Friendly
Friendly is a bootstrapped Swiss software company that provides privacy-first web analytics (built on Matomo) and marketing automation (built on Mautic) to 190+ Swiss and EU organizations—particularly banks, insurers, healthcare providers, government agencies, and SMEs—that require nFADP/GDPR compliance and data hosted exclusively in Switzerland.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersHergiswil, Switzerland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Friendly does
Friendly is a Swiss software company founded in 2020 by Stefan Vetter that provides privacy-first web analytics (Friendly Analytics) and marketing automation (Friendly Automate) as alternatives to Google Analytics and HubSpot. Both products are built on mature open-source foundations—Matomo for analytics and Mautic for marketing automation—with the company layering custom UI refinements, configuration, deployment, and compliance expertise. The platform serves Swiss and EU-based organizations, with primary traction in highly regulated sectors (banking, insurance, healthcare, government) plus SMEs and NGOs that require strict nFADP and GDPR compliance and true data sovereignty. ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 9001:2015 certified, with the 'swiss made software' and 'swiss hosting' labels, Friendly hosts all customer data exclusively on private Swiss servers operated by Infomaniak, Netstream, and hoststech.
The company operates an enterprise field sales motion combined with self-serve SaaS signup and a 13-partner Swiss agency referral network. Revenue is generated through monthly recurring subscriptions tied to usage metrics—Hits for analytics and Contacts for marketing automation—plus hourly or fixed-price consulting services. Pricing tiers include Friendly Analytics Essential, Professional, and Enterprise plans; Friendly Automate was moved to an enterprise-only acquisition model in spring 2025. Enterprise contracts include custom DPA, DORA, NDA, and SLA agreements with unique login URLs. Distribution combines direct sales (new Swiss Federal Administration subscription in Q1 2026), the agency's channel (VASS, Unic and others), and a Deutsche Post technology integration enabling automated print mailing from Friendly Automate workflows. CEO Stefan Vetter, COO/CCO Lukas Sigel, CMO/CISO Kathrin Schmid, and CTO József 'Joey' Keller lead a fully remote team of 8–10 people distributed across Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Slovenia.
Friendly is bootstrapped and founder-owned with no external investors. As of 2025 the company reported CHF 482,855 in total revenue (up from CHF 26,823 in 2020, an 18× expansion), MRR of CHF 34,526 at year-end (46% YoY growth), Total Recurring Revenue of CHF 340,386, and 190+ active customers. Profitability has been achieved monthly since February 2024, with cumulative profit of CHF 33,313 and a 12% annual profit margin in 2025. Named customers include Swiss Federal Administration, Kanton Zürich, Swiss private banks, Branchen Versicherung, Hannover Re, Pierre Fabre, bofrost*suisse, Bürgenstock Collection, Zollikerberg Hospital, ANAXAM, blindekuh, and ZeroWaste Switzerland; the Mautic open-source project itself became a customer in December 2025.
Friendly firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Friendly
- Legal name
- Friendly LLC
- Website
- https://friendly.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Friendly is a bootstrapped Swiss software company that provides privacy-first web analytics (built on Matomo) and marketing automation (built on Mautic) to 190+ Swiss and EU organizations—particularly banks, insurers, healthcare providers, government agencies, and SMEs—that require nFADP/GDPR compliance and data hosted exclusively in Switzerland.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Friendly industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Web Analytics and Marketing Automation Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Marketing Automation Platforms & Services (BPAFAFAC)
Keywords
Where Friendly is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hergiswil
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Friendly business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Subscriptions (MRR): Monthly recurring revenue from software subscriptions. Friendly Analytics priced by number of Hits (page views, events, downloads, outlink clicks, onsite searches, content calls). Friendly Automate priced by number of Contacts (people with stored contact info, excluding anonymous contacts and DNC-flagged inactive contacts). No minimum contract terms — cancel with 30 days notice.
- Consulting Services: Hourly or fixed-price consulting for individual problem-solving and custom implementations. Represents significant revenue (122,191 CHF in 2024, 142,469 CHF in 2025, 20,134 CHF in Q1 2026). The company aims to reduce dependence on consulting and achieve MRR-only profitability by 2025.
- Usage-based adjustments: Subscription fees can be adjusted upward if customer exceeds their Usage Limit (Hits or Contacts) for two consecutive months, or downward if they fall below for two consecutive months. This creates dynamic pricing based on actual usage.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Friendly Analytics Essential plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Friendly Analytics Professional plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Friendly Analytics Enterprise plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Friendly Automate (Mautic-based marketing automation) |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Usage-based pricing adjustment mechanism |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Friendly product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Friendly sells two core SaaS products: Friendly Analytics, a privacy-first web analytics platform built on the open-source Matomo stack and positioned as the Swiss alternative to Google Analytics; and Friendly Automate, a privacy-first marketing automation platform built on the open-source Mautic stack offering email campaigns, forms, and automated workflows. Both products host customer data exclusively on Swiss private servers and are certified compliant with nFADP, GDPR, ISO 27001, and ISO 9001. The company supplements its subscriptions with hourly or fixed-price consulting services for custom implementations.
