US BUYING RESEARCH · FACTUAL COMPARISON
Web analytics for US teams: plans, traffic and data boundaries
Choose analytics around the decisions your team makes: campaign performance, conversion events, client reports and the cost of collecting them. These four hosted supplier families cover related website measurement needs, with different reporting and commercial models. This is a factual shortlist with open questions and pending ratings.
Ratings pending. Listed by buying approach, not score. Our editorial scale is /100; these products have not been assigned a rating.
Start with the work you need done
| Supplier | Approach | Useful when | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plausible | Hosted analytics with feature-based plans | Useful when a compact shared dashboard is sufficient and the team can identify which Business analysis functions it needs. | The chosen 10k cards are not 100k quotes. SSO is an explicitly agreed Enterprise feature, not part of the selected offers. |
| Matomo Cloud | Managed analytics with configurable enterprise allowances | Useful when the team needs a configurable hosted reporting workspace with explicit site, user and retention allowances. | These are Cloud offers. Do not apply on-premise plugin-bundle prices or infrastructure assumptions to them; the numeric Business tariff remains unverified. |
| Fathom Analytics | One feature set priced by traffic | Useful when several sites can share a compact analytics feature set and traffic-based USD pricing. | The two listed offers differ in traffic allowance, not feature edition. Confirm named-user controls and tax separately. |
| Simple Analytics | Self-serve dashboard or assisted GA4 comparison | Useful for a compact self-serve dashboard or an assisted comparison alongside an existing GA4 setup. | Self-serve goal and export-API entitlements need confirmation. The page displayed GBP; no USD rate was inferred. |
A US buying brief starts with traffic units and billing currency
Give each supplier the same US business brief: production domains, monthly pageviews and custom events, staff and client viewers, reporting timezone, required export and billing address. The public pages do not establish a universal US-hosting or consent outcome. Confirm the actual data route and configuration for your visitors, then have the responsible owner assess the site-wide requirements. A cookie-free vendor description does not settle what other tags on the site do.
Plausible subscription plans · Matomo billable hit definition · Fathom traffic-tier pricing · Simple Analytics current offers
Focused comparison
Plausible Business vs Fathom: features and traffic limits
Named plans, common buying decisions and dated sources on a permanent comparison page.
Choose a measurement model before a subscription
| Your question | What the evidence supports | Boundary to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Do you need a simple client-facing traffic report or a configurable analytics workspace? | Plausible separates team sharing from Business analysis; Matomo Cloud lists larger configurable allowances. Plausible subscription plans · Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances | Ask staff to reproduce one report with the actual plan. A long feature catalogue is not evidence of usability. |
| Will 100,000 pageviews fit a 100,000 allowance? | Plausible and Fathom also count custom events. Matomo bills hits, including several interaction types. Plausible subscription plans · Fathom traffic-tier pricing · Matomo billable hit definition | Inventory event volume and automation before comparing tariffs. Visits are not the billing unit. |
| Must an agency share access with many clients? | Plausible counts members, guests and pending invitations separately from report recipients; Fathom starts with 50 sites. | A site allowance does not establish named-user access, client isolation or SSO. |
| Can you approve a US dollar annual budget today? | Fathom publishes USD monthly prices. Other observed offers include unresolved currency, dynamic tariffs or a GBP display. Plausible current package cards · Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances · Fathom traffic-tier pricing · Simple Analytics current offers | Obtain the exact US billing quote, renewal and applicable tax. Do not convert the displayed GBP amount into a promised USD price. |
| What happens when a campaign doubles traffic? | Fathom requires the customer to approve upgrades; Plausible documents consecutive-month notices; Simple Analytics adjusts usage pricing. Fathom excess-usage policy · Plausible billing FAQ · Simple Analytics current offers | Budget approval and report-access consequences differ. Ask for peak and sustained-growth scenarios. |
Plausible: packages and boundaries
Useful when a compact shared dashboard is sufficient and the team can identify which Business analysis functions it needs.
