Compare Simple Analytics and Sitesights on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics, Hotjar, Matomo
Netherlands· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist when you need EU-operated, cookieless web metrics without visitor IDs or stored IPs—especially as a visibility layer beside GA4. Skip when you need self-host/open-source control, session replay, or identity-rich marketing analytics; consider Plausible Analytics or Matomo/Piwik PRO instead.
Germany· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist Sitesights when you need German-operated cookieless web analytics with real-time dashboards, funnels, page flow, and a server-side API—especially agencies and SaaS teams that want Hetzner Germany hosting claims without running Matomo. Skip when you need public ISO/SOC audits, long-term visitor identity, session replay, or a fully published subprocessor pack; consider Plausible Analytics or self-hosted Matomo instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Simple Analytics | Sitesights |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Netherlands | Germany |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hosted | No | No |
| Headquarters | Netherlands | Germany |
| Legal entity | Simple Analytics B.V., Amsterdam (KVK 88269922, VAT NL864560011B01) | Drude, Grossert GbR |
| Governing law | Netherlands / EU | Not listed |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Low | Medium |
| Hosting / residency | Analytics data claimed processed in the Netherlands/EU. Public subprocessors (May 2026): Worldstream + Leaseweb (NL hosting), Hetzner (DE hosting), Bunny (SI CDN/DNS), Hyperping (FR uptime), Intention (NL domains). Vendor states this list covers website visitor-data subprocessors only—not payments/internal ops. | Product databases and app servers claimed in Germany on Hetzner. Marketing site uses Cloudflare (US) CDN. Payments via Paddle. Full product subprocessor/backup list not published on main site. |
| Summary | Dutch privacy-first web analytics SaaS: cookieless pageviews and campaigns without visitor IDs or stored IPs, EU-hosted by Simple Analytics B.V. in Amsterdam. | German cookieless web analytics SaaS with real-time dashboards, events, funnels, and server-side APIs. Operated by Drude, Grossert GbR; product data claimed on Hetzner in Germany. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | Simple Analytics | Sitesights |
|---|---|---|
| HQ | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Not listed |
| Legal entity | Simple Analytics B.V. (KVK 88269922) | Not listed |
| Founded | 2018 | Not listed |
| Product type | Hosted web analytics SaaS (not self-hosted) | Not listed |
| Open source | No (proprietary) | No (libs/plugins public; core SaaS proprietary) |
| Data focus | Cookieless, non-identifying aggregate metrics | Not listed |
| Primary hosting | Netherlands (EU); see subprocessors | Not listed |
| Commercial model | Free hobby tier + usage-based paid + enterprise | Free start; pageviews + events subscriptions (Paddle) |
| HQ / entity | Not listed | Drude, Grossert GbR, Germany |
| Category | Not listed | Web analytics (SaaS) |
| Hosting (product) | Not listed | Hetzner, Germany (vendor docs) |
| Tracking model | Not listed | Cookieless; 48h rotating server hash |
| Key capabilities | Simple Analytics | Sitesights |
|---|---|---|
| Cookieless analytics | Yes | Yes |
| No stored IPs / visitor IDs | Yes | Not listed |
| EU-hosted (NL focus) | Yes | Not listed |
| Dutch B.V. | Yes | Not listed |
| Works beside GA4 | Yes | Not listed |
| API & BI export | Yes | Not listed |
| EU-operated (DE) | Not listed | Yes |
| Hetzner Germany (claimed) | Not listed | Yes |
| Server-side API | Not listed | Yes |
| Funnels + page flow | Not listed | Yes |
| Multi-project / agencies | Not listed | Yes |
Cookieless metrics without visitor IDs or stored IPs
Collects pageviews, referrers, UTMs, time-on-page, and scroll depth without cookies, localStorage, fingerprints, or stored IP addresses. Unique visits are inferred from referrer hostname matching, not device IDs. Built for sites that want analytics without a consent banner solely for this tool—and without building visitor profiles.
Country from time zone, not geo-IP
Country-level location is derived from the visitor’s IANA time zone rather than IP lookup, so IPs can be dropped end-to-end. City/region is not available; some border and multi-country zones can mis-tag. Useful when legal teams reject IP-based geolocation even when hashed.
