Pirsch Analytics
Germany· Web Analytics
Pirsch Analytics vs Pulse by Ciphera
Vergelijk Pirsch Analytics en Pulse by Ciphera op mogelijkheden, rechtsgebied, waarborgen en geschiktheid voor Europese kopers.
Beide vermeld als alternatief voor: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics
Pulse by Ciphera
Belgium· Web Analytics
Needs review
Shortlist Pulse when you want cookieless traffic analytics plus uptime and Lighthouse in one Belgian-operated, Swiss-hosted SaaS and can accept a closed managed backend. Skip when you need full self-hosting or GA-style user-level history; consider Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics instead.
EU-operatedCookielessOpen-source clientSwiss-hosted dataNo analytics cookies
Gemarkeerde rijen verschillen tussen de twee producten.
| Kenmerk | Pirsch Analytics | Pulse by Ciphera |
|---|---|---|
| Land van herkomst | Germany | Belgium |
| Categorie | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| Open source | Ja | Ja |
| Self-hosted | Nee | Nee |
| Hoofdkantoor | Niet vermeld | Belgium |
| Juridische entiteit | Niet vermeld | Ciphera BV |
| Toepasselijk recht | Niet vermeld | Belgian law (GDPR); Swiss FADP for infrastructure location |
| VS-moeder / zeggenschap | Niet vermeld | Geen bekende VS-moeder |
| CLOUD Act-blootstelling (indicatief) | Niet vermeld | Laag |
| EU-hostingstatus | Niet vermeld | Gedeeltelijk |
| Hosting / residentie | Niet vermeld | Primary compute and object storage on Exoscale in Switzerland (Zurich). Encrypted backups and domain registration via Infomaniak (Switzerland). CDN/DNS/DDoS via Bunny (Slovenia HQ, global edge for transient IPs). Payments via Mollie (Netherlands). GitHub (US) for public source code only, per Trust page. |
| Samenvatting | Cookie-free web analytics from Emvi Software GmbH in Germany: hash-based visitor IDs, open-source core, Hetzner-hosted SaaS with funnels, events, and agency white-label. | Cookie-free web analytics with traffic, funnels, uptime and Lighthouse checks in one Belgian-operated, Swiss-hosted dashboard. |
| Tags |
| In één oogopslag | Pirsch Analytics | Pulse by Ciphera |
|---|---|---|
| HQ | Niet vermeld | Diegem, Belgium (Ciphera BV) |
| Legal entity | Niet vermeld | Ciphera BV (KBO/BCE 1013.721.660) |
| Founded | Niet vermeld | 18 September 2024 (CBE) |
| Primary data region | Niet vermeld | Switzerland (Exoscale Zurich) |
| License | Niet vermeld | AGPL-3.0 client; managed backend closed |
| Commercial model | Niet vermeld | Free Hobby tier; paid plans by traffic scale |
| Cookieless | Niet vermeld | Yes (vendor claim: no cookies, no fingerprinting) |
| Data residency regions | Niet vermeld | Switzerland (Exoscale primary; Infomaniak backups) |
| Key capabilities | Pirsch Analytics | Pulse by Ciphera |
|---|---|---|
| EU-operated | Niet vermeld | Ja |
| Cookieless | Niet vermeld | Ja |
| Open-source client | Niet vermeld | Ja |
| Swiss-hosted data | Niet vermeld | Ja |
| No analytics cookies | Niet vermeld | Ja |
Pirsch Analytics
Real-Time Dashboard and Core Metrics
The intuitive dashboard shows pageviews, unique visitors, bounce rates, sessions, referrers, devices, browsers, operating systems, and locations in real time. Filters let users slice data by time, tags, or events with one click. Saved views and time comparisons speed analysis. Automatic email reports and traffic spike alerts keep teams informed without constant checks. Data exports to CSV provide flexibility.
Advanced Analytics Tools
Beyond basics, Pirsch tracks custom events like button clicks or signups, sets conversion goals, and maps multi-step funnels to spot drop-offs. A/B testing and segmentation use tags for attribution. Session exploration reveals individual paths, including outbound links, downloads, and 404s. Webhooks integrate with other apps. E-commerce revenue tracking and custom event metrics add depth for Plus and Enterprise users.
Seamless Integrations and Customization
Add via JS snippet, server-side API, or plugins for WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Laravel, Drupal, Framer, React, Vue, Angular, and Go. Import historical data from competitors. White-label with custom domains, themes, logos for agencies. Unlimited members, teams, and data retention. Enterprise offers SAML SSO, raw data access, and on-premise options. All plans include 100% data ownership.
Pulse by Ciphera
Cookieless traffic dashboard
Pageviews, unique-visitor estimates, referrers, UTM campaigns, device or browser splits, and country-level geo from a single script tag, without cookies or fingerprinting according to Ciphera's privacy docs.