Check before buying: The chosen 10k cards are not 100k quotes. SSO is an explicitly agreed Enterprise feature, not part of the selected offers.
Editorial rating: pending. No /100 score has been assigned.
| Offer | Observed price and billing | Package facts and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Growth — 10k traffic tier | $14 (currency not verified) · displayed per month; 10k traffic tier · cadence not verified billing · Tax basis not verified · Public card uses $; currency and selected monthly/yearly toggle were not confirmed. Do not treat this as a USD checkout quote. Plausible current package cards · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
| Business — 10k traffic tier | $19 (currency not verified) · displayed per month; 10k traffic tier · cadence not verified billing · Tax basis not verified · Public card uses $; currency and selected monthly/yearly toggle were not confirmed. Do not treat this as a USD checkout quote. Plausible current package cards · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
- Which events count toward our actual traffic tier?
- How many client guests and pending invitations consume the team allowance?
- Which Business reports must remain available after the trial ends?
Plausible product-wide documentation — not a plan entitlement
These product statements do not fill gaps in the package table above.
- Page and visit definitions: Documented
Aggregated site dashboard.
Plausible current package cards · Checked 2026-11-05 - Events and conversion goals: Documented
Goals and custom events.
Plausible current package cards · Checked 2026-11-05 - Revenue measurement: Documented
Revenue tracking is a Business capability.
Plausible subscription plans · Checked 2026-11-05 - Funnels and journeys: Documented
Business has funnels and journeys.
Plausible subscription plans · Checked 2026-11-05 - Saved segments and filters: Documented
Source, page, device and goal filters.
Plausible feature overview · Checked 2026-11-05 - Freshness of reports: Documented
Recent pages, traffic sources and goals.
Plausible feature overview · Checked 2026-11-05 - Human referrals from AI tools: Documented
Measures visits referred by AI assistants; not citations.
Plausible feature overview · Checked 2026-11-05 - Collection configuration: Documented
Vendor describes no cookies or persistent identifiers.
Plausible current package cards · Checked 2026-11-05 - Hosting and data routing: Documented
Vendor describes EU processing.
Plausible current package cards · Checked 2026-11-05 - Reporting API: Documented
Stats API is a Business capability.
Plausible subscription plans · Checked 2026-11-05 - Billable usage unit: Documented
Team-wide pageviews plus custom events.
Plausible subscription plans · Checked 2026-11-05 - Traffic growth and overage: Documented
Two consecutive excess months trigger an upgrade request.
Plausible billing FAQ · Checked 2026-11-05 - Identity integration: Conditional
Enterprise SAML requires explicit inclusion in the quote.
Plausible subscription plans · Checked 2026-11-05
Still unverified
- Referrers and campaign attribution
- Website allowance
- Team access and sharing
- History and retention
- Scheduled reporting
- Bot and internal-traffic filtering
- Portable data export
- Historical Google Analytics import
- Search Console integration
- Website installation and proxy
- Tag management integration
- Price, currency and tax
- Commitment and cancellation
- Evaluation and support
- AI crawler measurement
- AI report assistance
- AI data and review controls
Matomo Cloud: packages and boundaries
Useful when the team needs a configurable hosted reporting workspace with explicit site, user and retention allowances.
Check before buying: These are Cloud offers. Do not apply on-premise plugin-bundle prices or infrastructure assumptions to them; the numeric Business tariff remains unverified.
Editorial rating: pending. No /100 score has been assigned.
| Offer | Observed price and billing | Package facts and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud Business | Price not verified · traffic-based Cloud subscription · monthly or annual billing · Applicable taxes extra · Dynamic numeric tariff was not resolved; this is not a quote-only claim. Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
| Cloud Enterprise | Request a quote · custom Cloud subscription · contract terms to confirm billing · Applicable taxes extra · Request a written traffic and allowance quote. Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
- What hit count does our instrumentation generate in a peak month?
- Which raw history and advanced reports are included in this written quote?
- Can we export a representative dataset before signing?
