Swetrix vs Tinylytics

Compare Swetrix and Tinylytics on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics

Logo: Swetrix

Swetrix

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.

Cookieless trackingHetzner DE hostingOpen source (AGPLv3)Self-host CEFunnels + errors + RUMPublic DPA
Logo: Tinylytics

Tinylytics

United Kingdom· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist Tinylytics when you want cookieless page analytics plus bundled uptime/SSL/content checks for a handful of small sites, with primary data on Hetzner in Germany and founder support. Skip when you need self-host/open source, formal ISO/SOC packs, or enterprise multi-tenant governance—consider Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics instead.

Cookieless analyticsPrimary host: Hetzner DEUptime + SSL monitoringBroken-link crawlsSaaS only (no self-host)Solo-founder UK
Swetrix vs Tinylytics: Snapshot
FeatureLogo: SwetrixSwetrixLogo: TinylyticsTinylytics
Country of originUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
Open sourceYesNo
Self-hostedYesNo
HeadquartersUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom
Legal entitySwetrix Ltd (SC797389), Edinburgh, ScotlandVincent Ritter Consulting (service brand; terms state not separately incorporated yet)
Governing lawNot listedNot clearly stated as a single governing-law clause on the public terms page; confirm contractually
US parent / controlNo known US parentNo known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)MediumMedium
Hosting / residencyCloud 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.Primary analytics storage: Hetzner Falkenstein (Germany). CDN/security: Cloudflare. Error monitoring: Sentry.io. Payments: Paddle and Lemon Squeezy (Stripe company). Optional: IPinfo geo fallback for API hits; opt-in AI Insights via xAI and Google Gemini. No public backup-provider detail beyond that stack.
Summary

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.

Privacy-first cookieless web analytics for small sites, with bundled uptime/SSL checks, content monitoring, events, and founder support—hosted primarily on Hetzner in Germany.

Tags
At a glance: Swetrix vs Tinylytics
At a glanceLogo: SwetrixSwetrixLogo: TinylyticsTinylytics
HQEdinburgh, United KingdomNot listed
Legal entitySwetrix Ltd (SC797389)Not listed
Governing lawScotland (Terms)Not listed
Primary hostingHetzner Online GmbH, GermanyHetzner, Falkenstein, Germany
LicenseAGPLv3 (Community Edition)Not listed
Commercial modelEvent-volume Cloud subscription; free self-host CE; timed trialPaid site-count plans; short trial; no permanent free tier
Open sourceYes — github.com/Swetrix/swetrixNot listed
HQ / operatorNot listedVincent Ritter Consulting, United Kingdom
LaunchedNot listed12 June 2023 (live counters on homepage)
DeploymentNot listedManaged SaaS only (not open source, not self-hosted)
DifferentiatorsNot listedAnalytics + uptime/SSL/content monitoring + widgets
Key capabilities: Swetrix vs Tinylytics
Key capabilitiesLogo: SwetrixSwetrixLogo: TinylyticsTinylytics
Cookieless trackingYesYes
Hetzner DE hostingYesNot listed
Open source (AGPLv3)YesNot listed
Self-host CEYesNot listed
Funnels + errors + RUMYesNot listed
Public DPAYesNot listed
Primary host: Hetzner DENot listedYes
Uptime + SSL monitoringNot listedYes
Broken-link crawlsNot listedYes
SaaS only (no self-host)Not listedYes
Solo-founder UKNot listedYes

Swetrix

  • 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.

Tinylytics

  • Cookie-free unique hits with rotating salts

    Page views and unique hits without tracking cookies or fingerprinting. Uniques combine truncated request signals with a 12-hour rotating salt and one-way hash, reset daily at midnight UTC; visitor IPs are not stored in hits. Suited to indie sites that want trendable uniques without consent banners for analytics cookies.

  • Thunder Clap uptime, SSL, and domain alerts

    In-house multi-region health checks (default every 10 minutes) confirm downtime before emailing, plus SSL expiry notices and domain monitoring. Ultra can shorten intervals. Replaces a separate uptime tool for small fleets—but false downs can occur if WAFs block the Tinylytics monitor user-agent.

