For European site owners
If you run a website in the EU, you already know the drill: Google Analytics means a consent popup, legal uncertainty, and visitors who click "Reject all" before you see a single pageview. Here is how Penny Metrics stacks up against GA4, Plausible, and Fathom.
The GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive are clear: if your analytics tool stores cookies or similar identifiers on a visitor's device, you need consent before tracking starts. That is why so many EU sites show a banner — and lose a chunk of their data the moment visitors refuse.
Plausible and Fathom are solid privacy choices too. Where Penny Metrics stands out: EU hosting, unlimited sites, a fraction of the price, and the same no-banner experience.
| Feature | Penny Metrics | Google Analytics 4 | Plausible | Fathom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookie consent banner required Under the EU ePrivacy Directive, storing identifiers on a visitor's device usually requires consent before the script runs. | No | Yes | No | No |
| Sets cookies on visitors First-party cookies like _ga create the legal obligation to show a banner and ask for consent. | No | Yes (_ga) | No | No |
| Stores raw IP addresses IP addresses are personal data under GDPR. Storing them increases your compliance burden. | No | Used, not stored | No | No |
| Cross-site visitor tracking Building profiles across websites is hard to justify under GDPR and usually needs explicit consent. | No | Yes | No | No |
| EU data hosting Keeping analytics data in the EU avoids international transfer paperwork and Schrems II risk. | Frankfurt, DE | US (Google) | EU | EU option |
| Data retention How long your historical analytics are kept before the provider deletes them. | Forever | 2–14 months | 3–5 years by plan | Forever |
| Tracking script size Smaller scripts load faster and have less impact on Core Web Vitals. | ~1 KB | ~45 KB+ | ~1 KB | ~2 KB |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Hours | Minutes | Minutes |
| Unlimited sites on one plan | Yes | Yes | Per site | Per plan |
| Custom events & conversions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Outbound webhooks Push conversion events to Zapier, Make, or your own endpoint as they happen — no polling required. | Yes | No | Paid plans | No |
| Mobile app | iOS | Yes | No | No |
| Starting price | From $0.83/mo | Free | From ~€9/mo | From ~$15/mo |
Competitor details based on publicly available documentation as of June 2026. Pricing and features may change. This is not legal advice — consult a qualified privacy lawyer for your specific situation.
Powerful and free, but built for Google's advertising ecosystem. Cookies, US data processing, and complex consent-mode setups make it a poor fit for privacy-conscious EU sites. If you want analytics without a banner, GA4 is not the answer.
A respected Estonian alternative with cookie-free tracking and EU hosting. Pricing is per-site and starts around €9/month. Great if you run one or two sites; less economical when you ship many projects.
Simple, privacy-first analytics from a Canadian team. Also cookie-free, with EU hosting available on higher plans. Starts around $15/month with site limits per tier.
Same privacy story as Plausible and Fathom — no cookies, no banner, no raw IPs — but built and hosted in the EU, with unlimited sites and pricing that does not punish you for shipping more projects. Paste one script and you are done in 30 seconds.
Join European site owners who track visitors without asking permission first. From $0.83 a month with every feature and unlimited sites.