Simple Analytics
👤 Adriaan van Rossum (Privacy-obsessed dev who had the cookieless tool ready when EU regulators banned Google Analytics — then won trust by going open.)🌐 siteadriaan.io𝕏LinkedIn
When EU regulators ruled Google Analytics illegal, a solo Dutch dev already had the cookieless alternative built.
Will it work? · our read
Regulation sold it. They turned EU regulators' bans on GA into $600K ARR by being the compliant default — but the moat is timing and trust, not code. Clones below and a softening law both press in.
01How the money moves
Schrems II: EU DPAs rule Google Analytics illegal
→
Sites must drop GA, ditch the cookie banner
→
They subscribe: $19-99/mo, EU-hosted
02The numbers
$603K
ARR (live dashboard)
dashboard
1,331
paying customers
dashboard
$0
venture capital raised
founder
Every figure is self-reported on a live public dashboard, updated to the minute — not audited, but rare transparency. open dashboard
Live open dashboard: about $50K MRR, $603K ARR, 1,331 paying customers — self-reported, updated to the minute.
03Weight class — CENTStap an axis
Control Mid
Owns the product and brand, but sits under free Google and beside many clones — limited pricing power.
04The key move
No cookie banner
It stores zero personal data, hosted only in the EU. So customers can drop Google Analytics — ruled unlawful by EU regulators after Schrems II — and skip the cookie banner. The regulation itself is the pitch.
fact
The counter-intuitive move
In 2023 the EU-US Data Privacy Framework restored a legal basis for Google Analytics, softening the 'illegal' hook. Buyers now switch for privacy and simplicity as much as law.
our read
05Where the moat is
Thin technical moat; the real edge is trust and timing:
Cookieless by design — no consent bannerEU data residencyOpen startup: live public revenueRanks for 'Google Analytics alternative'
06How it diesmedium confidence
If regulators keep blessing Google, the 'GA is illegal' urgency fades and free Google wins on price, leaving Simple Analytics to fight a dozen clones on simplicity alone. our read
Show evidence · counter
Evidence: EU-US Data Privacy Framework adequacy decision (July 2023); Google certified under it, restoring a legal basis for GA data transfers.
Counter: NOYB is challenging the DPF in court; GA4's complexity keeps pushing switchers regardless of law; privacy is now a values purchase too.
07Against rivals
Free Google owns the top; the privacy trio splits the compliance-driven remainder. our read
08Who uses it
EU companies dropping GAPrivacy-first SaaSAgencies & freelancersContent & media sitesGDPR-wary teams
★Would it work for you?
Which regulation forces your buyer to switch by a deadline — and can you be the default answer before they shop?
Tailwinds you don't own can reverse (see the 2023 DPF). Build trust that outlasts the rule. We don't score you — you answer.
🚀Use it as a launchpada prompt for your own AI
Copy → paste into your AI → then develop it freely in the conversation.
You are a sharp, honest startup strategist. Use the proven case below as a launchpad for MY idea — help me find my own angle, not copy it.
<my_profile>
Domain I know: [your domain]
My unfair advantage (access/audience): [your edge]
Interests: [your interests]
Resources & goal: [your resources] · [your goal]
</my_profile>
<case name="Simple Analytics" model="saas">
What it does: A cookieless, EU-hosted analytics tool sold as the GDPR-safe replacement for Google Analytics.
Why it won (moat): Be the compliant default the moment regulators ban the incumbent — and prove trust by publishing every euro.
Weakest axis (CENTS): Free Google Analytics below; a dozen cookieless clones (Plausible, Fathom, Umami) alongside.
How it could die: Regulators re-bless Google (2023 Data Privacy Framework); legal urgency fades; price competition wins.
</case>
<task>
Be a skeptical operator, not a cheerleader. No generic startup platitudes. If my angle is weak, say so plainly.
First, a reality check: markets like this mostly fail. State the honest base rate (how crowded/hard is this?) and the ONE specific thing that would have to be true for ME to be the exception — grounded in my profile above.
Then a compact table:
- Fit — does this pattern suit my edge, or fight my gap?
- Angle — my sharpest differentiation vs Simple Analytics (concrete, not "better UX")
- Distribution — exactly where my first 100 users come from (this is the hardest part — be specific, not "content marketing")
- Risk — its "how it dies" (above) in MY situation
Finish with one line: "The single thing to do next."
Use only the facts above; if data is thin, say so — never invent numbers.
Then stay with me and go deeper on whatever I ask — tech stack, rough cost & time, the smallest MVP to test, pricing, or timing.
</task>
✓ Copied — paste into your AI
👤Placeholders like [your domain] auto-fill from your profile — example values for now.Set up profile →
Sourcesupdated · daily
dashboard.simpleanalytics.com/open — live revenue and customer countStarter Story — founder interview and origin storyadriaan.io — founder's own accountnoyb.eu — EU DPAs order stop of Google Analyticsplausible.io — analysis of the GA illegality rulings
Revenue is first-party STATED: Simple Analytics publishes a live open dashboard (about $50K MRR, $603K ARR, 1,331 paying customers at time of writing) — self-reported and not audited, but updated to the minute. The regulation tailwind is documented (Austria DSB Dec 2021, France CNIL Feb 2022, Italy Garante June 2022, all citing Schrems II). The 2023 EU-US Data Privacy Framework partly reversed that tailwind — flagged honestly in 'dies.' No fabricated numbers; rival weights are our estimate of mindshare, not measured share. We never score you.