--- title: "Volcanic Minds | Google Analytics, GDPR and the Plausible alternative" description: "Is Google Analytics GDPR compliant? Discover why Plausible Analytics is the superior privacy-first, cookie-less alternative for European businesses and data protection." url: "https://volcanicminds.com/en/insights/google-analytics-gdpr-alternative-plausible" lang: "en" type: "second_level_page" updated: "2026-09-04" alternate: "https://volcanicminds.com/insights/google-analytics-gdpr-alternative-plausible" --- # Google Analytics, GDPR and the Plausible alternative April 2023: 66% of websites use specific tools to analyze traffic on their pages and study user interactions. Of these, 86% have chosen **Google Analytics**, the undisputed leader in the sector, with an [almost absolute](https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/traffic_analysis) market share. What are the reasons for its success? - it’s **free**; - it has a vast community, providing virtually unlimited support; - it offers a large amount of statistics to meet any need; - it is backed by a tech giant like Google. With these numbers, why consider **alternative products**? What advantages could they offer? ## The issues Google Analytics, precisely because it is such a multifaceted product, is quite complex to use and has a **learning curve** that requires specific skills and, in some cases, specially trained personnel. This complexity also affects website performance: the script, especially when used through tag managers (e.g., **Google Tag Manager**), is heavy and often collects an excessive amount of data. ## Europe and GDPR Where does all this data go? Is Google transparent about its use? Before the introduction of Analytics 4, the **Italian Data Protection Authority** (GPDP) addressed [this issue](https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9782874). The collection of data, carried out in the United States, was deemed excessively detailed, not transparent enough, and non-compliant with European regulations. With the new version, user data is finally stored on European servers; however, it is still processed in the U.S., conflicting with **GDPR** standards. Additionally, some functionalities (e.g., IP obfuscation and cookies) have been limited, making the outputs of the two versions not directly comparable. As a result, a significant **migration** effort will be required, which must be completed by July 2023. Will everyone be ready? _"As of today, 90% of Italian Public Administration websites have chosen to disable Google Analytics."_ Source: [Matomo](https://www.ninjamarketing.it/2022/11/18/matomo-francesco-de-nobili-google-analytics/) ## The alternative: Plausible At Volcanic Minds, we are always mindful of the tools we use, especially when **sensitive user data** is at stake. We don’t blindly follow market trends and regulations—we stay two steps ahead to ensure we’re never caught off guard. We conducted a highly selective search, aiming for an open-source and [sustainable](https://plausible.io/giving-back) product that fully complies with **GDPR**. Plausible stood out as the ideal choice: it’s community-driven, hosted on European servers, and ensures completely transparent data collection, perfectly aligned with our needs. What tipped the scales in its favor? - pookie-less analytics for an uninterrupted user experience, without intrusive **banners**; - **privacy-first** approach with no unnecessary data collection; - public dashboard option, accessible without login credentials; - lightweight script (~1 kB) with no **performance** impact; - multi-domain and multi-site support for seamless tracking; - easy implementation with support for [custom event](https://plausible.io/docs/custom-event-goals) tracking. ![Screenshot of the Volcanic Minds web analytics dashboard interface for user traffic monitoring](https://images.prismic.io/volcanic-website/Z1r00pbqstJ98aSJ_Screenshot2024-12-12alle15.35.29.png?auto=format,compress) _Plausible dashboard of volcanicminds.com website_ The product is accessible to everyone and features a very clear dashboard that provides all the key metrics of a website: - number of visitors, both unique and aggregated; - total **visits** and per-page visits; - bounce rate and average visit duration; - source of the visit (e.g., search engines) + **keywords**; - access location; - devices and browsers used. ![Screenshot detail with time graphs and visitor metrics on the Plausible analytics platform volcanicminds.com](https://images.prismic.io/volcanic-website/Z1r1ApbqstJ98aSX_Screenshot2024-12-12alle15.35.20.png?auto=format,compress) _Additional statistics for the volcanicminds.com website_ Unlike Google Analytics, Plausible is a paid service, but it allows users to test all its features with a 30-day **free trial**. We’re very satisfied with it and can’t help but recommend it 👍 ## Learn more [Our Plausible dashboard](https://plausible.io/volcanicminds.com) [Implementation on our website](https://volcanicminds.com/en/insights/making-of) [Plausible Analytics official site](https://plausible.io) ## Questions this raises When to consider changing tool ### Is Google Analytics banned in Europe? Not banned as such, but several data protection authorities have challenged configurations that transfer personal data to the United States without adequate safeguards. The useful question is not whether it is legal in the abstract, but whether your configuration processes personal data and on what legal basis: the answer differs site by site and has to be documented. ### What do you lose by moving to something like Plausible? You lose per-user detail and the link with Google's advertising ecosystem, so remarketing and audiences. You also lose depth of analysis on complex segments. You gain data that is simpler to read, better load times and, where no personal data is processed, one compliance obligatio**n fewer. For a B2B site that does not advertise, what you lose was rarely being u**sed. ### Do you still need a cookie banner? It depends on what the site loads, not on the analytics tool itself. If no non-essential cookies are written and no personal data is processed, consent for measurement alone is not required. But if advertising pixels, third-party widgets or embedded videos that track remain**, the banner is still needed: changing analytics without removing the rest does not remove the obligat**ion.