Websites using Snowplow Analytics

Okay, let s break down Snowplow Analytics, covering its overview, potential revenue, alternatives, pricing, and customer care.

What is Snowplow Analytics?

• Overview: Snowplow is a powerful, open-source data collection and behavioral data platform. Unlike traditional web analytics tools (like Google Analytics) that operate in a black box way, Snowplow gives you complete ownership and control of your data.

  • It allows you to track a vast range of events across various digital touchpoints (websites, mobile apps, servers, IoT devices, etc.) using a customizable tracking schema.
  • The data collected is streamed in real-time to your own data warehouse (e.g., Amazon S3, Redshift, Google BigQuery, Snowflake).
  • This raw, granular data enables you to perform advanced analytics, build custom dashboards, train machine learning models, and create highly personalized experiences for your users.

• Key Features:

  • Event Tracking: Tracks user interactions with your digital products. Highly customizable event schemas to fit your specific needs.
  • Data Modeling: Define how your events should be structured and validated.
  • Real-Time Data Streaming: Data is streamed to your data warehouse in real-time.
  • Data Warehouse Integration: Integrates with popular cloud data warehouses.
  • Identity Stitching: Unify user data across different devices and platforms.
  • Open Source & Customizable: Gives you full control over your data and infrastructure.
  • GDPR Compliance: Designed with privacy and compliance in mind.
  • Webhooks: Allows you to trigger actions in other systems based on Snowplow events.

Potential Revenue (for Snowplow Analytics the company)

Snowplow Analytics (the company behind the open-source project) generates revenue through a commercial offering, usually referred to as Snowplow BDP (Behavioral Data Platform).

• Commercial Offering (Snowplow BDP):

  • Managed Service: Snowplow handles the infrastructure, maintenance, and upgrades. This is the primary revenue driver. They offer different tiers with varying levels of support and features.
  • Support and Training: Enterprise-level support, training, and consulting services.
  • Additional Features: The commerical version might include premium features around governance, security, and data quality beyond what s in the open-source version.

• Revenue Estimation: Estimating their exact revenue is difficult as it s not publicly disclosed. However, considering the size of their team, customer base (which includes large enterprises), and the pricing models of similar data platforms, it s likely in the tens of millions of dollars annually. It s safe to assume they target large companies with significant data analytics needs and budgets.

Alternatives to Snowplow Analytics

There are several alternatives, ranging from simpler, more user-friendly tools to other platforms that offer similar levels of control and customization. The best choice depends on your specific needs, technical expertise, and budget.

• Traditional Web Analytics Tools:

  • Google Analytics 4 (GA4): The successor to Universal Analytics. Easier to set up than Snowplow, but offers less data ownership and customization. Good for basic website analytics.
  • Adobe Analytics: A powerful, enterprise-level web analytics platform. Similar to Google Analytics but with more advanced features. Still less control than Snowplow.

• Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): CDPs centralize customer data from various sources. Some offer similar behavioral tracking capabilities.

  • Segment: A popular CDP that simplifies data collection and routing. Easier to use than Snowplow, but more expensive and less customizable.
  • mParticle: Another leading CDP with a focus on mobile data.
  • Tealium: An enterprise-level CDP with robust data governance features.

• Open Source Alternatives:

  • Matomo (formerly Piwik): An open-source web analytics platform that gives you more control over your data than Google Analytics. Easier to set up than Snowplow but less flexible.
  • Countly: An open-source mobile and web analytics platform.

• Other Behavioral Analytics Platforms:

  • Mixpanel: A product analytics platform focused on understanding user behavior within your product.
  • Amplitude: Another product analytics platform with advanced features for cohort analysis and user journey mapping.

Pricing

• Open Source: The core Snowplow platform is open source and free to use. However, you need to provide your own infrastructure (data warehouse, servers, etc.) and have the technical expertise to set up and maintain it.

• Snowplow BDP (Commercial Offering): Pricing is typically based on:

  • Event Volume: The number of events tracked per month.
  • Storage: The amount of data stored in your data warehouse.
  • Features: The specific features and level of support included in your plan.

  Due to the custom nature of pricing, it s best to contact Snowplow directly for a quote. Expect it to be a significant investment, typically targeted at companies with substantial data needs.

Customer Care Details

• Open Source Community:

  • GitHub: The Snowplow repository is on GitHub. You can find documentation, contribute to the code, and ask questions in the issue tracker.
  • Discourse Forum: Snowplow has a community forum where you can ask questions and connect with other users.
  • Slack: They also have a Slack community.

• Snowplow Analytics (Company):

  • Dedicated Support Teams: Customers of Snowplow BDP receive dedicated support from Snowplow s support team. The level of support depends on the chosen pricing tier.
  • Documentation: They provide comprehensive documentation for their commercial products.
  • Training and Consulting: They offer training and consulting services to help you get the most out of Snowplow.
  • Account Management: Enterprise customers typically have dedicated account managers.
  • Website: https://snowplow.io/ You can find contact information and request a demo on their website.

In summary:

Snowplow is a powerful data collection platform that gives you complete control over your data. It s a good choice for organizations that need advanced analytics capabilities and are willing to invest in the infrastructure and expertise required to set it up and maintain it. The commercial version simplifies things with a managed service. If you just need basic web analytics, simpler tools like Google Analytics or Matomo may be a better fit. If you need a centralized customer data platform, consider Segment or mParticle.