A practical product comparison
Comparing Simple Analytics alternatives?
Simple Analytics and quietstats both make privacy a central part of website analytics. The useful comparison is practical: how each explains its data collection, which reports your team needs, how its free and paid plans fit your traffic, and whether its workflow suits your site.
When quietstats may fit
quietstats may fit a small site that wants a visual dashboard, UK-built software, a free plan, GBP billing and a lightweight script.
- The free tier covers one site and 5,000 pageviews per month; paid tiers are in GBP.
- No cookies or device storage; a daily-salted hash supports same-day unique counts and is not linkable across days.
- Includes AI referrals, campaign reports, alerts, page/event/click goals, CSV/Excel and a read-only API.
When Simple Analytics may fit
Simple Analytics may be the better fit if its own reporting workflow, product features or data policies match your requirements. Its official pages describe analytics without cookies or persistent visitor identifiers and include guidance on analytics without consent; read the implementation details rather than relying on the label “cookieless.”
- The provider describes no analytics cookies, local storage identifiers, IP-address storage or fingerprinting.
- Its site offers product information and plan details directly; check current limits and billing before comparing.
- It has a distinct approach to visitor identity, so counts and metrics may not match quietstats.
The trade-off to understand
quietstats does not claim the same data model or privacy design as Simple Analytics. It uses a temporary daily hash to calculate unique visitors; it does not store raw IP addresses, but the request contains network data that is used in memory. Compare the underlying methods.
Moving from Simple Analytics
quietstats does not currently import Simple Analytics history. Keep your existing exports and consider running both for a short overlap if you need to compare totals; expect differences because products define visitors and visits differently.
Questions to ask
Does quietstats import Simple Analytics data?
No built-in Simple Analytics importer is available today. The supported history imports are Plausible and GA4 CSV/API exports.
Do the two tools count the same number of visitors?
Not necessarily. Visitor definitions, identity methods, bot filtering, consent settings and blockers can all change counts. Compare methods rather than treating one as a universal source of truth.
Does “privacy-friendly” mean no legal review is needed?
No. Review what the site collects and the applicable rules. The UK ICO’s guidance explains the conditions for PECR exceptions; this page is not legal advice.
Sources
Provider and regulator pages checked 26 October 2026. Prices, terms and features can change; confirm details on the linked pages.
Third-party product names are trademarks of their respective owners. quietstats is not affiliated with these providers.
Related pages
quietstats vs Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom & Simple Analytics Methodology: how quietstats counts visitors, visits, bounce rate and duration Compliance: PECR, UK GDPR, sub-processors & retention · quietstats Pricing · quietstats – free, then from £5 a month
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Free for one site and 5,000 pageviews a month. No card required.