Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Piwik

1.4K
515
+ 1
74
Snowplow

131
171
+ 1
35
Add tool

Piwik vs Snowplow: What are the differences?

## Introduction
In web analytics, Piwik and Snowplow are two popular tools used to track and analyze data on websites. However, there are key differences between the two that impact their functionality and usage.

1. **Data Collection Method**: Piwik collects data using JavaScript tags on websites, similar to traditional analytics tools, while Snowplow collects data via trackers that can be implemented across various platforms and languages, allowing for more flexibility and customization in data collection.

2. **Data Ownership**: Piwik allows users to host data on their own servers, providing complete control and ownership over the data collected. In contrast, Snowplow offers the option to host data on cloud-based services, which may raise data privacy and security concerns for some users.

3. **Scalability**: Snowplow is designed to handle large volumes of data and high levels of customization, making it more suitable for enterprises or organizations with complex analytics needs. Piwik, on the other hand, may not scale as effectively for big data analytics.

4. **Open Source vs. Commercial**: Piwik is an open-source tool with a free version available, while Snowplow offers both open-source and commercial versions with additional features and support. The choice between the two may depend on budget constraints and the need for specialized features.

5. **Data Schema and Enrichment**: Snowplow allows users to define and customize data schemas for detailed event tracking and enrichment, providing more flexibility in analyzing complex data sets. Piwik offers predefined data structures that may limit the depth of analysis possible.

6. **Real-time Data Processing**: Snowplow supports real-time data processing, enabling immediate insights into website activity. Piwik offers real-time tracking as well, but there may be slight delays in data processing compared to Snowplow.

In Summary, Piwik and Snowplow differ in their data collection methods, ownership models, scalability, source availability, data schema flexibility, and real-time processing capabilities, providing users with options to choose based on their specific analytical needs and preferences.
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Piwik
Pros of Snowplow
  • 35
    It's good to have an alternative to google analytics
  • 27
    Self-hosted
  • 10
    Easy setup
  • 2
    Not blocked by Brave
  • 0
    Great customs
  • 7
    Can track any type of digital event
  • 5
    First-party tracking
  • 5
    Data quality
  • 4
    Real-time streams
  • 4
    Completely open source
  • 4
    Redshift integration
  • 3
    Snowflake integration
  • 3
    BigQuery integration

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Piwik
Cons of Snowplow
  • 2
    Hard to export data
    Be the first to leave a con

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    - No public GitHub repository available -

    What is Piwik?

    Matomo (formerly Piwik) is a full-featured PHP MySQL software program that you download and install on your own webserver. At the end of the five-minute installation process, you will be given a JavaScript code.

    What is Snowplow?

    Snowplow is a real-time event data pipeline that lets you track, contextualize, validate and model your customers’ behaviour across your entire digital estate.

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use Piwik?
    What companies use Snowplow?
    See which teams inside your own company are using Piwik or Snowplow.
    Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

    Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

    What tools integrate with Piwik?
    What tools integrate with Snowplow?

    Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

    What are some alternatives to Piwik and Snowplow?
    Google Analytics
    Google Analytics lets you measure your advertising ROI as well as track your Flash, video, and social networking sites and applications.
    Mixpanel
    Mixpanel helps companies build better products through data. With our powerful, self-serve product analytics solution, teams can easily analyze how and why people engage, convert, and retain to improve their user experience.
    Matomo
    It is a web analytics platform designed to give you the conclusive insights with our complete range of features. You can also evaluate the full user-experience of your visitor’s behaviour with its Conversion Optimization features, including Heatmaps, Sessions Recordings, Funnels, Goals, Form Analytics and A/B Testing.
    Open Web Analytics
    It is open source web analytics software that you can use to track and analyze how people use your websites and applications. It provides website owners and developers with easy ways to add web analytics to their sites using simple Javascript, PHP, or REST based APIs.
    Adobe Analytics
    It is a web analytics service used in the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of web data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. It makes hard things easy. Its AI and machine learning brings hidden opportunities and answers to everyone with the click of a button.
    See all alternatives