Help Scout, Nolt; site tools may include hCaptcha, Algolia, Mailchimp. SCCs claimed for non-EU processors.	Visitor analytics: OVHcloud limited to FR/DE (vendor). Account path: Paddle (payments), Brevo email/automation, Infomaniak; older vendor post notes Brevo/Sendinblue encrypted DR involving AWS/GCP. No known US corporate parent.
Summary	Estonian open-source, cookieless web analytics (AGPLv3): lightweight script, EU-owned hosting on Hetzner/UpCloud/Bunny, managed Cloud plus self-hosted Community Edition.	German cookieless-by-default web analytics SaaS (Input Objects GmbH, OVHcloud FR/DE). Product announced for discontinuation end of August 2026—prefer living EU peers for new deployments.
Tags	analytics web-analytics privacy cookieless gdpr saas google-analytics-alternative open-source self-hosted estonia	analytics web-analytics privacy cookieless gdpr saas google-analytics-alternative germany end-of-life

At a glance: Plausible Analytics vs Wide Angle Analytics
At a glance	Plausible Analytics	Wide Angle Analytics
HQ	Tartu, Estonia	Berlin, Germany (Input Objects GmbH)
Legal entity	Plausible Insights OÜ (reg. 14709274)	Not listed
Visitor hosts	Hetzner DE; UpCloud FI; Bunny SI	Not listed
License	AGPLv3; Cloud + Community Edition	Not listed
Commercial model	Pageview-based Cloud SaaS; free CE self-host	Event/site SaaS tiers + 14-day trial (see official pricing)
Tracking model	Cookieless; daily rotating hash; no PII stored	Not listed
Product launch	Not listed	November 2021
Hosting (visitor path)	Not listed	OVHcloud France & Germany (vendor-stated)
Open source	Not listed	No
Self-host	Not listed	No
Status	Not listed	Discontinuing end of August 2026

Key capabilities: Plausible Analytics vs Wide Angle Analytics
Key capabilities	Plausible Analytics	Wide Angle Analytics
Cookieless by design	Yes	Not listed
EU-owned visitor hosts	Yes	Not listed
AGPLv3 open source	Yes	Not listed
Self-host CE	Yes	Not listed
DPA automatic	Yes	Not listed
Lightweight script	Yes	Not listed
Cookieless by default	Not listed	Yes
German GmbH (Berlin)	Not listed	Yes
OVHcloud FR/DE hosting	Not listed	Yes
SaaS only (no self-host)	Not listed	Yes
EOL Aug 2026	Not listed	Yes

Plausible Analytics

Cookieless measurement with daily rotating visitor hash
No cookies, localStorage, or persistent IDs. Uniques use hash(daily_salt + domain + IP + UA); salt rotates every 24 hours and raw IP/UA are never stored—so analytics can often run without a consent banner, at the cost of no multi-day user stitching.
Lightweight script and single-page traffic dashboard
Vendor claims a script ~54× smaller than Google Analytics with real-time updates (~30s), sources, pages, devices, UTM channels, scroll-depth goals, and optional Google Search Console import—built for marketers who refuse GA4 report complexity.
Goals, custom events, funnels, and revenue on Cloud
Codeless page goals, file downloads, outbound clicks, custom events/properties, AI-referral traffic views, and (on higher Cloud plans) funnels, user journeys, and ecommerce revenue attribution—not session replay or in-app product analytics.
EU-owned visitor hosting (Hetzner, UpCloud, Bunny)
Cloud visitor data is processed on European-owned infrastructure: Hetzner (Germany), UpCloud (Finland), Bunny CDN (Slovenia). Plausible states visitor data never leaves the EU and is not stored on US hyperscalers.
AGPLv3 open source with Community Edition self-host
Full codebase on GitHub; free CE for self-host (long-term releases ~twice yearly). Cloud-only features include advanced bot filtering, funnels/journeys, ecommerce revenue, SSO, and Sites API—self-host ops, backups, and upgrades are yours.
Automatic DPA, Stats API, exports, and enterprise SSO
Public DPA applies to Cloud customers by use; CSV export and Stats API for BI; Business/Enterprise add higher API limits, raw event exports, managed proxy, and SAML SSO (Google Workspace, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID per docs).

