Independent Analytics vs PureMetrix

Independent Analytics keeps its data in your WordPress database. PureMetrix is a cookieless service hosted in the EU, connected to WordPress through a plugin. The choice: keep everything on your own server, or let a hosted service do the work.

Where the data is stored

Plugins with a local database write every visit to MySQL on your own site. PureMetrix sends visits to its EU servers at Hetzner (optionally through the /px proxy on your own domain). So backups and data retention are handled by different people.

How privacy works

PureMetrix: no visitor cookie, a random value (salt) that changes daily, staff exclusion by role, a DPA (data processing agreement).

Local plugins can also be privacy-friendly; read what they say about cookies and data retention carefully. Local does not automatically mean cookieless.

Multiple sites and agencies

PureMetrix brings many client sites together in one login, with dashboards you can share by link. Tools with a local database keep each site on its own island unless you build reports yourself.

WooCommerce

PureMetrix can record purchases on the server when the thank-you page is reached. Check how any local plugin records shop sales before you promise a client revenue dashboards.

Choose local when

Hosted analytics services are not allowed.
Raw visit data must be part of the same database backups as your site.
A single small site only needs simple counts.

Choose PureMetrix when

You want a hosted EU service without your database unexpectedly growing.
Your agency needs an overview of all client sites and shareable dashboards.
A proxy on your own domain and a script under 3 KB are on your wish list.

Local MySQL vs EU hosting

Plugins like Independent Analytics keep visit data in the WordPress database. That helps when your company does not allow hosted services, or backups must include statistics alongside your posts. But then you are responsible for growing tables, deleting old data and combining reports across sites.

PureMetrix processes data in the EU (Hetzner), with a connection to your WordPress admin, shareable dashboards, the optional /px proxy and server-side WooCommerce purchases. Choose local when the data must stay on the same server; choose PureMetrix when you want cookieless analytics without looking after MySQL.

A simple test

Ask: must every visit be in the same database backup as your content? If yes, local wins. If you need dashboards across all your clients and tracking that is less affected by ad blockers, the hosted service wins. Don’t decide based on a feature checklist alone.

Estimating the effort

Local database: estimate how fast the tables grow with your traffic, how old data gets deleted, how much larger backups become, and who gets called when the database is full. Hosted service: estimate the plan based on pageviews, the time to review the DPA, and whether shareable dashboards save you manual reporting hours.

PureMetrix wins when agency time and protection against ad blockers matter more than keeping visit data next to your posts. A local plugin like Independent Analytics wins when your legal team says “same server or nothing.”

Don’t run both forever

Running both tools forever without deciding which one counts doubles the work. Let them overlap while you switch, then pick one. Management should see a single conversion chart in the weekly report.

Backups and data retention

Local plugins depend on your hosting backups—great for restoring everything at once, painful when a backup is broken. With PureMetrix, retention follows the plan and the DPA; you never restore statistics from a blog backup. Pick the risk you prefer and write it down for your clients.

Agencies with many websites

Twenty client sites on local plugins means twenty separate databases to look after. PureMetrix brings them together in one cookieless service, with a separate key per site and shareable dashboards. Choose local only if each client contract rules out hosted services—and charge for the extra maintenance in your retainer.

When something goes wrong

If a local database fills the disk, your hosting admin has to step in. If the hosted service has a problem, the provider handles it and informs you as set out in the DPA. Pick the setup you can actually support. Agencies without round-the-clock database support usually prefer the hosted option for client analytics.

For clients leaving local plugins, export final CSV files for their records, even if they use PureMetrix from now on.

Estimate how much your biggest client’s database will grow before choosing local storage; a busy WooCommerce shop can quietly outgrow cheap shared hosting.

Backup plugins that skip large statistics tables can leave you with restores that have no history; with PureMetrix, your history does not depend on your site backups.

Not on WordPress? Same cookieless product via the HTML snippet, Shopify, or Next.js.