If you have already created your web application, it’s time to start obtaining metrics about it. How many times your app was downloaded? What is your audience and target country? How exactly your application is being used? How much money are you making on it? All these questions, and many others, may be answered with the help of mobile app analytics tools.
There is an interesting post of Dave McClure, which explains which key metrics startups should be aware of. All these rules are actual for mobile applications as well. So-called AARRR! concept consists of the following 5 components and in terms of app analytics may be interpreted in the following way:
- Acquisition – points at the channels your users came from
- Activation – points at the percentage of customers with happy experience
- Retention – it lets you know how many your clients open your app after downloading it
- Referral – it lets you know whether they liked it enough to share with their friends
- Revenue – gives you understanding of whether such behavior may be monetized
Some of these metrics may be measured by the number of app downloads and revenue you get. However, to advance your product to the limit, you need to keep track of the right things and be able to quickly obtain the data. How easy is it to find the best mobile analytics tool? Check our mobile app analytics comparison below.
Best mobile analytics tools
1. Google Analytics for Mobile Apps
Our mobile app analytics comparison could not go without Google Analytics. It’s a free service, suitable for iOS and Android platforms. It allows having reports, organized in various categories:
- Acquisitions – information about new users;
- Users – newly obtained and the ones that got back, their country, language etc.;
- Engagement – event tracking similar to web site one with reports on speed, crashes etc.;
- Outcomes – allows setting up your goal and watching its flow, as well as your objectives’ conversion.
If you use Google Analytcis for your web tracking, it will make sense to continue with this tool for your mobile products as well.
Pros:
- Event tracking
- Measurement Protocol
- Lifetime value and retention analysis
- Customization of data collection and report creation
- Constant development and enhancement
- If you already got acquainted with Web Google Analytics, mobile version would be very easy to cope with
Cross platform connection with other Google products (i.e., AdMob for monetarization of your apps; Google Play for tracking conversions) - Customization of data collection and report creation
- Constant development and enhancement
Cons:
- It is in beta now
- It doesn’t have iTunes integration.
2. MixPanel
It’s a freemium service, available for iOS and Android apps. It offers solutions for both web and mobile app analytics. MixPanel provides event-based analytics tools, tracking such events as creation of account, purchase, sharing, upgrade, etc.
Pros:
- Real-time data
- Funnel analysis
- Cohort and in-depth analysis for tracking retention of customers. MixPanel gives you tools to see how often your clients return and engage with the app
- Building complex queries on the base of events and demographics
- Understanding of Retention statistics
Cons:
- No advanced features for user acquisition
- Free version gives limited amount of data points
25K of data points are provided for free; if you need more, 500K of data points may be purchased at $150 per month, and 20,000,000 data points would cost you $2,000.
3. Countly
Countly analytcis tool provides mobile and web analytics for a wide variety of platforms, like: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Apple Watch, Mac OS X, Unity3D and Flash. You get information on:
- Users and Users Loyalty;
- Sessions and Session Frequency;
- Countries;
- Devices and App Versions;
- Carriers and Platforms.
Pros:
- Up to 10K of sessions and events are provided for free
- Easy-to-use and responsive user interface
- Real-time analytics
- Open Source – you may host it at your own server
- User-permission management
- Affordable prices for paid accounts (starting from $60 per month)
- Email and forum support
- 20% discount for startups, teachers and students
Cons:
- were not identified
4. Flurry Analytics
Flurry free tool is provided by Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite, and is mostly focused on user acquisition. With it, you can create up to 10 customized dashboards and obtain information about active users, their retention, sessions’ length and frequency, audience persona and demographic. Also Flurry provides you with info about users’ devices, firmware versions and errors. It supports the following platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Java ME.
Pros:
- Complete mobile analytics tool
- Creation of conversion funnels
- User paths
- Uncomplicated reports on conversion metrics.
Cons:
- No cohort analysis
- No real-time analytics data
- Requires a lot of clicks to get the information
5. Apsalar
Apsalar is claimed to provide the most complete and diversified analytics package for mobile marketers. Considering that it’s free, it is very attractive for gathering metrics on iOS and Android apps. It offers metrics of installations, clicks, ROI, revenue, and in-app events.
Pros:
- unlimited event and attribution tracking
- funnel and cohort analysis
- Possibility to segment users on the bae of events, funnels and cohorts
- Customizable dashboard
- Social sharing
- Good support
Cons:
- No information about pricing on site. You need to contact support to know the details.
6. Localytics
Localytics is considered to be one of the largest companies in the industry. Providing web and mobile analytical tools, this freemium service gives you primal tools to view number of users or sessions. Localytics supplies you with reports on application’s usage and reports on location, carrier, device and application’s version. It supports iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and HTML5 platforms.
Pros:
- A/B testing
- Retention reports based on segments and cohorts
- Funnel
- In-app messaging
- Push-messaging and
- Life-time value tracking
- LTV measuring
Cons:
- Lack of export feature (in particular, no Excel format support).
7. AppSee
AppSee is paid service, available for iOS and Android. This app analytical suite has a peculiar feature: it captures app’s user experience on video for further analysis. AppSee provides fully integrated online dashboard, which gives reports on single experience or on multiple sessions at a time.
Pros:
- Unique approach
- Session recording and playback
- Crash recordings
- Touch heat maps
- In-app analytics
- Automatic creation of events based on users’ interaction with app
- Discounts for start ups
- Free 14-days trial
Cons:
- No transparency as for pricings and upgrading accounts
Thus, there is a wide range of choice. While making mobile analytics comparison, remember that that it may be rational to use different mobile app analytics tools for different applications. Also, opt for app analytic tool that would satisfy the objectives of the specific app. Make mobile analytics serve you right!