Wide Angle Analytics

Cookieless request-based sessions with daily rotating salt
Default mode hashes site + IP + User-Agent with a non-persisted daily salt (SHA-256). Same-day uniques without cookies or long-lived IDs; past sessions cannot be re-linked after salt rotation. Optional 24h cookie or canvas fingerprinting change the consent analysis.
Optional tracking modes for SPA and consent-gated detail
Enable HTTP(S)-only 24h cookies, client fingerprinting, or service-issued IDs for SPA reliability. Fingerprinting is off by default and may require consent—controllers must re-assess before enabling.
Marketer dashboards, custom events, and multi-site teams
Real-time charts for sources, pages, devices, UTM campaigns, goals, custom actions, and e-commerce revenue attribution. Higher tiers add multi-user sharing, permissions, and many sites without SQL.
CMS one-click installs and lightweight script embed
Plugins/integrations for WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Ghost, Webflow, and common JS stacks; custom sites add a script tag. Built for marketers rather than BI engineers.
OVHcloud EU regions (FR/DE) for visitor analytics path
Vendor states product hosting is limited to OVHcloud France and Germany with no end-user analytics transfer outside EU/EEA and no sale of visitor data. Account billing/email use separate subprocessors (see Trust).

Assurance & compliance: Plausible Analytics vs Wide Angle Analytics
Assurance & compliance	Plausible Analytics	Wide Angle Analytics
Independent security / no-logs audit	Not found Open-source code and security overview published; no public independent pen-test or no-logs audit PDF found on compliance/security pages.	Not found No public independent pen-test or no-logs audit PDF found on site materials reviewed.
ISO 27001	Not found No ISO 27001 claim located on security or compliance hub pages reviewed.	Not found No public ISO 27001 certificate page found.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found No SOC 2/3 claim located on security or compliance hub pages reviewed.	Not found No public SOC 2/3 report found.
GDPR / EU data protection	Vendor claimed EU entity; cookieless non-PII design; public data policy, DPA, and vendor-published legal assessment on GDPR/ePrivacy positioning.	Vendor claimed German controller/processor entity; cookieless-default design; DPO named (DPO CONSULTING). Not legal advice.
US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Partial Estonian OÜ, no known US parent; visitor data on EU-owned Hetzner/UpCloud/Bunny. Partial/medium because customer-account subprocessors include US-oriented SaaS (e.g. Postmark, Help Scout, Gravatar, optional Google). Indicative only—not legal advice.	Partial EU GmbH, no known US parent, OVH FR/DE visitor hosting; offset by Paddle and Brevo-related infrastructure (incl. encrypted AWS/GCP DR per vendor blog). Assessment row—not vendor marketing.
Data processing agreement (B2B)	Vendor claimed Public DPA applies automatically to Cloud customers by use of the service; lists processor duties and 48-hour breach notification target.	Vendor claimed Vendor blog/compliance materials state a signed DPA is offered; confirm current template with vendor.
EU AI Act	Not applicable Website analytics product; not marketed as an AI system under the AI Act.	Not applicable Web analytics product, not an AI system under typical AI Act product framing.

Considerations & known limitations: Plausible Analytics vs Wide Angle Analytics
Considerations & known limitations	Plausible Analytics	Wide Angle Analytics
US-linked customer-account subprocessors	Medium Visitor metrics stay on EU-owned hosts, but billing, email, support, and optional integrations use providers such as Postmark, Paddle, Help Scout, Gravatar, and Google—material for zero-US-processor policies.	Not listed
No public ISO 27001 / SOC 2	Medium Compliance hub emphasizes product design and EU hosting rather than ISO/SOC certificates; orgs with mandatory cert checklists must request evidence or accept open-source + DPA packaging.	Not listed
Self-host CE feature and release lag	Low CE is free but long-term releases (~twice yearly) and omits Cloud-only funnels, journeys, ecommerce revenue, SSO, and advanced bot filtering—ops burden sits with you.	Not listed
No multi-day user identity or replay	Low Daily hash resets prevent cross-day visitor stitching by design; heatmaps/session replay are out of scope—teams needing those must add other tools.	Not listed
Misconfiguration can reintroduce personal data	Medium Passing emails, patient IDs, or other identifiers in URLs or custom properties undermines the non-PII model; vendor also states no HIPAA/BAA.	Not listed
Product end-of-life (August 2026)	Not listed	High Vendor announced discontinuation; service runs until end of August 2026 with pro-rata refunds and a vendor-prepared snapshot—not a self-service export. New deployments risk forced migration within weeks.
No self-host continuity path	Not listed	High SaaS-only design means the product cannot be retained on your infrastructure after shutdown.
Account subprocessors beyond OVH	Not listed	Medium Paddle, Brevo, Infomaniak (and historical Brevo DR via US-group clouds) affect customer-account and support data paths even if visitor analytics stay on OVH EU.
Optional fingerprinting/cookies	Not listed	Medium Non-default modes can reintroduce consent obligations; misconfiguration is a controller risk.
No public ISO/SOC/independent audit	Not listed	Medium Assurance rests on design docs, DPA, and vendor claims unless private reports are provided under NDA.

