Debugging Microservices & Distributed Systems
4 min read

Why I moved from Google Analytics to Simple Analytics

How I ditched Google Analytics bloat for a privacy-focused analytics tool that bypasses ad blockers

I stared at my Google Analytics dashboard, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data. Bounce rates, user flows, behavior tracking - it was all too much. I just wanted to know how many people read my blog posts. That’s it. No tracking, no personal data, just simple numbers.

After trying various analytics tools, I kept hitting the same wall: ad blockers. My numbers were way off, which was a problem when talking to sponsors.

The solution turned out to be simple: I set up a custom subdomain for my analytics. Instead of loading scripts from simpleanalytics.com (which ad blockers instantly block), my analytics now load from my own domain - api.trevorlasn.com.

Simple Analytics

All it took was adding one CNAME record in my DNS settings. My visitor counts finally matched my server logs. See the full setup guide here.

The final straw came when I realized my analytics setup was part of the problem I wanted to solve. Here I was, writing about web development best practices and privacy, while running scripts that tracked my visitors’ every move. It felt hypocritical.

I needed something different. Something that aligned with my values. That’s when I found Simple Analytics. They offer a 14-day trial, but you can get 45 days to try it out with my referral link. Cancel anytime.

Why Simple Analytics Won Me Over

First off, it’s built and hosted in the EU, which means serious privacy regulations. But what really got me was their philosophy - they believe in an internet that’s friendly to website visitors. No cookies. No personal data collection. Just clean, simple analytics.

Want to see what I mean? My website traffic is public. I’ve nothing to hide because I’m not hiding anything from my visitors.

Simple Analytics Dashboard

The dashboard shows:

  • Page views and unique visitors
  • Time on page
  • Live pageviews
  • Top pages
  • Referral sources
  • Browser and device types
  • Countries (based on non-identifying data)
  • Custom event count for sponsorship banner clicks

That’s it. No behavior tracking, no user profiles, no creepy stuff. Just the numbers I need to understand my blog’s reach.

Performance

Analytics scripts should only load in production. I use defer to ensure it loads after the page content - it weighs just 4KiB gzipped and doesn’t block rendering at all.

Here’s my Lighthouse mobile performance score with Simple Analytics enabled:

Performance

How I Set It Up

The script only loads in production import.meta.env.PROD, and I added a fallback for users with JavaScript disabled. I’m using Astro, but you could implement similar production-only loading with Next.js, Remix, or any other modern framework.

JavaScript
{
import.meta.env.PROD && (
<>
<script defer src="https://api.trevorlasn.com/latest.js" />
<noscript>
<img
src="https://api.trevorlasn.com/noscript.gif"
alt=""
referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"
/>
</noscript>
</>
)
}

Downsides

Let’s talk about pricing - Simple Analytics isn’t free like Google Analytics, but they have flexible options:

  • Free forever plan for side projects (limited to 30-month history)
  • $40/month for sites under 100K pageviews (includes ad-blocker bypass)
  • $80/month for higher traffic sites like mine

I’m on the $80/month team plan because of my traffic volume. While it’s more than Google Analytics (which is free), I see it as an investment in both my values and my readers’ privacy.

Think about it this way: if you’re spending hours creating content, don’t you want accurate data about who’s reading it? Without fighting ad blockers or feeling guilty about privacy invasion?

Is It Right for You?

If you’re like me - someone who just wants clean, honest analytics without the privacy headaches - then yes, Simple Analytics might be perfect. But if you need deep user behavior analysis or complex conversion tracking, you might want to look elsewhere.

Remember, sometimes less is more. In an age where we’re drowning in data, there’s something refreshing about just getting the numbers you actually need.

Want to check it out? You can view my public dashboard here. After all, if I’m preaching transparency, I should practice it too.

I believe we’re seeing a shift in web analytics. The era of tracking everything just because we can is ending. More developers are realizing that:

  • Most analytics data never gets used
  • Privacy is becoming a competitive advantage
  • Simple metrics often tell you everything you need to know

For me, moving to Simple Analytics wasn’t just about getting better numbers - it was about aligning my tools with my values. Sometimes the simple solution really is the best one.


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This article was originally published on https://www.trevorlasn.com/blog/simple-analytics. It was written by a human and polished using grammar tools for clarity.

Interested in a partnership? Shoot me an email at hi [at] trevorlasn.com with all relevant information.