Differences between Viewtracker and "Analytics for Confluence" by Atlassian

This is a direct feature comparison of bitvoodoo's app "Viewtracker - Analytics for Confluence" and Atlassian's "Analytics for Confluence" for Data Center & Cloud Premium/Enterprise (as of 2023).

📖 Read the full feature comparison on our blog

➡️ Read about feature differences between Viewtracker Data Center and Cloud in the documentation

Difference in availability:

bitvoodoo's Viewtracker is available for Cloud and Data Center.
"Analytics for Confluence" is only available for Data Center and Cloud Premium & Enterprise.

Abbreviations:

VT: Viewtracker

CA: Confluence Analytics

DC: Data Center

Confluence Tracking

Many metrics can be tracked in Confluence. This table compares which specific features can be tracked by Viewtracker Cloud/Data Center and which by Confluence Analytics Cloud/Data Center.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Tracking of page, blog post, and attachment views
Tracking of content creations, edits and deletions
Tracking of Confluence searches
Tracking of mentions
Tracking of likes on content
Tracking of likes on comments
Tracking of visit sources
Tracking of Space Directory, Calendars, Team Pages, etc.
Tracking of 3rd-party apps (Scroll Viewport, Cosmos, Linchpin, Refined etc.)
Tracking of Confluence content viewed through Jira Service Management help desks (knowledge base)
Tracking of Confluence content viewed through the Mobile app

This table helps you identify which tools align with your company’s data privacy policies and guidelines. For additional information on data privacy and compliance, visit our Security & Trust page.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Track views from Confluence users. For publicly available content: track views from anonymous visitors
Access control of reports
Limit access to Confluence user analytics data for specific user groups
Track Confluence interactions without exact user information (Anonymize tracked user data)
Track the number of views only without user information or unique viewers count (extended privacy mode)
Exclude specific user groups or user from tracking
Exclude specific spaces from tracking
Set data retention period
Audit log for changes in data privacy & settings

Standard Reports and KPIs

Here is a comparison of Standard Reports offered by the respective apps and Confluence KPIs that can be tracked.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Popular Spaces
Popular Content			On space level only	On space level only
Most active readers/viewers
Most active contributors
Summary of most important metrics: all views, viewers, new content, edits etc.
Report on global level
Report on a space level
Report of individual content piece
Report of other available URLs and third-party apps (Dashboards, company hubs, Cosmos, Mantra, etc).
Report of instance activity (busiest time, storage status, etc,. “System Reports” below)
Line/bar/area chart with views, creations and edits
Line/bar/area chart with viewers, contributors, comments and content versions
Line/bar/area chart with engaged users, likes on content, likes on comments.
List report of all spaces
List report of all contents
List report of all users
User audit
Page Actions (delete, archive, access page history etc. directly from the reports)
KPIs for administrators to manage Confluence licenses and storage (see “System Reports” below)

Filters in Reports

Filters help you to understand your data better. See which filters are offered in the respective app solution.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Filter by content type
Filter by content status
Filter by Label
Filter views by source (JSM, Confluence App, Scroll Viewport etc.)
Filter by CQL queries
Filter for Confluence users vs Anonymous users
Filter for space type (exclude personal spaces)
Filter to list only spaces/content with or without views, with or without edits, newly created etc.
Filter by Space status

System Reports for Confluence and space administrators

Viewtracker provides a comprehensive view of instance-wide usage and activity, making it an invaluable tool for administrators by providing support towards more informed decision-making and efficient instance management.

The table below compares the instance reporting features of Viewtracker (Cloud/DC) and Confluence Analytics (Cloud/DC).

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Total number of users per space and in the entire instance
Number of active and inactive users
Total number of spaces			Via Mission control (Premium/Enterprise)
Number of viewed spaces compared to total spaces
Total number of Pages/blog posts per space and in the entire instance			Via Mission control (Premium/Enterprise)
Number of view pages compared to non-viewed
Total number of attachments
Number of viewed attachments compared to total attachments
Attachment storage per space and in the entire instance
Graphs to visualize the total number of content across time			Via Mission control (Premium/Enterprise)
Graphs to visualize changes over time for active users, bandwidth usage, attachments, content, and spaces.
Heatmap to display active and quiet periods in the entire instance or specific space
Top spaces based on storage increase, active users, new pages, and newly added attachments.
Content inventory to include content without any tracked views in the reports
List of existing public links and their views			Via Mission control (Premium/Enterprise)

Data export

The export of data can be very useful when you need to present insights about Confluence usage to management.

Feature

Viewtracker

Confluence Analytics

Cloud

Data Center

Cloud

Data Center

Export reports to CSV

API

Data Import

Data import allows you to analyze views that happened before the app’s installation

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Import views by using Cloud Migration Assistant		n/a		n/a
Manual import of views (for on-premise to on-premise migration)
Import views tracked by Analytics for Confluence

Attachments

Compare the app's capabilities regarding the tracking of attachments.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Report for attachment views
Report for attachment creations, edits and deletions
Filter by Content Status
Filter by viewed / not viewed attachments (via the Content & Usage Report with content type filter: attachment)
Multiple graphic chart styles (line, bar, area)
Attachment report on a global level
Attachments - global level: Changes over time for attachment number, bandwidth usage, and storage size growth (see “System Reports”)
Attachment report on a space level
Attachments - space level: Changes across time for Attachment storage, attachment bandwidth, storage growth (see “System Reports”)
Report on a content level
Exclude file formats from tracking

Confluence Searches

Confluence searches are a powerful tool for understanding user behavior. By analyzing search terms, you can optimize page titles and content to align with user needs, ensuring they quickly find what they’re looking for.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Report of all search terms, number of searches and searchers
Popular Searches
Click-through rate
Most-clicked content and spaces
Number of search results for each search term
Multiple graphic chart styles (line, bar, area)
Detection of keywords made to Atlassian Intelligence and Rovo

Macros

With macros, you can showcase the data on the Confluence page or in the space you are working on.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Analytics Report: Chart – Displays selected metrics (e.g., likes, views, comments) as Line, Bar, or Area Charts.
Analytics Report: Tiles –Displays selected metrics in the shape of tiles.
Analytics Report: Text – Displays selected metrics in text fields.
Viewtracker macro Used to track and display metrics. It is now replaced by the macros above.		DEPRECATED
Viewtracker Report macro Used to display a specific page’s view count and viewer list. It is now replaced by the macros above.		DEPRECATED
Popular Content macro Used to display the top content of a space.	REPLACED This macro has been updated to the Tab Wizard version.	DEPRECATED

⏲️ Options for Performance Improvements on-premise

These features are pure Data Center features. They ensure that the performance of the on-premise Confluence instance is not put under too much strain.

Feature	Viewtracker		Confluence Analytics
	Cloud	Data Center	Cloud	Data Center
Report Caching
Batch insertion of tracked data into the database
Data Retention
Event Retention (Max number of events to retain)
Max. simultaneous reports
Max. simultaneous concurrent sessions
List of running queries Detect and, if necessary, stop any running query.