Respectlytics Respect lytics
Start Free Trial
Menu
⚖️ Comparison Guide

The Privacy-Friendly
Firebase Alternative

Firebase Analytics collects IDFA, IDFV, and device identifiers by default. Respectlytics stores only 5 essential fields and rejects any request containing personal data.

Try Respectlytics → View Pricing

Quick Comparison

See the key differences at a glance

Feature
🔥 Firebase
Respectlytics Respectlytics
Custom Properties
✅ Unlimited PII risk
🛡️ Not allowed Minimized PII risk
Device IDs (IDFA/IDFV)
⚠️ Tracked by default Can be disabled
✅ Never stored By design
User Tracking
📝 User IDs + Device IDs Tracks individuals
✅ Session-based only No persistent user tracking
Privacy Compliance Complexity
⚠️ Higher Stores personal data
✅ Reduced No personal data retained server-side
Conversion Intelligence
🔧 Manual setup Define funnels
🤖 Automatic Auto-discovered
Session Analytics
📊 Basic Session count
📈 Comprehensive Session depth & patterns
Pricing
💰 Free With limits
💳 Pay as you grow Transparent pricing

Privacy Architecture

The fundamental difference in how user data is handled

🔥

Firebase Analytics

Google's mobile analytics platform

What Firebase Collects:

  • ⚠️
    IDFA

    Advertising identifier (can be disabled)

  • ⚠️
    IDFV

    Vendor identifier (can be disabled)

  • ⚠️
    Custom Properties

    Unlimited - PII leak risk

  • ��
    User IDs

    Encouraged for attribution

Privacy Implication: Device identifiers and user IDs are considered personal data in many jurisdictions. This may require consent banners and privacy policy disclosures depending on your market.

Respectlytics

Respectlytics

Privacy-first by architecture

Only 5 Fields Stored:

  • ✅
    event_name, timestamp

    Core event data

  • ✅
    platform

    Technical context (ios, android, web)

  • ✅
    country

    Country-level geolocation only

  • ⚡
    session_id

    2-hour rotating, RAM-only in SDKs

Privacy by Design: No device identifiers, no IP storage, no custom properties. Only 5 data fields are ever stored. This may reduce compliance complexity in many jurisdictions.

🛡️ How Respectlytics Enforces Privacy

analytics/privacy_guards.py 
# Strict allowlist - only these 5 data fields are stored (plus app_key for auth)
STORED_FIELDS = frozenset({
    'event_name',    # Required
    'timestamp',     # Optional timing
    'platform',      # ios, android, web
    'country',       # 2-letter ISO code
    'session_id',    # 2-hour rotating, RAM-only
})

# API rejects any request with extra fields
if unexpected_fields := request_fields - ALLOWED_FIELDS:
    raise PrivacyValidationError(
        code="DISALLOWED_FIELDS",
        reason=f"Custom fields not allowed: {unexpected_fields}"
    )

This strict allowlist makes it technically difficult to leak personal data through Respectlytics and is designed to prevent PII in analytics events. Any attempt to send custom properties is rejected with a clear error message.

Conversion Intelligence

Firebase requires manual funnel setup. Respectlytics discovers insights automatically.

🔥 Firebase Analytics

Manual configuration required for conversion insights

1.

Define conversion events

Manually select which events indicate conversion

2.

Set up funnels manually

Guess which event sequences matter

3.

Wait for data

24-48 hours for reports to populate

4.

Manual analysis

Interpret charts and draw conclusions yourself

Respectlytics Respectlytics

Automated discovery with zero configuration

✓

Auto-detect conversion events

Automatically identifies events that signal conversion

✓

Discover conversion paths

Shows most common sequences that lead to conversion

✓

Calculate lift scores

"+245% lift when users view feature_demo"

✓

Insights on day one

No waiting, no guesswork, no manual setup

When to Choose Each

Both platforms have their place. Here's our honest assessment.

🔥 Choose Firebase If:

  • • You need deep Google ecosystem integration (Ads, Cloud, etc.)
  • • You're already using Firebase Auth, Firestore, etc.
  • • You have a team dedicated to analytics configuration
  • • Privacy regulations don't apply (internal tools)
  • • Budget is absolutely zero (free tier sufficient)

Respectlytics Choose Respectlytics If:

  • • Privacy is a core value for your company
  • • You serve users in privacy-regulated markets
  • • You want automated conversion insights without manual setup
  • • You want to minimize personal data collection
  • • You value transparent, explainable analytics over black boxes

See also: Mixpanel vs Respectlytics • Amplitude vs Respectlytics

Ready to Go Privacy-First?

Join developers who choose transparent analytics over surveillance capitalism.

Get Started with SDKs → View Pricing
SDK Documentation • Contact Sales • Privacy Policy