Matomo vs Google Analytics: Exploring and Comparing the Two Platforms

It's not our goal to tell you which service is better between the two because the most effective is an individual decision in this situation. Different businesses have different needs also, and although Google Analytics might be more attractive to a particular company but Matomo's capabilities could be a perfect fit for another.
We'll instead look at the differences between these two offerings so that you are able to make an educated decision.
In this article, we'll explore Matomo and Google Analytics, comparing them across a variety of areas for you to decide which one is the best Analytics platform to meet your requirements.
What is Matomo?
Matomo can be described as an online analytics platform which was previously called Piwik Analytics. Piwik was established in 2007 and later rebranded to Matomo in the year 2018.

The main reason Matomo is so well-known is because it's an open-source analytics platform. It's updated regularly and kept up-to-date by its group of its users. This ensures that Matomo is always at the cutting edge of technology.
Matomo helps you to improve the user experience for customers and measure the impact of the content on your site.
The benefits of Matomo
Matomo is described as a service offering several impressive advantages. It's the reason it's gained a lot of notice since its rebranding a few days ago.
The service is completely private and provides full control over the personal data of users. Matomo provides a no-cost installation on your premises as well as the option of a cloud-based subscription with premium features that you can choose among. Additionally, because of the open-source nature of Matomo it is possible to customize it to build the system of your dreams.
If your website isn't very large, Matomo has some unique advantages. Each blog that is less than 10,000 monthly visits just requires the least amount of servers. Server costs can be cheaper due to the free storage space that you get with the Matomo plan.
Matomo Standout Features
Matomo provides the language spoken by the users, providing an insight into how users are using your information.
If you're interested in how users use your site, Matomo excels with some memorable aspects. It provides data on each webpage that a user has visited. This will help you figure out where most people are visiting your site from and also which sites don't attract those whom you are trying to reach.
You may also monitor the resolution of your screen site visitors, as well as the hyperlinks they click, as well as the downloads they made.

The Heatmap feature is another one of Matomo and are accessible as a paid subscription. The maps highlight the areas which people use the most on your page. It can help you view the effectiveness of your layout and also identify instances of excessive clicking that could indicate that your website isn't running fast enough or that an element has gone out of date.
What exactly is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free web analytics service provided by Google. It's a well-known Google brand name , which is trusted by people from all types.

It's a much more widely adopted service that Matomo and has more than 50 million websites around the world using the service for detailed analysis. This means that Google Analytics the most popular analytical tools in the world.
Google Analytics can be used Google Analytics to receive segmented and aggregated data about the site's visitors. The analytics also provide detailed information on user behavior and behavior, which is useful in planning marketing campaigns.
The advantages of the Google Analytics
You don't become the most popular analytics service without a few important advantages. Google Analytics has many useful tools that have been a hit with clients for a long time.
One of the main advantages for this program is the fact that it is so extensively utilized. This means that there's a lot of information accessible, including instructions and tricks that can assist you in getting the most from your experience.
Google Analytics Additional Features
One of the most significant benefits of Google Analytics is its real-time report. This lets you gain patterns in the behavior of Google Analytics users hour by hour.
The website also gives a bounce rate analysisthat gives the user an insight into the number of visitors who leave your website right away. By analyzing this data, it can help you identify any confusing or off-putting aspects of your website that might be repelling potential customers.

The Google Analytics views can be customized with filters that create the customizable dashboards. The goal setting feature in Google Analytics is useful when setting up new campaigns to boost visitors to your website. You can evaluate the information you get from Google Analytics against these benchmarks in order to decide if you've succeeded or failed.
You can also make use of Google Analytics for custom metric tracking. This means that the Google Analytics platform completely yours with a distinct approach.
Comparisons and Differences Matomo vs Google Analytics
When deciding between products such as Matomo or Google Analytics, it helps to consider how both tools are comparable and what they differ. There's a chance that a major attribute that is available through Google Analytics fits your needs However, Matomo isn't equipped with a comparable feature.
We'll look at these choices in detail in order to find out how they're similar as well as different.
Similarities among Matomo as well Google Analytics
Matomo along with Google Analytics have a lot of the same features. They both have customizable dashboards that allow you to personalize the information you see.
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Google Analytics and Motomo are available on mobile devices thanks to apps for both iOS along with Android. Additionally, you can make use of APIs with these platforms to connect to the other tools that you employ for the remainder of your business.
The differences between Matomo and Google Analytics Google Analytics
The major difference between Matomo in addition to Google Analytics is that Matomo provides its users with video analytics, but Google Analytics does not. Matomo has heatmaps, which display the way users interact with different pages through colored streaks. It's another option that you can't access with Google Analytics.

