Fathom is a privacy-first web analytics tool. PageGuard focuses on website health — performance, accessibility, technical SEO, and ADA compliance — free to start vs Fathom’s paid-only plans from $14/mo.
ADA Title II Deadline: April 24, 2026
State and local government websites must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Fathom does not audit accessibility. PageGuard monitors performance AND accessibility compliance continuously — alerting you before violations occur, with no JS snippet required.
| Feature | PageGuard | Fathom |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ✓ Free + from $9/mo | From $14/mo (100K monthly pageviews) — no free tier |
| Who is it for? | Small businesses, designers, agencies — automated site health monitoring | Privacy-conscious website owners who want simple, GDPR-compliant visitor analytics |
| Free tier | ✓ Yes — unlimited one-off scans, no signup required | No — paid plans only, 7-day trial available |
| Accessibility audit (WCAG / ADA) | ✓ Yes — WCAG 2.1 AA scored 0–100 with specific issue list | No — no accessibility auditing at all |
| Technical SEO audit | ✓ Yes — meta tags, headings, canonical, structured data | No — no technical SEO analysis |
| Performance audit (Core Web Vitals) | ✓ Yes — LCP, CLS, FCP scored 0–100 | No — no Core Web Vitals or performance auditing |
| Privacy-first analytics | No tracking (scans site from outside, no visitor data collected) | ✓ Yes — cookieless, GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliant, no personal data stored |
| Traffic & visitor analytics | No | ✓ Yes — pageviews, unique visitors, referrers, countries, devices, scroll depth |
| Requires JS snippet on site | ✓ No — scans any URL without code changes | Yes — Fathom tracking script must be added to every page |
| Automated site monitoring | ✓ Yes — weekly or daily scans, email alerts on score drop | No — no site health monitoring or performance alerts |
| Email alerts on score regression | ✓ Yes — notified when performance, SEO, or a11y drops | No — no health regression alerts |
| AI-generated plain-English report | ✓ Yes — explains issues in non-technical language | No — shows raw visitor and traffic metrics only |
| Shareable report URL | Yes — public link, no login required to view | Yes — public dashboard sharing available |
| ADA Title II compliance monitoring | ✓ Yes — WCAG audit + alert on accessibility regression | No — accessibility not covered |
| Multi-site support | Yes — 1–50 sites depending on plan | Yes — unlimited sites on all plans |
Performance + Accessibility + SEO + Best Practices in 30 seconds. No Fathom subscription or JS snippet needed.
Results in ~30 seconds. 4 scores: Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices.
For website health monitoring and ADA compliance, yes. PageGuard covers what Fathom doesn’t — WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility auditing, Core Web Vitals performance scoring, technical SEO analysis, and AI plain-English reports — all free to start. Fathom is a privacy-first visitor analytics tool starting at $14/month with no free tier. They solve different problems and can complement each other.
No. Fathom focuses on privacy-first visitor analytics — pageviews, unique visitors, referrers, and traffic sources — without cookies or personal data. It does not audit WCAG accessibility compliance. With the ADA Title II deadline on April 24, 2026, websites need dedicated accessibility monitoring. PageGuard provides WCAG 2.1 AA scoring and email alerts when accessibility regresses.
No — unlike Fathom, PageGuard scans any URL without requiring you to add code to your site. Just enter a URL and get Performance, Accessibility, SEO, and Best Practices scores in about 30 seconds. No installation, no tracking script, no code changes required.
Yes, they serve complementary purposes. Use Fathom for privacy-first visitor analytics — understanding who visits your site, where they come from, and which pages are popular, all without cookies or GDPR consent forms. Use PageGuard for site health monitoring — ensuring your pages meet performance, accessibility (WCAG/ADA), and SEO standards with automated alerts when scores drop.