One of my pet hates is cookie notices. Not only do they constantly interrupt my web browsing, but also it’s a faff to set them up on my own sites. Thanks to GDPR and similar legislation, website owners are legally required to obtain consent for collecting visitors’ personal data with tools such as Google Analytics.
I was delighted to discover Fathom Analytics, a straightforward alternative to Google Analytics that doesn’t require cookie notices. Yes, that’s right. Fathom doesn’t collect personal data: it anonymises visitors’ IP addresses and doesn’t track people across websites. Plus, all the data from EU traffic is processed within the EU, which helps with GDPR compliance.
Fathom was founded in 2018 by Paul Jarvis and Jack Ellis. You might know Paul Jarvis from his excellent book Company of One, in which he explained the advantages of working alone. We’ll conveniently ignore the fact that he then went on to form a company of two. Anyway, their focus is on maintaining a simple-to-use tool that prioritises privacy. They describe it as “insightful, not invasive”, which is a good tagline for any of us.
You can easily install Fathom on any site with either one line of code, or with a WordPress plugin. It took me about two minutes to set up, then I had access to a one-screen dashboard. Unlike Google Analytics where you need a two-day workshop to even log in, with Fathom everything is clear and intuitive. As you can see in this screenshot of my dashboard, it’s all about clarity rather than complexity.
To experiment with the views, you can try the live demo.
If you’ve installed the WordPress plugin, you’ll be able to view Fathom Analytics from within your admin dashboard.
Is Fathom Analytics right for you?
For me, the biggest advantages of Fathom are:
- Privacy-first: no need for cookie notices (unless you’re using other tools that require them).
- Automatically blocks bots: all your stats are generated by humans.
- Data preservation: your stats are retained forever and you can export them at any time.
Fathom won’t be the right choice if you actually enjoy the detailed reports from Google Analytics, or if you’re working for clients who expect you to use it.
Also, Fathom is expensive. Well, I think it’s excellent value, but its main competitor is free. But we all know how free software is funded.
Fathom costs $150 a year or $15 per month for up to 100,000 page views. After that, the price scales with your site traffic. You can install Fathom on up to 100 websites, and give each its own password. If you manage websites for clients, this is a good way of spreading the cost. You get an overview of all the sites from your admin dashboard, while they get exclusive access to their site’s dashboard.
If you have freedom over the tools you use and want a simpler alternative, I don’t think you can beat Fathom.
You can try Fathom for free for 7 days. If you click my affiliate link, you’ll get a $10 discount and I receive commission. I’m only recommending Fathom because I think it’s excellent. I don’t normally join affiliate schemes, but Fathom has turned me into an evangelist.
Conclusion
I must admit, initially I was resistant to paying for web analytics, given I’d been getting them free for decades. But I think it’s important to support small tech, especially when it’s championing privacy. And if everyone starts using Fathom, then maybe we can banish those wretched cookie notices.