For Matomo there is the possibility of enjoying enhanced privacy features. A lot of the features that have been upgraded that are enjoyed by Matomo users are boiled down to one fundamental distinction between these two apps.
Google is 100% cost-free while Matomo charges a cost.
Matomo vs Google Analytics: Head-to-Head Comparison
We'll now examine these two choices head-to head, looking at the installation process and user-friendliness, information tracking capabilities, as well as cost-effectiveness.
Installation
In this article, we'll focus our review of the install on WordPress websites. We'll start with Matomo.
Matomo Installation
There are two different versions of Matomo accessible to clients. You have Matomo Cloud, which is hosted in the cloud for a price of a premium membership. You also have Matomo On-Premise. It is hosted on its own, is open sourceand is available to users for free.

Matomo On Premise must be installed. That means you'll require the hosting of Matomo software on your servers. Also, you'll require an experts in the field to install the software. When the installation process is complete then you'll receive the tracking code that you can insert inside the header of your WordPress header.
Google Analytics Installation
When installing Google Analytics, you'll first have to create a account for a cost-free Google Analytics account. Also, you must have an existing Google accounts (which is available for free).
Usability
Comparing Matomo against Google Analytics it's clear that Google is more simple to utilize. Matomo On-Premise needs expert-level programming for its lengthy installation as well as Matomo Cloud is much easier to set up, but it does come with a fee. Google Analytics is always free.
When you sign in to Matomo, Google has a very friendly and user-friendly login page but Matomo will require you to enter your Matomo subdomain every when you log into your account on a regular basis.
Google Analytics is a user-friendly platform that divides your data into five categories. Five areas of data are:
- Real-time
- Audience
- Acquisition
- Behavior
- Conversions
Tracking Tracking
However, Matomo Cloud limits your tracking according to the options that are included in the plan. The Cloud plans come with thirty team members and 150 goals 100 segments and 30 custom action dimensions. A lot of them are unlimitable when you use the On-Premise plan.
Matomo can also be used for automated form tracking as Google Analytics requires event tracking to be configured in a separate manner.
Cost-Effectiveness
Google Analytics is a completely free service. This means that you do not need to spend money to access the service. In the event that you think about that this service has an unlimited number of users as well as dimensions, goals and segments, you'll realize that it's exceptionally cost-effective. It offers lots in exchange for nothing.
The fight to reduce costs is an excellent victory for Free Google Analytics, we also have to dissect Matomo's premium plans.
A number of features are available with Matomo Cloud that can be employed on Matomo On Premise for the cost of an additional charge. They include but are not restricted to:
- Activity logs ($29 per year)
- Woocommerce Analytics ($39 each year)
- Funnels ($199 per year)
- Heatmaps and sessions ($229 for the entire year)
- Many and numerous
Matomo Cloud is a premium paid-for service, which differs in price based on the monthly number of visits. Its lowest price is offered for sites that have as low as 50,000 visits each month. The tier goes towards 100 million hits.

Let's break down each of these pricing choices down into one process.
- 100,000 Hits at $29 per month
- 100,000 hits for just $39 a month!
- 300,000 hits - $79 per month
- 600,000 Hits for $129/month
- 1 Million Hits for $189/month
- 2 Million Hits at $369 per month
- 5 Million Hits, $929/month
- 10 million hits - $1,790/month
- 25 million hits, $4,390/month
- 50 Million Hits 8.590/month
- 100 Million Hits for $16,900/month
HTML0 Do Matomo as well as Google Analytics Be Used Together?
Analytics services like Matomo and Google Analytics can be used in conjunction. There are many ways to learn about the two platforms and look at the similarities and differences between them. With Google Analytics being a free service, it's tempting to dive headfirst into this idea, but we recommend taking a moment to think about what it means.
For a better site's experience for users, the speed of your website is one of the main elements you need to consider. The research suggests that 47 percent of users will abandon the site if the site takes more than 2 minutes to open.

It is possible to make use of Matomo as well as Google Analytics within your site but this isn't advised.
Summary
However, the question of which of Google Analytics or Matomo is the best choice is down to the needs of you, as the proprietor of a company. Matomo is a good choice if you are able to manage to afford Matomo and believe that features like heat mapping are important for the continued growth of your business.
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