15 Recommended Web Analytics Tools | How to Choose and Key Comparison Points

"Web analytics tools" is a broad term. It splits roughly into two families: access-analytics tools that measure how users behave on your site, and scraping tools that automatically collect data from across the web. This article introduces both, organizing 15 tools by purpose, and explains the criteria for choosing the right one for your needs.

What Are Web Analytics Tools?

Web analytics tools is an umbrella term for tools that measure and collect data from websites and the wider internet to support improvement and decision-making. In practice they are used in two main families:

• Access-analytics tools: measure the number of users visiting your own site, their traffic sources, behavior, and conversions (e.g., GA4, Microsoft Clarity)
• Web data collection (scraping) tools: automatically extract data from other sites or public sources for price research, market analysis, list building, and more (e.g., Octoparse, Scrapy)

Both "analyze web data," but their purpose and approach differ. Identifying which one you actually need is the first step in choosing a tool.

How to Choose a Web Analytics Tool

To narrow down the many available tools, we recommend comparing them from the following five angles.

1. Fit with your purpose

Clarify whether you need "access analytics for site improvement" or "collection of external data." A different purpose changes the very category of tool you need.

2. Pricing model

Options range from free tools to high-end products costing tens of thousands of yen per month. Free tools are often enough, so trying a free option first is the standard approach.

3. Usability and required expertise

Some tools are intuitive and no-code, while others assume programming knowledge. Choose according to your team's skill level.

4. Range and accuracy of data collected

Check the depth you need, such as whether the tool captures heatmaps and session recordings, or whether it can handle dynamic sites generated with JavaScript.

5. Privacy and legal compliance

Measurement tools require compliance with regulations such as Japan's revised Telecommunications Business Act (external transmission rules), GDPR, and cookie consent. For scraping, consideration of the target site's terms of service and copyright is also essential.

[Access Analytics] 8 Recommended Web Analytics Tools

1. Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Price: Free

Google's free, go-to access-analytics tool. It comprehensively captures traffic sources, user attributes, conversions, and more. It is the most widely used worldwide, with abundant resources and books. On the other hand, many find "the setup and interface difficult," so beginners should anticipate a learning curve.

2. Microsoft Clarity

Price: Free

A completely free, unlimited-pageview user-behavior analysis tool from Microsoft. Its greatest appeal is free heatmaps and session recordings, and recently an AI (Copilot) feature for automatically summarizing recordings has been added. Used alongside GA4, it complements the "numbers" with "actual behavior."

3. Ptengine

Price: Free plan + paid

A tool that combines heatmaps, access analytics, A/B testing, and pop-up campaigns. With its intuitive UI, you can complete the loop from viewing data to launching measures in one place. A free plan is available.

4. User Insight

Price: Paid (quote-based)

A heatmap-equipped analytics tool from User Local. It visualizes read areas, exit areas, and click positions to provide hints for page improvement. Pricing is quote-based according to site scale.

5. SiTest

Price: Paid

An LPO (landing page optimization) tool operated by GLAD CUBE. It accurately identifies site issues through heatmap analysis and supports A/B testing and form improvement. Strong in CVR improvement.

6. Matomo

Price: Free (self-hosted) / paid cloud

An open-source access-analytics platform with capabilities equal to or beyond GA4. The self-hosted version is free and keeps your data fully under your own control. It has a track record as a migration destination for enterprises and government agencies with strict privacy requirements.

7. Plausible

Price: Paid (from $9/month)

A privacy-first, lightweight analytics tool that does not use cookies. Its script is under 1KB and no cookie consent banner is needed, reducing both display speed and consent burdens. Popular as a GA4 alternative for personal blogs through small and midsize sites.

8. Cloudflare Web Analytics

Price: Free

A cookieless analytics feature available for free if you have a Cloudflare account. It captures pageviews, unique visitors, major traffic sources, and Core Web Vitals. It is not suited to detailed conversion measurement, but is sufficient for grasping day-to-day traffic.

[Data Collection] 7 Recommended Web Scraping Tools

9. Octoparse

Price: Free plan + paid

A leading no-code scraping tool that requires no coding. You can extract structured data with click operations alone, and even run it around the clock in the cloud. It supports Windows, Mac, and Linux. A good first tool for beginners to try.

10. ParseHub

Price: Free plan + paid

A no-code desktop app focused on ease of use. You can specify data by clicking, and it handles complex sites that use JavaScript and AJAX. Output to Excel or via API is possible. A free plan is available.

11. Import.io

Price: Paid

A tool that extracts data simply by entering a URL. It includes a retry system and can automate handling of errors and access restrictions. Suited to periodic collection across large numbers of pages.

12. Bright Data

Price: Paid

A large-scale scraping platform used worldwide. It includes CAPTCHA avoidance and IP-block countermeasures, handling collection even from high-difficulty sites. Aimed at enterprise use.

13. Scrapy

Price: Free (OSS)

An open-source scraping framework built in Python. Highly flexible and suited to large-scale, continuous crawling. Programming knowledge is a prerequisite.

14. Beautiful Soup

Price: Free (OSS)

A Python library strong at parsing HTML/XML. It suits relatively simple extraction tasks and is used by being incorporated into custom Python scripts.

15. Selenium

Price: Free (OSS)

A tool that automates web browsers. It excels at retrieving content generated dynamically with JavaScript and at automating operations involving logins and clicks.

Points to Note When Using Web Analytics Tools

Check legal compliance for measurement tools

Measurement tools such as GA4 transmit user information externally. In Japan, the external transmission rules of the revised Telecommunications Business Act require disclosure of the tools used and their transmission destinations. If your audience includes overseas users, compliance with GDPR and cookie consent is also necessary. Do not introduce tools casually just because they are free; consider them alongside maintaining a privacy policy.

Respect terms of service and copyright for scraping

Scraping itself is not illegal, but it can become a problem if it is prohibited by the target site's terms of service, if it places excessive load on servers, or depending on how the collected data is used. Always check robots.txt, adjust the access interval, and consider the scope of use of collected data (copyright and personal information).

Combine tools rather than relying on just one

In practice, combinations are most effective, such as "grasp the numbers with GA4 and observe behavior with Clarity" or "cross-reference data collected with Octoparse against your own site's analysis." Understand each tool's strengths and use them complementarily.

Conclusion

Web analytics tools broadly divide into access-analytics tools that measure user behavior on your own site, and scraping tools that collect data from across the web. The efficient approach is to first separate your purpose, then start with free tools such as GA4, Microsoft Clarity, or Octoparse. Compare on the four points of price, usability, data depth, and legal compliance, and find the combination that fits your needs.