Matomo (formerly Piwik) Vs Google Analytics

Oct 20, 2022

GA VS Matomo - BainsLabs | Digital Marketing Agency in Toronto
5/5 - (4 votes)
Like the famous Google Analytics, Matomo allows you to collect data on the traffic of your website from the acquisition channels (organic, ads, social media channels) to the actions that users perform on the web pages. The particular aspect of Matomo is that, unlike Google Analytics, it is an open-source platform. In this article, we will be talking about the advantages of Matomo and the comparison between Google Analytics and Matomo.

The Advantages of Matomo

  • Unlike Google Analytics, Matomo does not have a hit limit.
  • The data is yours! With Matomo you have 100% ownership of the collected data.
  • Matomo is Open source, which means you can customize Matomo.
  • You can create unlimited goals.
  • There is no data export limit.
  • Matomo uses first-party cookies.
  • You can import Google Analytics data into Matomo.

Now, let us learn about the differences between Matomo and Google Analytics 4

  • Real-time data analysis (always very useful and never predictable).
  • E-commerce measurement.
  • Ability To Customize.
  • Tracking of goals -with Matomo there are no limits to the number of goals you can create.
  • Internal research analysis.
  • Automated reports by email.
  • App on both iOS and Android.
  • Access via API.
  • Monitoring of advertising campaigns.
  • Both have a Tag Management System – GA4 has the well-known Google Tag Manager, And, Matomo has Matomo Tag Manager.
The main differences between the two platforms, on the other hand, concern aspects such as:

The Data Model

As we know, the Google Analytics 4 Data Model is very different from its predecessor Google Universal Analytics.

Matomo has a Data Model much more similar to GA3, where sessions dominate.

Importing Data

While the transition from GA3 to GA4 represents a significant problem since it is not possible to move data from one type of property to another. However, in the case of Matomo, migration is possible and very simple. You can import your historical data from Google Universal Analytics to it.

Although there is Google Tag Manager, already very widespread among professionals, it is not integrated into Google Analytics. Whereas, in Matomo, on the other hand, the tag manager is perfectly integrated and available for free, complete with numerous types of tags, triggers, and variables.

Matomo, unlike Google Analytics, allows you to record sessions and consult the heatmaps (upon purchase of the appropriate module). Whereas in Google Analytics 4, for this kind of functionality will have to rely on external services like HotJar.

Management of GDPR and Privacy Aspects

Although Google Analytics 4 has more settings for privacy management and therefore demonstrates greater attention to this aspect compared to GA3, Matomo was born GDPR compliant and has a GDPR manager, for those who want to be completely comfortable.

Whether Google Analytics or Matomo, integration can be not an easy job, especially when different tools and tools are needed for monitoring. Remember that relying on professionals in the sector is (almost) never wrong, and we are here to support and guide you!

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