Fathom Analytics
Heap
| Feature | Fathom Analytics | Heap |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $14/mo | Free only |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | privacy-conscious-businesses, bloggers, saas-companies, agencies | product-teams, growth-teams, ux-researchers, data-analysts |
| Founded | 2018 | 2013 |
| Privacy First Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Event Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Domains | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Uptime Monitoring | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Capture | ✗ | ✓ |
| Retroactive Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Session Replay | ✗ | ✓ |
| Journey Mapping | ✗ | ✓ |
| Funnels | ✗ | ✓ |
| Retention | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Fathom Analytics Pros
- No cookie banners needed
- Beautiful simple dashboard
- Fast loading (single script)
- EU-isolation for European data
✗ Fathom Analytics Cons
- No free plan
- Limited segmentation compared to GA4
- No e-commerce tracking
✓ Heap Pros
- Auto-capture all events
- No code required for tracking
- Retroactive analysis possible
- Session replay included
✗ Heap Cons
- Expensive at scale
- Can be data-overwhelming
- Slower than event-based tools
The Verdict
Fathom Analytics is built for privacy conscious businesses and bloggers, with a focus on privacy-first-analytics and event-tracking. Heap targets product teams and growth teams and leads with auto-capture and retroactive-analytics.
Heap uses custom enterprise pricing, while Fathom Analytics starts at $14/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Heap has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Fathom Analytics requires a paid subscription from day one.
Bottom line: Fathom Analytics has a slight overall edge — but if auto-capture all events matters most to you, Heap may still be the right call.