Beam vs Simple Analytics
Simple Analytics is one of the cleanest privacy analytics products on the market. It shares Beam's "less surveillance, less clutter" philosophy. The main difference is that Beam is built to be the lower-cost option for small teams and indie projects.
| Feature | Beam | Competitor |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free (1 site, 50K pv/mo) | Free plan + £15/mo paid tier |
| Pro pricing | $5/mo (500K pv/mo) | Paid plans start around £15/mo |
| Cookies used | None | None |
| GDPR compliant | Yes | Yes |
| Hosted product | Yes | Yes |
| Setup complexity | Minimal | Minimal |
| Retention on free plan | Monthly usage limits | 30-day history on free |
| Team features | Basic single-user flow | Stronger team/admin features |
| Best fit | Budget-conscious teams wanting core analytics | Teams wanting a mature hosted privacy analytics product |
Beam and Simple Analytics are philosophically close. Both reject cookies, both avoid personal data collection, and both focus on dashboards that stay readable. If your main requirement is "give me privacy-friendly website analytics without Google Analytics baggage," either product is aligned with that goal.
The practical difference is price and product maturity. Simple Analytics currently markets a free plan and a paid tier that starts around £15 per month, with stronger team and admin capabilities at higher tiers. Beam is intentionally simpler and cheaper: a free tier for small projects, and a $5/month Pro plan for teams that mainly want clean traffic reporting rather than a broader analytics workspace.
If you want the leanest hosted option and care most about keeping spend down, Beam is the easier recommendation. If you are happy paying more for a more established product with extra collaboration features and a longer track record, Simple Analytics is a credible alternative.
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