Journeys and conversion funnels
Step-by-step path columns and multi-step funnels with drop-off analysis, filterable by page, country, device, or referrer for privacy-preserving conversion debugging.
Uptime monitors with alert routes
Built-in uptime checks with downtime and recovery alerts to email, Slack, Discord, or a webhook, so availability sits beside traffic in one console.
Daily Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals
Scheduled mobile and desktop Lighthouse runs with performance, accessibility, best-practices, SEO scores, and Core Web Vitals trends without a separate RUM product.
Inspectable AGPL client and read API
Dashboard and tracking script are AGPL-3.0 on GitHub; Ciphera also documents a public read API, CLI, and export paths while keeping the managed backend closed.
| Assurance & compliance | Pirsch Analytics | Pulse by Ciphera |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | Niet vermeld | Not found Trust page states no independent audit yet; Tessera self-audit published; independent audit planned. |
| ISO 27001 | Niet vermeld | Not found Ciphera explicitly states it holds no ISO 27001 certification. |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Niet vermeld | Not found Ciphera explicitly states it holds no SOC 2 certification. |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Niet vermeld | Vendor claimed Belgian controller; privacy policy describes GDPR/FADP bases and Pulse processor role. Not legal advice. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Niet vermeld | Partial EU (Belgian) entity with no known US parent; primary hosts are European (Exoscale, Infomaniak, Bunny, Mollie). Residual paths: GitHub (US) for source code only; Bunny global edge for transient IPs. Indicative only, not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Niet vermeld | On request / NDA Privacy policy: DPA available on request at privacy@ciphera.net for Pulse processor relationships. |
| EU AI Act | Niet vermeld | Not applicable Web analytics product; not an AI system product page. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Pirsch Analytics | Pulse by Ciphera |
|---|---|---|
| Managed backend is not open source | Niet vermeld | Medium You can audit the browser script and dashboard code, but not the operated ingestion and storage service. Procurement that requires full-stack self-host or full server auditability should look elsewhere. |
| No ISO/SOC or independent audit yet | Niet vermeld | Medium Ciphera publishes threat models, a warrant canary, and a subprocessor list, but explicitly has no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 and no completed independent audit. Enterprise security reviews will need questionnaires and a signed DPA. |
| Primary data residency is Switzerland, not EU/EEA | Niet vermeld | Low Swiss adequacy covers many GDPR transfer questions, but policies that hard-require EU/EEA datacenter soil will classify this as partial rather than EU-hosted. |
| Marketing vs privacy wording conflicts | Niet vermeld | Low Product FAQ pages disagree on whether custom events ship today and whether a DPA is needed. Prefer privacy@ and the privacy policy for legal commitments until Ciphera aligns the FAQs. |
Geschiktheid
Pirsch Analytics
Best fit when
Niet vermeld
Poor fit when
Niet vermeld
Pulse by Ciphera
Best fit when
- EU or Swiss organisations replacing GA4 primarily to remove analytics cookies and consent-banner friction
- Teams that want traffic, funnels, uptime, and Lighthouse scores in one vendor console
- Buyers who need a Belgian legal entity and named European subprocessors rather than a US cookieless SaaS
- Sites that can work with aggregate and month-scoped visitor estimates instead of persistent user IDs
- Engineering leads who want the browser script and dashboard code on GitHub under AGPL-3.0 for inspection
Poor fit when
- Organisations that must self-host the full analytics backend (Pulse's managed core is closed)
- Product analytics use cases that need durable cross-visit identity, cohorting, or GA4 BigQuery-style user exports
- Buyers requiring completed ISO 27001, SOC 2, or a published independent security audit today
- Teams that need EU/EEA soil specifically rather than Swiss residency (primary data is in Switzerland)
Consider instead when
When: You need a mature EU cookieless analytics product with an official full-stack self-host option
Consider: Plausible Analytics
Plausible (Estonia) is the common self-host plus SaaS peer; Pulse keeps the backend managed-only.
When: You want a minimal Dutch cookieless counter without uptime or Lighthouse bundles
Consider: Simple Analytics
Closer peer for strictly analytics SaaS; Pulse differentiates with ops-style panels.
When: You need enterprise analytics with strong EU residency controls and heavier compliance packaging
Consider: Piwik PRO or Friendly Analytics
Heavier Matomo-class or Swiss-hosted peers when Pulse's startup assurance set is too thin.
Open questions for due diligence
Pirsch Analytics
Niet vermeld
Pulse by Ciphera
- Will Ciphera sign your standard DPA and return the full registered-address subprocessor appendix on request?
- What is the retention and deletion SLA for a single customer's Pulse project data after contract end?
- When is the planned independent security audit scheduled, and will the report be public?
- Are Google Search Console, Bing, or CDN analytics panels generally available, or only mentioned in some marketing copy?