Matomo Cloud product-wide documentation — not a plan entitlement
These product statements do not fill gaps in the package table above.
- Page and visit definitions: Documented
Page, visitor, action and referrer reports.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Referrers and campaign attribution: Documented
Campaign and referrer reporting.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Events and conversion goals: Documented
Custom interactions and goal triggers.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Revenue measurement: Documented
Ecommerce reporting.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Saved segments and filters: Documented
Audience conditions with AND/OR logic.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Freshness of reports: Documented
Recent visits and goal activity.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Website allowance: Documented
All-websites dashboard.
Matomo feature catalogue · Checked 2026-11-05 - Scheduled reporting: Documented
Scheduled email reports are listed for all plans.
Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances · Checked 2026-11-05 - Reporting API: Documented
HTTP reporting and tracking APIs.
Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances · Checked 2026-11-05 - Hosting and data routing: Documented
Cloud data is stored in Frankfurt, Germany.
Matomo Cloud pricing and allowances · Checked 2026-11-05 - Billable usage unit: Documented
Hits include events, downloads and outlinks.
Matomo billable hit definition · Checked 2026-11-05 - AI crawler measurement: Documented
AI-agent tracking requests count as hits, separately from regular visits.
Matomo billable hit definition · Checked 2026-11-05
Still unverified
- Funnels and journeys
- Team access and sharing
- History and retention
- Bot and internal-traffic filtering
- Collection configuration
- Portable data export
- Historical Google Analytics import
- Search Console integration
- Website installation and proxy
- Tag management integration
- Traffic growth and overage
- Price, currency and tax
- Commitment and cancellation
- Evaluation and support
- Identity integration
- Human referrals from AI tools
- AI report assistance
- AI data and review controls
Fathom Analytics: packages and boundaries
Useful when several sites can share a compact analytics feature set and traffic-based USD pricing.
Check before buying: The two listed offers differ in traffic allowance, not feature edition. Confirm named-user controls and tax separately.
Editorial rating: pending. No /100 score has been assigned.
| Offer | Observed price and billing | Package facts and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000 monthly pageview tier | USD 15 · per month · monthly billing · Tax basis not verified · Usage includes custom events across sites; same analytics features at both tiers. Fathom traffic-tier pricing · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
| 200,000 monthly pageview tier | USD 25 · per month · monthly billing · Tax basis not verified · Usage includes custom events across sites; same analytics features at both tiers. Fathom traffic-tier pricing · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
- Do pageviews plus our custom events fit the allowance?
- How will staff and client access be isolated?
- Who receives upgrade notices and approves a larger plan?
Fathom Analytics product-wide documentation — not a plan entitlement
These product statements do not fill gaps in the package table above.
- Page and visit definitions: Documented
Single dashboard with pages, sources and events.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Referrers and campaign attribution: Documented
UTM campaign filtering.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Events and conversion goals: Documented
Signup, form and purchase events.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Revenue measurement: Documented
Events can carry value and currency.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Saved segments and filters: Documented
Named saved filters shared with site viewers.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Bot and internal-traffic filtering: Documented
Filters automated traffic.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Freshness of reports: Documented
Real-time reporting.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Scheduled reporting: Documented
Weekly/monthly multi-site email reports.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Portable data export: Documented
CSV downloads.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Reporting API: Documented
API for external reporting.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Historical Google Analytics import: Documented
Historical GA4 import.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Search Console integration: Documented
Search Console connection for search metrics.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Website installation and proxy: Documented
Script and CMS/framework installation paths.
Fathom analytics features · Checked 2026-11-05 - Traffic growth and overage: Conditional
Customer approves upgrade; warnings precede report/API lock.
Fathom excess-usage policy · Checked 2026-11-05
Still unverified
- Funnels and journeys
- Website allowance
- Team access and sharing
- History and retention
- Collection configuration
- Hosting and data routing
- Tag management integration
- Billable usage unit
- Price, currency and tax
- Commitment and cancellation
- Evaluation and support
- Identity integration
- Human referrals from AI tools
- AI crawler measurement
- AI report assistance
- AI data and review controls
Simple Analytics: packages and boundaries
Useful for a compact self-serve dashboard or an assisted comparison alongside an existing GA4 setup.
