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Web analytics, compared: twelve tools, and what the EU asks of each

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If your visitors include people in the EU, the first question isn't which has the nicest charts. It's what each tool stores on their device, whether it recognises them again, and where their data goes.

Checked 3 November 2026·scripts weighed the same way·not legal advice
The EU questionTool by toolScript weightWhich one
If you serve the EU

Do your visitors include people in the EU?

Then what you want to measure picks the path. Each one asks something different of you in law, and of the tool.

1 · Just countVisits, pages, sources, countries

Choose a tool that stores nothing on the device and keeps the data in the EU. Google Analytics, Clarity, and PostHog and Matomo as they come set cookies, which need a yes first.

Easy mode stores nothing on the device, keeps its key only until midnight, and runs in the EU, from Denmark.

2 · More, with consentReturning visitors, funnels across visits, retention

Recognising someone again needs their yes. With Google Analytics or PostHog you buy and set up a consent platform; the light tools don't recognise anyone at all.

Advanced analytics, legally: our own banner, a record of every answer, and nothing leaves Europe. From €14.

3 · Your adsWhat your Google Ads brought

The usual way is Google's tag on every page behind Consent Mode, which Google has required for EEA visitors since March 2024.

The conversion goes from our server, for visitors who allowed it. No Google tag on your pages.

Tool by tool

What each one asks of an EU site

ToolOn the deviceKnows returning visitorsWho asks for consentWhere the data goesFrom
tidekeeperNothingWith consentOur banner, every answer keptEU: Denmark, Germany€9
Google Analytics 4CookiesYesYou, with a consent platformGoogle, USA, under a framework now on appealFree
PostHogCookiesYesYou, with a consent platformEU cloud on offerFree to 1M events
Microsoft ClarityCookiesYesYou; enforced since 31 Oct 2025MicrosoftFree
MatomoCookiesYesYou; it can askYour server, or its cloud€29
PlausibleNothingNoNot askedEU$9
FathomNothingNoNot askedEU isolation on offer$15
Simple AnalyticsNothingNoNot askedEU, the NetherlandsFree
umamiNothingNoNot askedYour server, or its cloudFree
PirschNothingNoNot askedGermany$6
RybbitNothingNot saidNot askedNot said$13
CloudflareNothingNoNot askedCloudflareFree

Table 1From each product's own pages. “Nothing” is not the whole test: EU rules reach any reading from the device, and Denmark asks for consent for visit statistics where France exempts them under conditions. tidekeeper says which reading each site follows.

To count EU visitors without a banner, any of the light tools will do. To do more than count, legally, in the EU, tidekeeper is the one that brings the banner and the records itself.

Script weight

What each one adds to every page

The script each tool loads by default, fetched on 3 November 2026 and gzipped the same way, drawn to scale. Google Analytics' tag is 85 times ours.

Plausible1,290 B
tidekeeper1,820 B
Fathom2,091 B
Pirsch3,503 B
umami3,918 B
Simple Analytics4,798 B
Cloudflare10,258 B
Rybbit11,758 B
Matomo22,137 B
Microsoft Clarity25,056 B
PostHog118,644 B
Google Analytics 4154,737 B
Honestly

What they have, and what we have

Where others are ahead

SQL on your own data

PostHog's SQL editor reaches every event and person; Google Analytics exports to BigQuery, free to a million events a day. We have an API and CSV.

Session replay

Recordings of what each visitor did. We left it out on purpose: it keeps what each person did, one by one.

A free plan

And free tiers at PostHog, umami and Simple Analytics. We have a 14-day trial.

Running it yourself

Plausible's Community Edition, umami, Matomo, Rybbit and PostHog can be self-hosted. We're hosted only.

Where tidekeeper is

Advanced analytics, legally, in the EU

Returning visitors, funnels across visits, retention and click maps, through our own banner, with every answer on record. Elsewhere it is a consent platform you buy, or not possible.

Nothing leaves Europe

An EU company on EU machines: no transfer to the United States to defend.

The AI that reads you

GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and the rest, by name, and whom they sent.

Agents, funnels and revenue from €9

An MCP server and a command line on every plan; counts explained to the last visitor.

Choosing

Which one is for you

tidekeeper

Your visitors include the EU, and you want to count, or do more with consent, without a consent platform or a transfer to the US.

Start counting →PostHog

You build a product, want SQL, replay and flags, and will run a consent platform.

What it has →Google Analytics

It has to be free, you live in Google's ads, and a banner is fine.

Tool by tool →Plausible or umami

You want a light counter you can host yourself.

Script weight →Matomo

You want the fullest self-hosted suite, and will set up its consent.

Tool by tool →Clarity

You want free recordings beside another tool, behind a banner.

What it has →
Questions

What people ask

Is Google Analytics legal in the EU?

Today, with consent for its cookies, yes. In 2022 the authorities of Austria, France, Italy and Denmark found its use unlawful because of transfers to the US; the EU–US Data Privacy Framework of 2023 made them lawful again, was upheld by the General Court in September 2025, and is now on appeal to the Court of Justice.

Do I need a cookie banner for analytics in the EU?

For a tool that sets cookies, yes. For one that stores nothing, it depends on the country: France exempts audience measurement under conditions, Denmark asks for consent for visit statistics either way. tidekeeper says which reading each site follows, and asks with its own banner where needed.

Can I track returning visitors in the EU?

With their consent. tidekeeper's hard mode asks with its own banner, recognises those who said yes, and keeps a record of every answer.

Which web analytics has the smallest script?

Plausible, at 1,290 bytes gzipped, then tidekeeper at 1,820; Google Analytics' tag is 154,737.

Sources
  1. Each product's pricing and privacy pages.
  2. The 2022 decisions on Google Analytics: Austria's DSB, France's CNIL, Italy's Garante, Denmark's Datatilsynet. General Court, Latombe v Commission, T-553/23, 3 September 2025; the appeal, C-703/25 P.
  3. Microsoft Learn, Clarity consent mode; Matomo FAQ, its cookies; PostHog docs, privacy and SQL; Google Analytics Help, BigQuery Export.
  4. Digitaliseringsstyrelsen and Datatilsynet, “Brug af cookies og lignende teknologier”, 15 May 2025; CNIL, Sheet 16.
  5. Each logo is the product's own icon, shown to name it. Every script fetched and gzipped at level 9.