Compare · Simple Analytics
Best Simple Analytics alternative.
Like Simple Analytics' privacy focus and clean dashboard? Pieowl keeps it cookie-free and adds product analytics: user profiles, retention, cohorts and session replay. Your data stays in our EU cloud.
- No cookies
- Retention, cohorts and replay
- Ask your AI assistant via MCP
- EU cloud
Pieowl vs Simple Analytics: Which is right for you?
Pieowl if…
- 1You need retention, cohorts and user profiles for a product
- 2You want session replay and revenue tracking
- 3You want a lower price at 100K events
Simple Analytics if…
- 1You want all data kept in the Netherlands
- 2You want a tool that never collects IP addresses
- 3You want a free plan for up to 5 small sites
Both tools are cookie-free and both have AI answers. Simple Analytics focuses on website traffic; Pieowl adds product analytics.
Why consider Pieowl over Simple Analytics?
Simple Analytics is a careful, privacy-first tool. It sets no cookies, does not collect IP addresses, and keeps your website data in the Netherlands. It has events, goals and funnels, email reports, a Google Analytics import and an AI assistant that answers questions with charts. Many teams also run it next to GA4 to see traffic that consent banners hide.
Simple Analytics stays focused on website traffic. Pieowl adds product analytics on top: you can identify logged-in users, see their profiles, measure retention, compare cohorts, watch session replays and track revenue by source and campaign.
Hosting is another difference. Simple Analytics is cloud-only, in the Netherlands. Pieowl is cloud-only too, in the EU, with every feature included.
If you want your data kept in the Netherlands, a free plan for several small sites, or a tool that never sees IP addresses at all, Simple Analytics is a great pick. If you are building a product and need to understand users over time, Pieowl goes further.
Key differences at a glance
How Pieowl and Simple Analytics compare on the points teams ask about most. Simple Analytics details checked October 2026.
| Feature | Pieowl | Simple Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Key differences | ||
| Analytics depth | Web and product analytics | Web analytics with events, goals and funnels |
| Data location | EU cloud | Netherlands only |
| Free plan | No; 14-day free trial with every feature | 5 sites, 1 month of history, badge required |
| AI answers | Yes, via your AI assistant (MCP) | Yes, AI assistant |
| Web analytics | ||
| Visitors, pages, sources and devices | Yes | Yes |
| UTM and campaign tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Custom events | Yes | Yes |
| Goals and funnels | Yes | Yes |
| Bot filtering | Yes | Yes |
| Product analytics | ||
| Retention | Yes | Not listed |
| Cohorts | Yes | Not listed |
| User profiles | Yes | Not listed |
| Session replay | Yes | Not listed |
| Revenue by source and campaign | Yes | Not listed |
| AI answers about your data | Via your AI assistant (MCP) | Yes |
| Where Simple Analytics does more | ||
| Google Analytics import | No | Yes |
| Email reportsPieowl sends alerts to Slack, Discord or a webhook instead | No | Yes |
| Embeddable charts | No | Yes |
| iOS and macOS app | No | Yes |
| No IP collection at allPieowl uses the IP only for the location lookup and visitor hash, and never stores it | No | Yes |
| Privacy and hosting | ||
| No cookies | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud region | EU | Netherlands |
| SOC 2 | No | Coming soon |
| Integrations and data | ||
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Raw data export | API, S3 or Google Cloud Storage | CSV or API |
| Shared dashboards | Yes | Yes |
Technical comparison
For developers, here is how the two tools differ.
| Feature | Pieowl | Simple Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking script | About 3 KB gzipped | Can run from your own subdomain |
| SDKs |
|
|
| IP addresses | Used for location and hashing, never stored | Not collected |
| Data location | EU cloud | Netherlands |
| Billing unit | Events | Page views |
Pricing comparison
Pieowl is a little cheaper at 100K and about the same at 1M. Simple Analytics has a free plan for small sites; Pieowl has a 14-day free trial. Checked October 2026.
Pieowl
Event-based, prices on the page- 14-day free trial, no card needed.
- Starter: from $9/month for 10K events, $19 for 100K and $69 for 1M.
- Growth: twice the Starter price, for up to 30 sites and 30 team members.
- Over 10M events a month: talk to us.
- Pay yearly and get 2 months free.
- Paid plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Simple Analytics
Page view-based- Free: up to 5 websites, 1 month of history, badge required.
- Paid: from €20/mo for 100K page views, about €60/mo at 1M.
- Each extra user costs €20/mo.
- There is a 14-day trial with no card, and yearly billing gives 2 months free.
- Enterprise is custom, with a proof of concept.
- Checked October 2026.
Migrating from Simple Analytics to Pieowl
Both tools use a small script and simple events, so the switch is quick.
- 01Add the Pieowl script or SDK
Add the Pieowl script tag or an SDK such as @pieowl/web. Page views and outgoing links are tracked for you.
- 02Recreate your events
Track each Simple Analytics event with pieowl.track('event_name', { property: 'value' }).
- 03Identify logged-in users
This is new. Call pieowl.identify({ profileId: user.id }) after login to unlock user profiles, retention and cohorts.
- 04Rebuild goals and funnels
Set up your funnels, then add retention and cohort reports. Or ask your AI assistant to run them for you over MCP.
- 05Remove the old script
Run both tools for a few days, compare the numbers, then remove the Simple Analytics script.
Effort: Easy
Estimated time: 30 minutes to 2 hoursSDK compatibility
Both use an event name with optional properties.Historical data
There is no ready-made Simple Analytics importer. If you export raw events, you can send them to Pieowl's bulk import API, but you will need to map the fields yourself.
Where Pieowl is a better fit than Simple Analytics
Pieowl suits teams that need to understand users, not just traffic.
SaaS products
Identify users, measure retention and compare cohorts to see who stays.
Replay next to your numbers
Jump from a funnel drop-off to the session replay that explains it.
Revenue by source
Track revenue with one call, like pieowl('revenue', 4900) for $49, and see it by source, campaign and referrer.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about switching from Simple Analytics to Pieowl.
Is Pieowl as privacy-friendly as Simple Analytics?
Both are cookie-free. Simple Analytics goes a step further and does not collect IP addresses at all. Pieowl uses the IP only for the location lookup and a visitor hash, and never stores it.
Why switch from Simple Analytics to Pieowl?
Teams switch when they need product analytics: user profiles, retention, cohorts, session replay and revenue.
Does Simple Analytics have a free plan?
Yes. It covers up to 5 websites with 1 month of history, and requires a badge. Pieowl has no free plan, but its 14-day free trial includes every feature and needs no card. Checked October 2026.
Do both have AI?
Yes. Simple Analytics has its own AI assistant. Pieowl has an MCP server on every plan, so your own AI assistant, like Claude or Cursor, can answer questions about your data.
What will I lose by leaving Simple Analytics?
The Google Analytics import, email reports, embeddable charts, the iOS and macOS app, and Netherlands-only hosting.
How do prices compare?
At 100K, Pieowl Starter is $19/mo and Simple Analytics is €20/mo. At 1M, Pieowl Starter is $69/mo and Simple Analytics is about €60/mo. Simple Analytics charges €20/mo per extra user. Checked October 2026.
Which is better for a blog?
For a simple blog, Simple Analytics is a great fit. For a SaaS, shop or app where user behavior matters, Pieowl gives you more.
Keep reading
Ready to make the switch?
14-day free trial, no card needed. Then from $9 a month for 10K events.