Cookieless layer beside GA4 and BI stacks
Positioned to measure traffic lost when consent is denied in cookie-based tools. Import historical Google Analytics data; export via Stats/Export APIs and integrations toward Looker Studio, Power BI, and warehouse workflows so analysts can compare consented vs observed traffic without replacing every GA report.
Lightweight script, events, goals, and ad-blocker bypass
Vendor claims a single script under 5 KB. Supports events, automated events (e.g. downloads, outbound links), goals, filters, email reports, and robot/referrer-spam controls. Ad-blocker resilience is via first-party proxy or custom subdomain CNAME—not automatic immunity for every blocklist.
Team access, SSO, and EU-operated SaaS
Hosted product from Simple Analytics B.V. (Amsterdam) with role-oriented team features on higher tiers and documented SAML SSO for Okta and Microsoft Entra. No official self-host edition—operations and residency follow the vendor’s EU infrastructure and public subprocessor list.
Cookieless 48-hour rotating session hash
Standard tracking does not set cookies. Sitesights generates a server-side salted hash from IP, User-Agent, and site id with a salt that rotates every 48 hours, so long-term cross-day visitor re-identification is intentionally broken. Useful when teams want essential traffic metrics without a cookie-consent banner solely for analytics—confirm legal basis with counsel for your jurisdiction and data fields (including geo).
Sub-1 KB client script plus WordPress and Shopify plugins
Drop-in client snippet marketed as under 1 KB, with official WordPress and Shopify integration paths for non-engineers. Fits marketing sites and stores that need quick instrumentation without a heavy tag manager stack.
Server-side REST API with C# and Node libraries
Send page views and events from your backend with API-key auth so ad blockers cannot strip the beacon. MIT-licensed C# and Node.js libraries on GitHub speed integration; keep API keys off the client. Preferred path for accuracy-critical SaaS and app backends.
Real-time overview with campaign and device filters
Live dashboard for visitors, pageviews, and sessions with advanced filters, UTM/campaign views, geo, browser, OS, screen size, and daytime patterns. Aimed at operators who want essential marketing analytics in one place rather than a full product-analytics suite.
Custom funnels and page-flow journey maps
Build multi-step funnels and visual page-flow maps to see entry paths, routes, and exits. Helps conversion and UX work without session replay. Depth is journey-oriented, not identity-graph product analytics.
Multi-project workspaces with roles for agencies
Group sites and apps into projects, assign roles/permissions, and invite clients or teammates. Marketing materials reference high ceilings for team seats and properties on paid plans—verify current limits on the official pricing page.
| Assurance & compliance | Simple Analytics | Sitesights |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | Not found Searched security/trust pages; no public independent audit PDF found. | Not found No public third-party security or no-logs audit PDF located on the official site or docs. |
| ISO 27001 | Not found No ISO 27001 certificate claimed on primary security pages. | Not found No public ISO 27001 certificate found on official pages. |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Partial Vendor states SOC 2 Type II is in progress / coming soon—not completed certification at research time. | Not found No public SOC 2/3 report found on official pages. |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Vendor claimed Dutch EU entity; vendor claims no personal data collection (no cookies/IPs/visitor IDs) and GDPR-friendly design. Not legal advice—confirm for your processing facts. | Vendor claimed German controller (Drude, Grossert GbR); cookieless hashing and EU hosting claims in docs/privacy. Confirm DPA and legal basis for IP/geo with counsel. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Partial EU entity, no known US parent, public analytics subprocessors are EU-based (Worldstream, Leaseweb, Hetzner, Bunny, Hyperping). Residual risk remains; reconcile Cloudflare mention on GDPR page vs Bunny on subprocessors. Assessment by EuropeanStack—not a vendor 'safe' claim. Not legal advice. | Partial EU entity / no known US parent; product hosting claimed on Hetzner Germany. Marketing site lists Cloudflare (US); payments via Paddle; full SaaS subprocessor list not public. Indicative only—not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Partial Vendor says DPA usually not required (no personal data) but will review/sign customer-provided DPAs aligned with architecture. | Not found No standalone public DPA download found during research; request under contract for B2B processing. |
