Simple Analytics is a privacy-first web analytics service founded in 2018 in the Netherlands, completely cookie-free with no personal data collection and out-of-the-box GDPR compliance, using an about 2KB single-pixel script with reference pricing from $9/month.

Strengths and Features

✅ Founded in 2018 in the Netherlands by Adriaan van Rossum, a privacy-first web analytics service operating in a remote-first model
✅ Completely cookie-free with no personal data collection, compliant with 3 major regulations (GDPR/CCPA/PECR) out of the box
✅ Single-pixel tracking script of about 2KB with minimal impact on performance and Core Web Vitals
✅ Built-in ad blocker detection quantifies (0-100%) the share of real traffic hidden by ad blockers
✅ Reference pricing of $9/month for 10,000 page views (annual billing is cheaper), with a 14-day free trial (reference)
⚠️ Billed by page-view tier, so costs rise quickly for high-traffic sites
⚠️ Trial is time-limited with no permanent free quota; small sites should weigh long-term cost
⚠️ Focused on core traffic metrics, lacking funnels, heatmaps, and session recordings
⚠️ Data export is mainly aggregate API/CSV, without raw clickstream bulk export

Product Information

Category Analytics

Tags GDPR Web Analytics Privacy Analytics GA Alternative Cookie-Free Minimal Dashboard Ad Blocker Detection Simple Analytics API Export

Company simpleanalytics

Service Region Netherlands

Official Website https://simpleanalytics.com/

Recommendation Score 4 pts

Published 2026-08-09

Detailed Notes

Overview

Simple Analytics was founded in 2018 in the Netherlands by founder Adriaan van Rossum and operates in a remote-first model. It is a privacy-first web analytics service: it uses no cookies and collects no personal identifiers, counting "how many people visited, where they came from, and which pages they viewed" with a single-pixel script of about 2KB. It is GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant out of the box with no consent banner, and is one of the representatives among privacy analytics tools such as Plausible and Fathom, widely considered one of the lightest privacy-friendly analytics options.

The Simple Analytics dashboard is minimal and clean, showing visitors, unique visitors, page views, bounce rate, referrers, and locations, with built-in ad blocker detection to reveal true traffic. The platform offers a REST API and data export, custom-domain tracking, and email reports, suiting personal site owners, content creators, and SMBs, and is one of the mainstream privacy alternatives to Google Analytics.

Key Strengths

Truly cookie-free privacy architecture: No cookies, browser fingerprinting, or personal identifiers; visitor IP is kept only at a coarse regional level, so no consent banner is needed and GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliance is natural - see the GDPR compliance checklist.
Minimal dashboard with core metrics at a glance: One page shows visitors, unique visitors, page views, bounce rate, sources, and locations, with zero learning curve.
Lightweight single-pixel script: The about 2KB script loads asynchronously with minimal impact on performance and Core Web Vitals, protecting page speed and SEO - see Core Web Vitals optimization.
Built-in ad blocker detection: Estimates the share of visitors hidden by ad blockers, helping content creators and advertisers assess true audience size.
Data export and API: A REST API with CSV/JSON export, custom-domain tracking, and email reports, integrating with your own dashboards and automation workflows.

Product Ecosystem

Core Analytics Metrics

Visitors, unique visitors, page views, bounce rate, referrers, locations, devices, and top pages, based on complete data with real-time updates and no sampling.

Goals (Conversion Tracking)

Custom goals track key conversion events such as button clicks and form submissions to measure content and campaign performance.

Ad Blocker Detection

Detects script loading to estimate the share of visitors blocked by ad blockers, revealing how much real traffic is undercounted - especially valuable for ad-supported content sites.

Data Export and API

A REST API exports stats as JSON/CSV, and integration with Zapier connects 1,000+ apps for automation - see the website API integration basics.

Custom Domain and Branding

Custom-domain (CNAME) tracking reduces ad-blocker blocking and improves brand consistency.

Email Reports and Embedding

Schedule daily, weekly, or monthly reports and embed public dashboards to share data with clients and teams.

Limitations

Traffic-tier billing: Priced by page views, so costs rise quickly for high-traffic sites; evaluate annual billing or self-hosting (open source) long term.
No permanent free quota: Only a 14-day free trial (reference), with no long-term free plan, so budget-conscious small sites should weigh the cost.
Focused on core metrics: Lacks funnels, heatmaps, and session recordings for deep behavioral analysis.
Limited export granularity: Aggregate-level API/CSV only, without raw clickstream bulk export, limiting deep data mining.

Use Cases

Personal blogs and content sites (Recommended ★★★★★): The 2KB script has negligible impact, works out of the box, and is privacy compliant.
Compliance-sensitive industries and European markets (Recommended ★★★★★): No cookies and no personal data naturally meet GDPR requirements - see the website GDPR compliance checklist.
Content creators and advertisers (Recommended ★★★★): Ad blocker detection reveals true audience size.
SaaS product websites (Recommended ★★★★): Lightweight tracking plus Goals events support conversion analysis; see OKRs and product metrics.
Product teams needing deep behavioral analytics (Recommended ★★): Lacks funnels and recordings - consider Matomo or PostHog.

Pricing

Plan	Monthly Page Views	Reference Price	Notes
10k	10,000	$9/month (reference)	Basic privacy analytics
100k	100,000	See official website	Higher traffic tier
1M	1,000,000	See official website	High traffic tier
Self-hosted (open source)	Unlimited	Free (server cost only)	Deploy the open-source version yourself

Reference pricing is $9/month for 10,000 page views (annual billing is usually cheaper); exact rates for higher traffic tiers are per the official website and are not fabricated here; a 14-day free trial is offered (reference).

FAQ

Does Simple Analytics really need no cookies? Yes. It uses no cookies, browser fingerprinting, or personal identifiers, counting anonymous visits with a single-pixel script, so no consent banner is needed and it naturally meets GDPR compliance.
How do Simple Analytics and Plausible compare? Both are privacy-first analytics: Plausible has an about 1KB script, $9/month cloud hosting, and is fully open source, while Simple Analytics is about 2KB with built-in ad blocker detection and also offers open-source self-hosting - see the website analytics setup guide.
Is Simple Analytics free? It offers a 14-day free trial (reference), then paid subscription billed by page-view tier, with reference pricing of $9/month for 10,000 PV; budget-conscious sites can evaluate the open-source self-hosted version - see web analytics tools; see website analytics setup guide.
Does Simple Analytics support data export? Yes. A REST API with CSV/JSON export, plus Zapier integration connecting 1,000+ apps for automation - see the website API integration basics.
Is Simple Analytics suitable for e-commerce conversion tracking? Goals support custom events for lightweight conversion tracking, but product-level e-commerce events and funnels are missing; for deep e-commerce analytics choose Matomo - see the website analytics setup guide.

Visit Simple Analytics Website →