Check before buying: Self-serve goal and export-API entitlements need confirmation. The page displayed GBP; no USD rate was inferred.
Editorial rating: pending. No /100 score has been assigned.
| Offer | Observed price and billing | Package facts and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Self-serve — 100k displayed tier | GBP 20 · per month at displayed 100k tier · cadence to confirm billing · Tax basis not verified · Official extraction displayed GBP. USD payment is accepted, but no USD tariff or checkout total was verified. Simple Analytics current offers · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
| Enterprise | Request a quote · custom scope · contract terms to confirm billing · Tax basis not verified · Named enterprise offer; confirm API, sites, traffic and support in writing. Simple Analytics current offers · Observed 2026-11-05 |
Not verified for this offer
|
- Which goals and API endpoints are included in our paid offer?
- What data-point total determines renewal pricing?
- Will optional AI processing be enabled, and who may approve it?
Simple Analytics product-wide documentation — not a plan entitlement
These product statements do not fill gaps in the package table above.
- Page and visit definitions: Documented
Unique views are inferred from referrer hostname.
Simple Analytics metric collection · Checked 2026-11-05 - Collection configuration: Documented
No cookies; IP addresses are discarded per documentation.
Simple Analytics metric collection · Checked 2026-11-05 - Events and conversion goals: Documented
Custom events; automated events need a separate script.
Simple Analytics event instrumentation · Checked 2026-11-05 - Referrers and campaign attribution: Documented
Goal filters include UTM source, medium and campaign.
Simple Analytics goals · Checked 2026-11-05 - Funnels and journeys: Conditional
Goal steps support a funnel; eligible plan required.
Simple Analytics goals · Checked 2026-11-05 - Saved segments and filters: Documented
Goal filters include path, device and country.
Simple Analytics goals · Checked 2026-11-05 - Portable data export: Documented
Raw CSV, JSON and columnar exports.
Simple Analytics data export · Checked 2026-11-05 - Reporting API: Conditional
Raw export API requires an eligible plan.
Simple Analytics data export · Checked 2026-11-05 - Hosting and data routing: Conditional
EU infrastructure; optional AI may transfer data outside EU.
Simple Analytics current offers · Checked 2026-11-05 - Billable usage unit: Documented
Paid monthly fees follow observed data-point usage.
Simple Analytics current offers · Checked 2026-11-05 - AI report assistance: Documented
Plain-English questions, period comparisons and charts.
Simple Analytics AI chat · Checked 2026-11-05 - AI data and review controls: Conditional
First-use agreement before sending analytics to OpenAI; verify answers.
Simple Analytics AI chat · Checked 2026-11-05
Still unverified
- Revenue measurement
- Website allowance
- Team access and sharing
- History and retention
- Scheduled reporting
- Freshness of reports
- Bot and internal-traffic filtering
- Historical Google Analytics import
- Search Console integration
- Website installation and proxy
- Tag management integration
- Traffic growth and overage
- Price, currency and tax
- Commitment and cancellation
- Evaluation and support
- Identity integration
- Human referrals from AI tools
- AI crawler measurement
A practical web-analytics acceptance checklist
Observed prices apply to the stated offer and traffic tier. Currency gaps, tax, trial renewal and growth rules remain visible. Fathom traffic tiers share features; they are not invented editions. Matomo Cloud Business has an unresolved dynamic tariff; that does not mean it is a quote-only product.
- Write the five business questions a weekly report must answer, then require the same date range and timezone in each demonstration.
- Count billable interactions as well as pageviews. Include automated events, staging traffic and the number of sites sharing the allowance.
- Test one real conversion definition and one revenue event. Document whether a page reload or retry changes the count.
- List staff, agencies and clients separately. A shared dashboard, a named user and an SSO account may have different costs and permissions.