Fit

Plausible Analytics

Best fit when

Teams replacing GA4 who want aggregate marketing metrics without cookies or user profiles
EU orgs that require visitor analytics on European-owned infrastructure (Hetzner/UpCloud/Bunny)
Sites that prioritize script weight, Core Web Vitals, and a one-page dashboard
Buyers who want AGPL auditability and optional Community Edition self-host exit
Agencies and multi-site operators needing shared links, team seats, and pageview-tiered Cloud plans
Procurement paths that value a public DPA, data policy, and subprocessor list over ISO/SOC certificates

Poor fit when

Product analytics needs: multi-day user identity, cohorts, retention, feature experiments
UX research that requires heatmaps, session replay, or rage-click recording
Healthcare or other programs that require HIPAA and a BAA (explicitly not offered)
Buyers who need free forever hosted analytics with no subscription
Orgs that forbid any US-linked SaaS in vendor account tooling (Postmark, Help Scout, etc. are listed)

Consider instead when

When: You need Matomo-depth features (heatmaps, session recording, heavy on-prem packaging)
Consider: Friendly Analytics, Piwik PRO, or self-hosted Matomo
Trade Plausible’s minimalism for plugin breadth and different operators.
When: You want a lean EU privacy analytics peer with a different stack or license posture
Consider: Pirsch Analytics or Simple Analytics
Compare hosting ownership, funnels/ecommerce gates, and self-host options side by side.
When: You only need edge-level basic counts and already run Cloudflare
Consider: Cloudflare Web Analytics
Simpler install path; US company and thinner marketing analytics surface.
When: You need free hosted analytics and accept Google’s data practices
Consider: Google Analytics
Different legal and commercial model—not an EU privacy substitute.

Wide Angle Analytics

Best fit when

Existing Wide Angle customers completing migration before the announced August 2026 shutdown
Historical evaluation of cookieless, marketer-oriented EU SaaS analytics design (daily-salted sessions, OVH FR/DE)
Teams that needed multi-site CMS installs and shared reports without running Matomo themselves (while service remained live)
Controllers comparing default cookieless vs optional fingerprint/cookie modes on a single product

Poor fit when

Any new production deployment expected to outlive August 2026
Buyers requiring open-source self-host continuity (use Plausible CE, Matomo, or similar)
Product analytics, session replay, heatmaps, or ad-tech attribution platforms
Orgs that need public ISO 27001 / SOC 2 certificates without requesting private packs
Free forever hosted analytics

Consider instead when

When: You need a living cookieless EU SaaS analytics product
Consider: Plausible Analytics, Pirsch Analytics, or Simple Analytics
All remain active EU-oriented peers in this directory category.
When: You need self-host or deep plugin/on-prem control
Consider: Matomo (self-host or hosted peers) or Piwik PRO
Wide Angle never offered self-host and is shutting down.
When: You accept US ad-stack analytics for free depth
Consider: Google Analytics (GA4)
Different jurisdiction, cookie/consent model, and product surface—not a like-for-like privacy swap.

Open questions for due diligence

Plausible Analytics

Which exact customer personal data categories does each account subprocessor (Postmark, Paddle, Help Scout, etc.) receive in production?
Can Enterprise contracts exclude optional integrations (Google, Help Scout) or pin subprocessor lists for regulated buyers?
Are independent pen-test reports or ISO/SOC roadmaps available under NDA?
What are contracted RPO/RTO and backup locations beyond the high-level Hetzner/UpCloud description?
For CE self-host: which Cloud-only features remain permanently out of CE versus merely delayed on the long-term release train?

Wide Angle Analytics

Exact cutover date/time and timezone for service stop after August 2026?
When and in what open format is each tenant's data snapshot delivered?
Current signed subprocessor list and SCCs under the active DPA (vs 2022 blog / iubenda summary)?
Any residual access window or deletion certificate after EOL?
Are private security assessments available under NDA before remaining term ends?