Google Analytics Vs Piwik
Most of them know about Google analytics. For those who don’t know “Google analytics is a free website tracker from Google”. Using Google analytics you can track your visitors and other related details.
Piwik is something similar to Google analytics but it is open source.
Piwik aims to be an open source alternative to Google Analytics. – From Piwik.org website.
Is it possible for Piwik to overtake Google Analytics? What is your thought? I don’t think it can! Because I have the following reasons,
1. Installing Piwik is not as easy as Google analytics and requires programming knowledge
2. Statistics is stored in our server which will consume bandwidth and space
Google Analytics or Piwik? What you recommend? Add your comments!
Labels: Google Analytics, Piwik
posted by Matt @ 12:53 PM
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26 Comments:
Hi Pratheep,
From ur blog, just now came to know abt piwik...
i too have same opinion.. can u brief abt installation as google analytics installtion code is very simple to install
also we can use google analytics for other things such as blogs, googlepages etc.. in case of piwik ??? no-no?
Google Analytics is good. Full stop. Nothing to doubt about:
- It is free
- It has a good interface
- It is really easy to understand
- It is really easy to install
- It runs on Google servers (not your traffic)
What is good about Piwik:
- It is free as well
- It has a pretty nice and configurable interface
- It pretty easy to install, even if it is not as easy as Google Analytics
- The data is stored on your OWN server: you control the data, you can do further analysis (click paths, etc.) and you can connect analytics data with other data.
- You can access raw data
I think Piwik will not overtake Google Analytics, as not everyone will want to install software (or can).
However, if you need access to the raw data, if you do not want to give Google all your data, etc. Piwik looks like a really good alternative.
I think it will gain loads of users within the next months.
Praharika,
You are correct, piwik is for those who have their own website and not for bloggers and Google pages.
Franz,
Thanks for your detailed comment. I agree with Praharika, what is your opinion.
Pratheep
Just installed piwik, install was simple if you are use to setting up applications like wordpress etc. I currently have both Goog Analytics and Piwik installed on the site. I know this is redundant but I am needed the Api to provide stats for a multi user site and google is just not their with the API. Where is the google API without installing the CAKE? So far Piwik seems to work great.
For me it's like comparing an own car with a rental car. Sure, the rental one as a build-in gps and some other features, but it is not your own. And you have to pay for it also.
What most people forget is that you have to pay for Google Analytics, too. Not with money but with your rights.
What would you say if your rental car company would send you snailmail with ads about places you have been? Or sell your personal data? Or gas stations decide their price for gas in dependency of your route?
No, thanks. I prefer my own car :-)
Good thought!
But it depends on how much you can spend to buy or own a car.
Pratheep
As already said, piwik is good for those who need raw data and flexibility. Some programming skills are not bad but not necessary.
Installing piwik is really easy - as easy as wordpress. If you are running your own server (or virtual server, something else than ready-to-go blogger.com) piwik is good choice.
Both are free (free as in no money involved) but there is huge difference with rights. With piwik you can do whatever you wish. You can delete your data. With Google Analytics google OWNS everything.
Owning the content (Analytics data)? of-course I agree with Joku. Thanks Joke, it is a matter of privacy issue.
Can anyone tell me how much space it occupies post installation and how much space it consumes every month (lets say a website with 500+ visits per day)?
I think focusing on ease of installation is a bit short sited.
I'm mostly concerned about accuracy. While I just found out about Piwik 5 minutes ago, I'm curious if it is any way more accurate than Analytics due to the fact that Analytics is 100% dependent on javascript. (I'm making the bold assumption that Piwik is php based.)
Brandon
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Thinking is good.google analytics is used by everyone but piwik is used by them who have their own website.thanks for ur commet.
discounted cosmetics.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I have no idea about piwik and here i got that new one.Thanks for the nice info.naats
Thanks charming day. you are welcome :-)
and also, using google analytics causes extra dns lookups. it slows your site, google analytics' server is not very fast
I currently have both Goog Analytics and Piwik installed on the site. I know this is redundant but I am needed the Api to provide stats for a multi user site and google is just not their with the API.quran
I'm mostly concerned about accuracy.I have no idea about piwik, but from this info i got some ideas.
anyway thanks for nice info......
Goji Berry
as far as my concern,Google analytics installtion code is very simple to install, easy to learn and has a good interface where as Piwik looks like a really good alternative and for those who have their own website and not for bloggers and Google pages.well thanks for this education tips.Cheap Cosmetics
I am currently using piwik on several sites. The software is great! I am very happy with it. I don't particularly like google's service for the simple reason that I provide them my data so they can profit. And let's face the "Don't be evil" company is far from that. Call me paranoid but I don't feel comfortable with them for the fact that they are too cozy with the NSA and other alphabet intelligence services. I'll keep my data thank you.
conHi,
Just need to know how well Piwik can work with a high traffic website having, say, 200,000 to 500,000 visits per day.
If anyone has any info on this, please let me know.
Thanks.
Hi Ashish,
Since the data is stored in your server, there is no limit on how many visitors you track per day/month.
Regards,
Pratheep
Google Analytics has been fun and easy. I do have some hangups about it. Although there is no cost, Google owns your data. They are giving you a service, you are selling them your data in return. They know about your visitors and can track them based on their interest in various pages of yours. They can do whatever they want with this information. For some people, this is fine. I personally don’t give much of a rat’s ass what Google thinks they know about me. For others, this is a privacy issue.
I decided to try Piwik. It’s open source, they advertise themselves as an alternative to GA, and you own all of your data. I installed new site, installed Piwik (literally a 5 min. install, just as they say), and started playing with it. A lot of the graphs are the same, the dashboard is completely customizable and is not jenky at all. After tracking some sites with it, I’m convinced it’s actually more accurate than Google. It picks up more visitors and keywords from search engines.
But One thing everyone will miss in Piwik, they lack Goals (very pretty feature i like at G.A.) and ipfilter (although they say they are working on it).
But Final Verdict: Piwik is overall winner in technology, they can't overtake google due to their large user base but if you are concerned about your privacy and logs limit switch to piwik, but otherwise google Analytics is best with above two reasons excluded.
Thanks Herit. Nice explanation about both the tools.
Google Analytics will not give you instant reports. You have to wait 24 hrs to get reports, whereas Piwik gives instant reports.
Hi Sirish,
Thanks for your comment but, live stats is now available in Google Analytics. Please find more info here: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2011/09/whats-happening-on-your-site-right-now.html
I think PIWIK is the best alternative web analytical service of Google analytics
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