Mobile Analytics Tools: 12 Best Options for App Marketers in 2025

Key Takeaways

• Firebase Analytics is free and sufficient for most apps
• Mobile attribution (AppsFlyer, Adjust) tracks paid acquisition sources
• Product analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude) track in-app behavior
• Most apps need 2-3 tools working together
• iOS 14.5+ changed attribution — SKAN compliance is essential

Types of Mobile Analytics

Before comparing tools, understand the three categories:

Most apps need at least one tool from each category:

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Basic Analytics Tools

1. Firebase Analytics (Best Free Option)

Price: Free

Firebase is Google's mobile app analytics platform, offering comprehensive free analytics.

Features:

• Unlimited event tracking
• User properties
• Audience segmentation
• Funnel analysis
• Retention cohorts
• Crash reporting (Crashlytics)
• A/B testing
• Google Ads integration

Pros:

• Completely free
• Deep Google Ads integration
• Real-time data
• Easy SDK implementation

Cons:

• Limited attribution
• Google ecosystem lock-in
• Complex for beginners
• Data export limitations

Best For: Apps with primarily Google-driven paid acquisition, startups needing free analytics.

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2. Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Price: Free

GA4 now supports mobile apps with enhanced measurement.

Features:

• Cross-platform tracking (web + app)
• Predictive metrics
• BigQuery integration
• Custom funnels
• Enhanced e-commerce

Pros:

• Unified web and app data
• Free BigQuery export
• Predictive audiences
• Strong attribution modeling

Cons:

• Learning curve
• Limited real-time
• Complex setup
• Data sampling at scale

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Mobile Attribution Tools (MMPs)

3. AppsFlyer

Price: Free tier available, paid plans from ~$0.05/attribution

AppsFlyer is the market leader in mobile attribution, trusted by major apps worldwide.

Features:

• Multi-touch attribution
• SKAdNetwork support
• Deep linking (OneLink)
• Fraud protection
• Audience sync
• Cost aggregation
• TV attribution

Pros:

• Industry standard
• Excellent fraud detection
• Comprehensive integrations
• Strong SKAN support

Cons:

• Expensive at scale
• Complex pricing
• Steep learning curve

Best For: Apps with significant paid acquisition budgets, enterprises.

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4. Adjust

Price: Custom pricing (similar to AppsFlyer)

Adjust offers robust attribution with strong fraud prevention.

Features:

• Attribution suite
• Fraud prevention
• Audience builder
• Deep linking
• Uninstall tracking
• Subscription tracking

Pros:

• Strong fraud protection
• Clean interface
• Good automation
• Flexible data access

Cons:

• Expensive
• Less market share
• Limited free tier

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5. Branch

Price: Free tier available, custom pricing for premium

Branch specializes in deep linking with attribution capabilities.

Features:

• Universal links
• Deep linking suite
• Attribution
• Referral tracking
• Email attribution
• Cross-platform links

Pros:

• Best deep linking
• Strong free tier
• Easy implementation
• Good documentation

Cons:

• Attribution less mature
• Limited fraud tools
• Smaller partner network

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6. Singular

Price: Custom pricing

Singular combines attribution with marketing analytics.

Features:

• Attribution
• Cost aggregation
• Creative analytics
• Fraud prevention
• ETL pipelines
• Marketing intelligence

Pros:

• Strong cost aggregation
• Creative analytics
• Good data warehousing
• Unified view

Cons:

• Complex setup
• Enterprise-focused
• Smaller ecosystem

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7. AdBid (Free Attribution)

Price: Included with AdBid subscription ($99+/mo)

AdBid offers mobile attribution at no additional per-event cost.

Features:

• Basic attribution
• Cross-platform tracking
• Campaign analytics
• ROAS reporting
• Ad management

Pros:

• No per-event fees
• Included with platform
• Simple setup
• Multi-platform

Cons:

• Less feature-rich than dedicated MMPs
• Newer to market
• Limited fraud detection

Best For: Apps already using AdBid for ad management, budget-conscious teams.

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Product Analytics Tools

8. Mixpanel

Price: Free tier (20M events/month), paid from $20/month

Mixpanel offers powerful behavioral analytics for understanding user journeys.

Features:

• Event tracking
• User flows
• Cohort analysis
• A/B testing
• Predictive analytics
• User profiles
• Unlimited segmentation

Pros:

• Powerful segmentation
• Real-time data
• Good free tier
• Easy implementation

Cons:

• Can get expensive
• Learning curve
• Event-based pricing

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9. Amplitude

Price: Free tier (10M events/month), Growth from $995/month

Amplitude focuses on product intelligence and user behavior.

Features:

• Behavioral analytics
• User journeys
• Predictive cohorts
• Recommendations
• Experiments
• Data governance

Pros:

• Deep analytics
• Strong visualization
• Good documentation
• Enterprise features

Cons:

• Expensive growth tier
• Complex for small teams
• Event limits on free

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10. Heap

Price: Free tier available, custom pricing for premium

Heap automatically captures all user interactions without manual event tracking.

Features:

• Auto-capture
• Retroactive analysis
• Session replay
• Funnel analysis
• Retention analysis
• Data definitions

Pros:

• No manual tracking
• Retroactive data
• Easy setup
• Session replays

Cons:

• Large data volumes
• Less precise control
• Can be overwhelming

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11. CleverTap

Price: Custom pricing

CleverTap combines analytics with engagement tools.

Features:

• Analytics
• Push notifications
• In-app messages
• Email campaigns
• User segmentation
• Personalization

Pros:

• All-in-one platform
• Strong engagement tools
• Good automation
• Regional support

Cons:

• Complex pricing
• Less specialized analytics
• Enterprise-focused

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12. Countly

Price: Free (self-hosted), cloud from $500/month

Countly offers open-source mobile analytics with privacy focus.

Features:

• Session analytics
• Event tracking
• Crash analytics
• Push notifications
• User profiles
• Revenue analytics

Pros:

• Self-hosted option
• Privacy compliant
• Transparent pricing
• Open source

Cons:

• Less polished
• Smaller community
• Limited integrations

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Tool Comparison Table

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Building Your Analytics Stack

For Startups (Budget-Conscious)

Firebase (free) + Branch (free tier) + Mixpanel (free tier)
Total Cost: $0

For Growth-Stage Apps

Firebase + AppsFlyer/Adjust + Amplitude
Total Cost: $1,000-5,000/month

For Enterprise

GA4 + AppsFlyer + Amplitude + Data Warehouse
Total Cost: $10,000+/month

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iOS 14.5+ Considerations

After iOS 14.5, mobile attribution changed dramatically:

What Changed:

• App Tracking Transparency (ATT) required
• IDFA access limited (~30% opt-in)
• SKAdNetwork for attribution
• Delayed, aggregated data

What to Look For:

• SKAN 4.0 support
• Probabilistic modeling
• Aggregated attribution
• First-party data integration

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Implementation Tips

1. Start with Events

Define your key events before implementing:

2. Track User Properties

• Acquisition source
• Subscription status
• User tier/segment
• Feature usage

3. Set Up Funnels

• Onboarding funnel
• Purchase funnel
• Feature adoption funnel

4. Configure Alerts

• Crash spike alerts
• Conversion drop alerts
• Retention warnings

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Conclusion

Mobile analytics is essential for app growth. Start with Firebase for free basic analytics, add an MMP if you have significant paid acquisition, and layer in product analytics as you grow.

The key is not having the most tools — it's having the right tools properly configured with events that matter to your business.

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