- Obtain a first-year and renewal quote with currency, tax, peak usage, cancellation and export access. Do not equate a dynamic price gap with a zero fee.
- Check which data is observed, inferred or imported. Retain the assumptions when explaining why two analytics tools disagree.
Before you migrate
- Inventory existing tags, goals, consent configuration and report recipients before installing another tracker.
- Choose a bounded parallel-measurement period and compare the same pages, timezones and campaign parameters; explain metric-definition differences before calling a tool inaccurate.
- Export the historical reports your team must retain. An import cannot be assumed to recreate every old dimension or user journey.
- Assign ownership for event changes and removal of redundant tags after the acceptance decision.
How to evaluate AI claims
Keep human clicks from AI referrals, automated AI crawler requests and AI-written report summaries separate. They answer different questions. Simple Analytics documents an opt-in before its assistant sends analytics to OpenAI and warns that answers can be wrong. Verify dates and numbers against the dashboard; no citation coverage, causal attribution or assistant accuracy benchmark was tested here.
What we checked — and what we did not
System Compare compared dated public product pages, package descriptions and pricing documentation. This page was prepared with AI assistance from that evidence. No supplier account, endpoint deployment, recovery exercise, accessibility scanner or live consent configuration was tested. Supplier documentation is not independent performance evidence.
Human editorial sign-off and a final rating are not recorded. Unknown means the evidence does not settle the answer; it does not mean the feature is absent. Product-wide capabilities must not be assumed to be included in every offer.
Prices are observations, not quotations. Confirm currency, tax, usage units, renewal, setup charges and exact contract scope before purchase. No lowest-cost winner is declared across unlike workloads.
How our scoring works · Commercial transparency · Send a correction · Supplier applications
Dated primary sources
- Plausible current package cardsChecked 2026-11-05 · Starter, Growth, Business and Enterprise; selected 10k traffic tier. Currency and billing-toggle state are not established from the extracted page.
- Plausible subscription plansChecked 2026-11-05 · Plan boundaries, billable events, team counting, Enterprise configuration and trial; updated October 29, 2026.
- Plausible feature overviewChecked 2026-11-05 · Product-wide analytics functions; not proof of every plan entitlement.
- Plausible billing FAQChecked 2026-11-05 · Team billing, traffic spikes, upgrade approval, prorating and tax handling.
- Matomo feature catalogueChecked 2026-11-05 · Product-wide report and event capabilities; deployment and package limits remain separate.
- Matomo Cloud pricing and allowancesChecked 2026-11-05 · Cloud Business versus Enterprise. Dynamic numeric tariff and graphical checkmark cells were not resolved; explicit text allowances and all-plan inclusions only.
- Matomo billable hit definitionChecked 2026-11-05 · Interaction types and AI-agent requests count as hits; heartbeat requests do not.
- Fathom analytics featuresChecked 2026-11-05 · Reporting, export, installation, historical import and Search Console at product scope.
- Fathom excess-usage policyChecked 2026-11-05 · Customer approves upgrade; report/API access may lock while collection continues.
- Fathom traffic-tier pricingChecked 2026-11-05 · USD monthly tiers; same analytics features, 50 sites, shared pageview/event allowance and trial.
- Simple Analytics metric collectionChecked 2026-11-05 · Referrer-based unique views, cookies and IP handling; vendor technical description, not a legal conclusion.
- Simple Analytics event instrumentationChecked 2026-11-05 · Custom and automated events and separate-script requirements.
- Simple Analytics goalsChecked 2026-11-05 · Goals, funnel and field filters; explicitly requires a plan that includes goals.
- Simple Analytics data exportChecked 2026-11-05 · Raw formats and API export; API needs an eligible plan.
- Simple Analytics current offersChecked 2026-11-05 · Self-serve and Enterprise. Public extraction displayed GBP, not a verified USD tariff; Enterprise scope is quoted.
- Simple Analytics AI chatChecked 2026-11-05 · Question scope, default reporting dates, opt-in data transfer and answer verification.
BUYING GUIDES