| EU AI Act | Not applicable Web analytics product; not marketed as an AI system subject to AI Act high-risk regimes. | Not applicable Web analytics product; not marketed as an AI system under the EU AI Act. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Simple Analytics | Sitesights |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted SaaS only—no self-host | Medium No official self-host edition. Orgs with air-gap or on-prem telemetry mandates need Plausible self-host, Matomo, or similar instead. | Not listed |
| SOC 2 not yet complete | Medium SOC 2 Type II is publicly 'in progress'. Enterprise security reviews may block until a report is available or accept compensating controls (minimal data + EU hosts). | Not listed |
| Referrer-based uniques and timezone country | Low Uniques are not durable visitor IDs; country is timezone-based with known mis-tag edge cases. Totals will differ from GA client-ID models—set stakeholder expectations. | Not listed |
| CDN/DDoS vendor documentation inconsistency | Low Subprocessors list Bunny (EU) for CDN/DNS; GDPR page still references Cloudflare for CDN/DDoS. Ask for current edge path before asserting zero US-group infrastructure touch. | Not listed |
| Small independent operator | Low Public About page describes a three-person self-funded team. Fine for many sites; large enterprises should assess continuity, support SLAs, and roadmap capacity explicitly. | Not listed |
| No public independent security audit | Not listed | Medium ISO 27001, SOC 2, and third-party security audits were not found on public pages. Enterprises may need to commission questionnaires or wait for vendor artifacts under NDA. |
| Incomplete public subprocessor list | Not listed | Medium Hetzner (product) and Cloudflare (marketing site) are documented; backups, email, support, and monitoring vendors for the SaaS are not fully listed. Ask for a current subprocessor annex. |
| US-group CDN on marketing site | Not listed | Low Privacy policy lists Cloudflare Inc. (US) for the public website CDN. Separate from claimed Hetzner product data path, but relevant to overall vendor surface area. |
| 48-hour hash limits long-term visitor analytics | Not listed | Low By design, the rotating salt prevents durable cross-day visitor recognition. Teams needing retention cohorts or multi-week funnels by person must model events differently or choose product-analytics tools. |
| On-premise availability is marketing-only detail | Not listed | Low About page claims on-prem hosting; docs do not provide a self-serve install guide. Treat as sales-assisted until scope is confirmed in writing. |
When: You need open-source and/or official self-hosting of privacy-first analytics
Consider: Plausible Analytics (catalog: plausible_analytics) or Matomo
Simple Analytics is hosted SaaS only; Plausible and Matomo cover self-host paths many security policies require.
When: You need a deeper EU enterprise analytics platform with configurable processing and on-prem options
Consider: Piwik PRO (catalog: piwik_pro)
Heavier suite and procurement surface than Simple Analytics’ minimal cookieless product.
When: You need identity graphs, remarketing audiences, and full marketing analytics depth
Consider: Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics
Keep those for consented deep analysis; Simple Analytics is the opposite design tradeoff.
When: You want another lightweight EU cookieless tracker and are comparing peers
Consider: Pirsch Analytics (pirsch_analytics) or Friendly Analytics (friendly_analytics)
Compare retention, multi-site, SSO, and API maturity rather than GDPR slogans alone.
When: You want a minimal EU cookieless SaaS or a well-known self-host option
Consider: Plausible Analytics
Simpler metric set; strong self-host story. Sitesights markets deeper funnels/page-flow and multi-project agency features.
When: You need full self-host control, on-prem by default, or mature open-source governance
Consider: Matomo (self-hosted)
Heavier stack, deeper feature surface, and you operate the data plane yourself.
When: You need identity-rich product analytics, retention cohorts, or event warehouses
Consider: Mixpanel or similar product-analytics platforms
Different category—Sitesights is website/app growth analytics, not a full product analytics suite.
When: You need heatmaps, recordings, or UX feedback loops
Consider: Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, or EU UX-analytics tools
Sitesights focuses on traffic, events, funnels, and flows—not session replay.