  • Daily content crawl for broken links and mixed content

    Subscribed sites can crawl up to 50 pages (two levels deep) on a daily cadence, flagging broken links and mixed HTTP assets on HTTPS pages, with ignore lists and re-check. Ultra adds optional AI spell-check on visible copy—keep it off if AI subprocessors are out of policy.

  • Attribute-based event tracking (beta)

    Enable events on the embed script and mark elements with data-tinylytics-event using category.action names (optional values for downloads). No GTM required; beacon mode helps navigations. Still beta—expect API/schema changes and incomplete capture under aggressive blockers.

  • Public stats, kudos, hit counters, API, and webhooks

    Share passcode-protected public stats, embed hit counters and kudos buttons, export CSV, call the documented API, and push signed webhooks for visits, events, and monitoring. Built for transparent blogs and light automation rather than enterprise BI warehouses.

Assurance & compliance: Swetrix vs Tinylytics
Assurance & complianceLogo: SwetrixSwetrixLogo: TinylyticsTinylytics
Independent security / no-logs audit
Not found

Searched marketing, DPA, privacy, and data policy; no public independent audit PDF located. Open-source code is available for review.

Not found

No public third-party security or no-logs audit report found on official docs.

ISO 27001
Not found

No public ISO 27001 certification claim found on primary pages.

Not found

No ISO 27001 claim found on privacy, compliance, or hosting pages.

SOC 2 / SOC 3
Not found

No public SOC 2/3 report found.

Not found

No SOC 2/3 report or claim found on public site.

GDPR / EU data protection
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.

Vendor claimed

Vendor documents GDPR-oriented design (cookieless, data minimisation, EU primary host, deletion). Not independent certification.

US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)
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.

Partial

UK operator, no known US parent, primary host Hetzner DE; partial exposure via Cloudflare, Sentry, Lemon Squeezy/Paddle, optional IPinfo and opt-in US AI APIs. Not legal advice.

Data processing agreement (B2B)
Vendor claimed

Public DPA at swetrix.com/dpa incorporated by Terms; acceptance by use of Service; signed copy on request.

Not found

No public DPA/downloadable processor agreement found; ask the vendor before B2B rollout.

EU AI Act
Not applicable

Core product is web analytics, not an AI system. Optional Ask AI / OpenRouter is ancillary; confirm if your deployment enables it.

Not applicable

Core product is analytics/monitoring; optional AI insights are secondary and opt-in.

Considerations & known limitations: Swetrix vs Tinylytics
Considerations & known limitationsLogo: SwetrixSwetrixLogo: TinylyticsTinylytics
US-group subprocessors (Sentry, AWS, OpenRouter)
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.

Medium

Cloudflare, Sentry, payment processors (incl. Lemon Squeezy/Stripe group), optional IPinfo and opt-in xAI/Gemini mean the stack is not EU-only end-to-end despite Hetzner primary storage.

Session replay is opt-in and controller-owned
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.

Not listed
No public ISO/SOC or third-party audit
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.

Not listed
Cloud vs Community Edition feature gap
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.

Not listed
Daily salt rotation limits retention metrics
Low

Cookieless design deliberately prevents classic multi-day visitor retention. Teams that need that metric class need another product or consented identity.

Not listed
Solo-founder operational concentrationNot listed
Medium

Service is provided by Vincent Ritter Consulting / a solo developer. Support is personal and fast for indies, but bus-factor and formal SLA expectations differ from larger vendors.

No public ISO/SOC/audit or DPA packNot listed
Medium

Enterprise security questionnaires will hit gaps until the vendor supplies audits and a B2B DPA under NDA or email.

Scale and feature boundariesNot listed
Low

Content crawls are depth/page limited; event tracking is beta; fair-usage applies to extreme hit volumes; no self-host escape hatch.

