Comparison of 6 free and paid mobile app analytics platforms

As a product manager or app developer, your priority should not only be to deliver an app that works well or has a nice design. You also need to understand your users in order to improve the app’s performance. That requires asking the right questions and getting insights that you can depend on. A mobile app analytics platform is the right tool to dig into the data.

Mobile app analytics is essential to your app development process for many reasons. It helps measure mobile app installations and downloads, as well as locate user exit points, collect data on the amount of time spent in an app, and construct funnel reports. 

This data can be then used by product, marketing and sales teams to improve user acquisition, engagement, retention or in-app purchases. Developers can use it to find inspiration for new functionalities.

That said, choosing the best analytics for your mobile app can be an overwhelming task.

Comparing 6 free and paid mobile app analytics platforms

Mobile app analytics platforms vary in terms of reporting features and available software development kits (SDK). Some vendors give you advanced analytics and support for cross-platform applications for free. Others offer this only in paid plans.

While few of those products specialize in app analytics, many are a part of modern web and mobile analytics platforms. Thanks to all-in-one platforms, you can analyze web and app data in one place for a comprehensive view of the customer journey. 

Another advantage is a shorter learning curve, as you don’t need to familiarize yourself with a new tool and its features. However, if your use case requires collecting data solely from mobile apps, an all-in-one platform might not be the right solution for you. 

To make choosing a platform easier for you, we’ve compared Mixpanel, Flurry Analytics, Google Analytics for Firebase, Countly, data.ai (App Annie) and Piwik PRO Analytics in free and paid plans.

See how they differ in terms of:

1. Mobile SDKs
2. Data collection flexibility
3. Data processing and connectivity
4. Reporting features 
5. Data anonymization
6. Data privacy and security 
7. Customer support

Here’s a general overview about the six platforms we’ve compared:

Data privacy: the right way to understand mobile experiences

Data is one of today’s greatest assets. Depending on geography or business domain, there may be some regulations you need to follow, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Data protection laws regulate how information is collected, how users are informed about data collection, and what control they have over their data. 

You must take data privacy and compliance into account when choosing the right mobile app analytics platform. Some platforms are privacy-friendly by default, but others may share your user’s data with third parties. 

When thinking about data privacy, there are two key points to consider:

1. Data residency – refers to the location of data within a particular region or country. For example, if you want to follow the rules of the GDPR, you might need a platform that allows you to store data on servers within the EU’s borders.
2. Better privacy often means better data – platforms with higher standards of anonymization allow you to collect data even in jurisdictions with strict privacy regulations.

See what popular mobile app analytics platforms have to offer when it comes to data privacy and compliance:

This comparison is based on the publicly available information gathered in February 2022.