What are user journeys in web analytics?

User journeys show the actual page-to-page paths visitors take through your site — visualized as a Sankey (flow) diagram. Unlike basic pageview counts, journeys reveal navigation sequences: where visitors enter, which pages they visit next, and where they drop off. Pulse tracks this without cookies using aggregated session data.

Why don't Plausible and Fathom have user journey features?

Both tools prioritize simplicity and minimal data collection. Building flow visualization requires storing page sequences per session, which increases storage and processing costs significantly. Plausible's community has requested the feature since 2020 (GitHub Discussion #149), but it hasn't reached the roadmap. Fathom focuses on a single-page dashboard by design.

Does Google Analytics have user flow visualization?

GA4 offers "Path Exploration" in its Explorations tab, but it requires manual configuration of dimensions, metrics, and segments. Over 75% of SEOs report dissatisfaction with GA4 (Search Engine Roundtable, 2023), and the tool still requires cookie consent banners that lose 40-70% of EU visitor data.

Can you track user journeys without cookies?

Yes. Pulse aggregates page-to-page transitions from session data without setting any cookies or tracking individual users. The system processes pageview events in hourly batches, deduplicates reloads, and stores only aggregated transition counts — not individual user paths. No consent banner is needed.

How much does it cost to add user journey analytics to my site?

Running a privacy analytics tool ($9-15/mo) plus a behavior analytics tool like Hotjar ($99/mo) costs $108-214/mo. Matomo offers a paid User Flow plugin for EUR 94-282/year on top of hosting costs. Pulse includes built-in user journey visualization within its standard plans — no add-ons or separate tools required.