Google Analytics alternatives without cookies

Google Analytics 4 is free, but in the EU it needs consent: it sets cookies that last up to two years and sends data to Google in the United States. Many visitors close or reject the banner, so the numbers you see are only part of your traffic. Cookieless tools count visits without storing anything on the visitor's device, which is why they are usually designed to run without a banner.

Here is what to look at when you compare them.

What to compare

• How visitors are counted. Most cookieless tools use a code derived from the IP address and browser with a key that changes every day. A visitor is then counted once per day, and nobody can be followed across days.
• Where the data lives and who runs the company. EU hosting and an EU company make the paperwork simpler. Check whether requests pass through a US provider on the way.
• What you can measure. Pages and sources are standard. Look for events, goals, campaigns, filters, shared dashboards, a team and an API if you need them.
• Price and model. Some charge by pageviews, others by events (pageviews plus custom events). Some can be self-hosted.
• Language. If your team or clients do not read English, a translated dashboard matters.

The tools

Statsdot counts visitors with a daily code and stores no IP address. One screen with visitors, pages, sources, campaigns, countries, devices, events and goals; filters on every row; funnels within a day; AI crawler tracking; team access; shared dashboards; a live visitors widget; a REST API and an MCP server for AI assistants. Six languages. Priced by monthly events in euros with VAT included, from 9 € a month, with a 30-day trial without a card. Hosted only.

Plausible follows the same counting approach, hosted in the EU, with funnels, revenue and a Google Analytics import. English dashboard, prices in dollars. It also has a self-hosted Community Edition.

Fathom is a polished cookieless tool from Canada, with data in the United States and EU isolation options. Prices in dollars.

Matomo is a full analytics suite you can host yourself, with heatmaps and session recordings. It can use cookies or run cookieless, depending on configuration; more setup and more to learn.

Umami is open source and can be self-hosted for free or used in the cloud.

How to choose

• You want one simple screen, a translated dashboard and euro pricing: Statsdot.
• You need revenue attribution or funnels across several days: Plausible or Matomo.
• You want to host it yourself: Matomo or Umami.

Whatever you pick, run it next to Google Analytics for a couple of weeks and compare before you switch. Our guide How to remove Google Analytics without losing data walks through it, and the free site check shows what your site loads today.