Optional AI shares aggregated analyticsNot listed
Low

AI Insights and related AI spell-check are opt-in and send aggregated (not visitor PII per vendor) data to third-party AI providers—leave disabled under strict AI policies.

Fit

Swetrix

Best fit when

  • SMEs, agencies, and product teams replacing GA4 who need cookieless traffic stats without a cookie banner driven only by analytics
  • Engineering-minded buyers who want error tracking and real-user performance in the same privacy-first dashboard as pageviews
  • Teams that may enable Cloud session replays later but can treat them as explicit opt-in with their own legal basis
  • Operators willing to run Docker Community Edition (MySQL/ClickHouse/Redis) when Cloud commercial terms or feature limits do not fit
  • Buyers who need a public B2B DPA, API access, GA4 import, and multi-channel alerts under a UK legal entity

Poor fit when

  • Enterprises that require published ISO 27001 / SOC 2 certificates or independent audit PDFs before shortlist
  • Policies that forbid any US-group subprocessors (Sentry is listed for End User error data; AWS/OpenRouter appear for customer services)
  • Use cases that depend on long-term cookie-based retention or cross-device identity graphs
  • Buyers who only want free hosted analytics with no paid Cloud tier and no self-host operations burden
  • Sites that will run session replays on sensitive flows without capacity to configure masking, exclusions, and consent

Consider instead when

  • 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.

Tinylytics

Best fit when

  • Indie blogs, portfolios, and side projects that want simple cookieless stats without Google Analytics
  • Small sites that also want uptime, SSL expiry, and broken-link checks in the same tool
  • Operators who prefer founder-answered support and lightweight embeds over enterprise marketing stacks
  • Teams OK with managed EU primary hosting and willing to review named US-group subprocessors (CDN, payments, optional AI)
  • Agencies managing a modest number of client sites with public stats or kudos-style engagement widgets

Poor fit when

  • Orgs that require self-hosted collectors or open-source audit of the full analytics stack
  • Procurement needing published ISO 27001, SOC 2, independent audits, or a downloadable DPA out of the box
  • Very high-traffic properties needing contractual capacity/SLA commitments beyond fair-usage conversation
  • Policies that ban Cloudflare/Sentry/US payment or optional US AI APIs on any data path
  • Teams that need session replay, heatmaps, or deep advertising attribution (Clarity/GA territory)

Consider instead when

  • When: You need open-source and optional self-hosting of the analytics stack

    Consider: Plausible Analytics

    Estonian product with Cloud plus Community Edition self-host; less bundling of uptime/content monitors.

  • When: You want European cookieless analytics with a simpler analytics-only scope

    Consider: Simple Analytics

    Strong privacy positioning; compare feature depth and monitoring separately.

  • When: You need free-at-scale marketing analytics, ads integrations, or attribution depth

    Consider: Google Analytics (incumbent) — or stay on a privacy tool if GA is disallowed

    Different privacy and sovereignty profile entirely.

  • When: You need session replay or heatmaps and accept that privacy model

    Consider: Microsoft Clarity or specialised replay tools

    Tinylytics deliberately avoids fingerprinting-style session products.

Open questions for due diligence

Swetrix

  • Can Enterprise contracts exclude or replace Sentry (and other US-group subprocessors) for End User data paths?
  • Are ISO 27001, SOC 2, or pen-test summaries available under NDA?
  • What is the exact backup/DR location topology beyond “secure backups” wording on the DPA?
  • Which Cloud-only features remain permanently out of CE versus delayed open-source release?
  • For session replay at your traffic volumes, what retention defaults and export/delete SLAs apply on your plan?

Tinylytics

  • Will Vincent Ritter Consulting sign a GDPR Article 28 DPA and provide a current subprocessor list under contract?
  • Are backups/DR and email delivery fully covered by the named providers, or are there additional hosts?
  • Is there any roadmap for independent security review, SOC 2, or ISO 27001?
  • What contractual terms apply for accounts consistently above the fair-usage hit threshold?
  • For AI Insights: exact retention, regions, and processor terms at xAI and Google for the paid API plans used?