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Fathom Analytics

Privacy-first, cookieless web analytics with a simple dashboard and forever data retention.

Founded 2018· Victoria, Canada· ~5 employees· usefathom.com ↗
Last verified 2 days ago · 17 sources · Updated automatically
Founded
2018
Headquarters
Victoria, Canada
Employees
5
From
$15
Free tier
No
Script size
2 KB

Overview

Fathom Analytics is a privacy-first, cookieless web analytics product founded in 2018 and run by a small remote-first team incorporated in Victoria, Canada. It identifies visitors with daily-salted hashing rather than cookies, so the vendor states no consent banner is required, and it claims GDPR compliance backed by a formal review.

Paid plans start at $15/month for up to 100,000 pageviews, with no perpetual free tier but a 7-day trial. A single plan covers up to 50 sites, data is retained forever, and the tracking script is about 2 KB. The dashboard is real-time, with custom events, conversion goals, revenue tracking (including a Shopify integration), email reports, a public-sharing option, a Stats API, GA4 import, and an official WordPress plugin.

It is a closed-source, cloud-only SaaS. Notably, while IPs are stripped inside the EU, the anonymized analytics data is stored on US servers, so it does not offer EU data residency.

Best for
  • Teams wanting privacy-first analytics with no cookies and no consent banner, while still claiming GDPR compliance.
  • Multi-site owners and higher-traffic sites: the $15 entry plan covers up to 100k pageviews and as many as 50 sites.
  • Sites wanting a lightweight ~2 KB script with a real-time dashboard and forever data retention.
  • Teams that need conversion goals, custom events, and revenue tracking (with a Shopify integration) plus GA4 import when migrating.
  • WordPress sites wanting an official plugin, scheduled email reports, and public dashboard sharing.
Less ideal for
  • Organizations requiring EU data residency: IPs are stripped in the EU, but the anonymized data is stored on US servers.
  • Teams that need multi-step funnel analysis or built-in heatmaps — neither is part of the product.
  • Buyers who want to self-host or run open-source analytics — Fathom is proprietary and cloud-only.
  • Data teams needing raw, event-level export — exports are aggregated CSV reports only, with no raw data dump.
  • Teams wanting a free plan to start — there is only a 7-day trial, with no perpetual free tier.

Pricing

Starting Monthly Price (USD)
$15 · Entry plan: $15/month for up to 100k pageviews.
Offers Free Tier
7-day free trial available; no perpetual free plan.
Free Trial Length (Days)
7 days · 7-day free trial on all paid plans.
Entry Plan Pageview Limit (Monthly)
100k · Entry plan ($15/mo) includes up to 100k pageviews/month.
Entry Plan Website Limit
50 sites · Up to 50 sites included on all plans; additional sites purchasable.

Analytics capabilities

Real-Time Dashboard
Dashboard updates in real time; also provides a current-visitors API endpoint.
Custom Event Tracking
Custom events tracked via fathom.trackEvent() JS call or data attributes.
Goal / Conversion Tracking
Goals are built on custom events with conversion-rate reporting.
Funnels
Multi-step funnel analysis is not a feature; no documentation or marketing page references it.
Ecommerce / Revenue Tracking
Revenue values (in cents) can be attached to custom events; Shopify integration supported.
Heatmaps
Heatmaps are not part of the product.

Privacy & compliance

Cookieless Tracking
Zero cookies used by design; visitor identification via daily-salted SHA256 hashing.
Consent Banner Required
Vendor explicitly states no cookie consent banner is needed when using Fathom.
GDPR Compliant
Vendor explicitly claims GDPR compliance; conducted formal GDPR review with EU consultants.
EU Data Residency
EU Isolation strips visitor IPs inside the EU, but the anonymized analytics data is stored on Fathom's main US servers.

Data ownership & deployment

Open Source
Fathom is a closed-source, proprietary cloud SaaS product.
License
proprietary · Current flagship product is closed-source; an archived MIT-licensed v1 exists but is not the offered product.
Self-Hostable
Cloud-only SaaS; no self-hosting option documented or advertised.
Data Retention (Months)
Not tracked yet
Unlimited Data Retention
Vendor advertises 'forever' data retention on all plans.
Google Analytics Import
GA4 data import supported; Universal Analytics not supported (Google deleted UA data July 2024).
Raw Data Export
Export is aggregated CSVs (dashboard reports); no raw visit/event-level data export available.

Platform & integrations

Has API
Public Stats API for aggregated reporting plus account/site/event management endpoints.
Tracking Script Size (KB)
2 KB · Measured compressed transfer size.
Official WordPress Plugin
Official vendor-published WordPress plugin available at wordpress.org/plugins/fathom-analytics/.
Email Reports
Weekly or monthly scheduled email reports available.
Public Dashboard Sharing
Dashboards can be shared publicly or via password-protected link.

Alternatives to Fathom Analytics

Clicky logo Clicky

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Cloudflare Web Analytics logo Cloudflare Web Analytics

Free, privacy-first web analytics that tracks page views without cookies or fingerprinting.

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GoatCounter logo GoatCounter

Open-source, privacy-friendly web analytics that tracks no personal data.

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Sources · 17 verified references

usefathom.com linkedin.com github.com cdn.usefathom.com starterstory.com

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