Rybbit vs. Fathom
Compare the key features of Rybbit and Fathom.
Why choose Rybbit over Fathom?
 | Fathom | |
|---|---|---|
| Core Analytics Features | ||
| Simple dashboard | ||
| Real-time data | ||
| Live visitor counter | ||
| UTM/Campaign tracking | ||
| Custom events | With attributes | Basic |
| Conversion goals | ||
| Advanced Features | ||
| Session Replay | ||
| Funnels | ||
| User journeys (Sankey) | ||
| User profiles | ||
| Sessions tracking | ||
| Real-time globe view | ||
| Web Vitals dashboard | ||
| Error tracking | ||
| Privacy & Compliance | ||
| Cookie-free tracking | ||
| GDPR compliant | ||
| No consent banner needed | ||
| Daily rotating salt option | ||
| IP anonymization | ||
| Data stored in EU | ||
| Open Source & Transparency | ||
| Open source | ||
| Self-hostable | ||
| Code transparency | Full | None |
| License | AGPL v3 | Proprietary |
| User Experience | ||
| Beautiful UI | ||
| Public dashboards | ||
| Email reports | ||
| Technical & Performance | ||
| Script size | 18KB | 2KB |
| Bot filtering | ||
| API access | ||
| Tech stack | Typescript/ClickHouse | PHP/Singlestore |
| Pricing & Support | ||
| Free tier | 10k events | |
| Entry price | $19/mo | $15/mo |
| Customer support | ||
Understanding the Key Differences
Open Source vs Closed Source Philosophy
While Fathom shares our commitment to privacy and simplicity, they've chosen to keep their code proprietary and closed source. This fundamental difference matters. With Rybbit's open source approach (AGPL v3), you can inspect every line of code, verify our privacy claims, contribute improvements, or even self-host for complete control. Fathom requires you to trust their black box. We believe transparency builds trust, which is why our 8000+ GitHub stars represent a community that can see exactly how we handle their data. Open source isn't just a feature; it's a philosophy that aligns with the privacy-first movement both companies champion.
Beyond Basic Analytics
Fathom excels at simple web analytics, and they've built a solid product for content sites and blogs. But modern businesses need more than pageview counts and referrer data. Rybbit provides the advanced features that Fathom lacks: session replay to watch real user interactions, funnels to optimize conversion paths, user journeys to visualize flow patterns, detailed user profiles with session history, Web Vitals monitoring for performance tracking, and browser error tracking to catch issues. While Fathom tells you what happened, Rybbit shows you why it happened and how to improve it.
Built for Product Teams
Fathom was created by content creators for content creators, and it shows. Their features focus on blog analytics, newsletter tracking, and content performance. Rybbit is built for product teams who need deeper insights. Our session replay helps debug user issues. Our funnel analysis optimizes checkout flows. Our error tracking catches JavaScript exceptions. Our user profiles reveal behavior patterns. Our organization support manages multiple products and teams. If you're building a SaaS product, e-commerce platform, or web application, Rybbit provides the tools you actually need, not just the basics.
Modern Architecture, Modern Features
Fathom's Go and MySQL stack is solid but traditional. Rybbit leverages Next.js, TypeScript, and ClickHouse, the same database that powers analytics at Cloudflare and Uber. This modern architecture enables features Fathom can't match: real-time globe visualization, Sankey diagrams for user journeys, lightning-fast queries on massive datasets, and seamless React/Vue integration. Our 18KB script includes powerful features like session replay and error tracking. Yes, Fathom's script is smaller at 2KB, but you're trading essential functionality for marginal performance gains on modern networks.
Privacy Without Compromise
Both Rybbit and Fathom are privacy-first, cookie-free, and GDPR compliant. We both store data in EU servers and never sell user information. But Rybbit goes further with our daily rotating salt option for enhanced anonymization and our open source transparency. More importantly, we prove you can respect privacy while still providing powerful features. Session replay without cookies. User profiles without personal data. Detailed analytics without surveillance. Fathom chose to limit features in the name of simplicity. We chose to innovate within privacy constraints.
Accessible to Everyone
Fathom requires payment from day one, even for personal projects or testing. Their cheapest plan starts at $15/month with no free tier. Rybbit believes analytics should be accessible to everyone, offering 10,000 free events monthly, perfect for side projects, personal blogs, or evaluation. When you do upgrade, you get significantly more features for a comparable price. Both companies are bootstrapped and independent, but we've chosen to lower the barrier to entry. Great analytics shouldn't be limited to those who can afford it immediately.
The Power of Choice
With Fathom, you get what you get. No self-hosting option. No code transparency. No advanced features. It's a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Rybbit gives you choices. Run our cloud service for zero maintenance. Self-host for complete control. Use basic features for simple sites. Enable advanced features for complex applications. Contribute to our open source project. Build custom integrations with our API. Your analytics platform should adapt to your needs, not force you into a box. That flexibility is the difference between a simple tool and a comprehensive platform.
Try Before You Buy
Fathom offers a 7-day trial, but you need to implement tracking before seeing their interface. Rybbit provides a live demo with real data, letting you explore every feature immediately. See session replays in action. Test funnel analysis. Explore user journeys. Experience our beautiful UI. No credit card, no time limit, no pressure. We're confident that once you see what modern, privacy-friendly analytics can do, you'll understand why thousands of developers choose Rybbit. We're not just an alternative to Fathom; we're the evolution of what simple, powerful, privacy-first analytics should be.