I can’t seem to add analytics as an add-on to my free plan. It only gives me the option to upgrade to a paid plan. But the pricing page implies that add-ons are available on the free plan:
Am I doing something wrong? I have to say I think this is super misleading if it’s not possible - I may not have even chosen Netlify to host if I’d known you couldn’t do this!
@mikeold-2008 When you say it’s only giving you the option to upgrade to a ‘Paid Plan’ is it listing the ‘Starter Plan’ or the 'Pro Plan or both?
While it’s definitely a little confusing, I don’t see anything that’s intentionally misleading.
If you check the pricing info it lists Analytics under ‘Add-ons for Starter’:
The ‘Free Plan’ is the newest of the plans, released late last year.
Previously only the ‘Starter Plan’ existed at that level.
Both have effectively the same limits, but the ‘Free Plan’ solves a very specific request Netlify were receiving, to have a plan that would ‘suspend instead of ever incurring a charge’.
Prior to the creation of the ‘Free Plan’ the ‘Starter Plan’ was sometimes erroneously called a ‘free plan’, since you aren’t charged any fees unless you exceed a limit or purchase an add-on.
Here’s a quick breakdown I provided around the time it was released:
If they’re asking you to be on the ‘Starter Plan’, then it does make sense, is how they want to sell their product and aligns with the details as advertised on the Pricing Page.
As a complete aside, and fair warning (since I’m unaffiliated with Netlify), you might want to confirm that Netlify Analytics is the right fit for you, before deciding to pay for it, (especially if it’s the only paid feature you’re interested in).
You can see various complaints and explanations for how it works in this thread:
https://answers.netlify.com/t/over-100x-more-views-in-netlify-analytics-than-google-analytics/15403/42
