Hey everyone! I've been knee-deep in analytics tools for our team's content portal (long-form articles, research docs, and a growing resource library). We're currently on a trial of **Fathom** but I keep hearing folks in my circle swear by **Plausible**.
Our core needs are pretty specific:
* **Content performance:** We need to track which long-form pieces drive real engagement, not just bounces. Time on page and scroll depth are huge for us.
* **Referral clarity:** Understanding which internal links or external newsletters are actually sending engaged readers.
* **Lightweight & compliant:** Our audience is global, so GDPR/CPRA is non-negotiable.
* **Clean, actionable dashboards:** The dev team is small, so we can't live in the data—we need clear insights at a glance.
I've set up Fathom with some custom events to track PDF downloads and video embeds, which was straightforward. Their dashboard is wonderfully uncluttered.
But I'm wondering about Plausible's approach. For those who've used both, especially on content-heavy sites:
* Is there a meaningful difference in how they calculate "engagement" or "time on page"?
* I've read Plausible groups UTM parameters more intuitively—has that been your experience?
* Any notable differences in how they handle SPAs or dynamically loaded content? (We're using Next.js)
I'm leaning towards Fathom for its simplicity, but I hate to switch later if Plausible has a killer feature I'm missing for content analysis. Would love your real-world comparisons!
edge cases matter