Product overview
Friendly offers two core products: Friendly Analytics (web analytics built on Matomo) and Friendly Automate (marketing automation built on Mautic). Both are positioned as privacy-first, Swiss-hosted alternatives to major platforms. Friendly Analytics tracks website usage without personal data processing, while Friendly Automate provides email marketing, forms, and automation workflows. The products share a focus on data sovereignty, open-source technology, and compliance with Swiss (nFADP) and EU (GDPR) privacy regulations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Friendly Analytics: Swiss alternative to Google Analytics - privacy-first web analytics platform built on Matomo open-source software.
- Friendly Automate
Products and services
- Friendly Analytics Privacy-first web analytics platform positioned as the Swiss alternative to Google Analytics. Built on the open-source Matomo platform, it offers cookie-less tracking without processing or storing personal data, with data hosted exclusively in Switzerland and full nFADP and GDPR compliance. Available in Essential, Professional, and Enterprise tiers.
- Friendly Automate Privacy-first marketing automation software built on the open-source Mautic platform. Enables forms, email campaigns, and automated workflows for customer engagement, with features including email builder, campaign editor, lead scoring, segmentation, and personalized email delivery. Available to new Enterprise customers as of spring 2025.
- Friendly Consulting Services Hourly or fixed-price consulting services for individual problem-solving and custom implementations on Friendly Analytics and Friendly Automate. Represented CHF 122,191 in 2024, CHF 142,469 in 2025, and CHF 20,134 in Q1 2026, with the company actively aiming to reduce dependence on consulting over time.
Quantifiable outcome
- 46% MRR growth in 2025, from CHF 22,171 to CHF 34,526
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Friendly
Customer profileNamed customers19 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Friendly technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature7 records
Friendly partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
22 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- VASScoreSwiss agency partner based in Liestal. Part of expanded agency partnership network launched in 2025. Has already referred valuable customers to Friendly. Promoted on Friendly website, blog posts, and personal conversations with customers.
- UniccoreSwiss agency with offices in Bern, Zurich, and further offices in Germany and Poland. Started partnership with Friendly in 2025. Has referred multiple valuable customers. Promoted on Friendly's website and marketing materials.
- DigitalutionminorSwiss agency partner in Baden offering Friendly's privacy-friendly alternatives to marketing tools.
- iundf Marketing Technology AGminorSwiss marketing technology agency partner helping customers get the most out of Friendly software.
- roduner communicationsminorSwiss communications agency partner in Weinfelden, Switzerland.
- HausheerminorSwiss agency partner in Marthalen helping extend customer portfolios with privacy-friendly alternatives.
- ParseominorSwiss agency partner listed on Friendly's partner page.
- Sichtbar Online Marketing AGminorSwiss online marketing agency in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Agency partner extending portfolios with Friendly software.
- AB3 creative collectiveminorSwiss creative agency in Visp, Switzerland. Agency partner for Friendly.
- Lean & SharpminorSwiss agency partner listed on Friendly's partner page.
- Previon Plus AGminorSwiss agency in Aarau, Switzerland. Agency partner for Friendly.
- Crispy MarketingminorSwiss marketing agency partner listed on Friendly's partner page.
- Mauchle MarketingberatungminorSwiss marketing consultancy in Hombrechtikon, Switzerland. Referred to Friendly via partner page.
- Deutsche PostcoreFirst technology partner enabling Friendly Automate customers to send print mailings directly and fully automated via Deutsche Post integration. Extends Friendly Automate's capabilities into physical mail while maintaining the digital automation workflow.
- Matomo (open-source project)coreMatomo is the open-source web analytics software underlying Friendly Analytics. Peter Boehlke has been a Matomo core team member for over 10 years. Friendly hosts and supports the Matomo project.
- Mautic (open-source project)coreMautic is the open-source marketing automation software underlying Friendly Automate. Joey Keller serves as Product Team Lead at Mautic. Mautic itself became a Friendly customer in December 2025. Friendly provides free hosting of Friendly Analytics for the Mautic community.
- Leuchtfeuer (German Mautic provider)minorGerman Mautic marketing technology provider with whom Friendly maintains close professional exchange. Companies refer customers to each other when a project is a better fit elsewhere. Knowledge-sharing and mutual support relationship.
- InfomaniakcoreSwiss-based hosting provider for Friendly's products. Headquarters in Switzerland, hosting in Switzerland. Critical infrastructure partner.
- NetstreamcoreSwiss-based hosting provider for product backups. Headquarters in Switzerland, hosting in Switzerland.
- hoststechcoreSwiss-based hosting provider for product backups. Headquarters in Switzerland, hosting in Switzerland.
- Nicolas PrevidoliminorDesigner/creative who approached Friendly with an unsolicited sales pitch and designed the new Friendly website launched in December 2025. Recognized in the Year in Review 2025.
- Michael Auer (Miandla Media)minorSupported Luke and Joey in developing the custom Friendly Automate design overlay for the Mautic 5 UI refinement.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Friendly competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Plausible Analytics: Privacy-focused web analytics SaaS directly competing with Friendly Analytics. Positions itself as a Google Analytics alternative with cookieless tracking, no personal data collection, and EU-hosted servers, targeting similar privacy-conscious customers.
- Piwik PRO: Privacy-focused web analytics and tag management platform serving EU enterprises, with similar data sovereignty and GDPR-compliance positioning to Friendly Analytics. Strong overlap in regulated verticals.
- Matomo: The open-source web analytics platform underlying Friendly Analytics. Matomo Cloud competes directly with Friendly Analytics as a hosted privacy-first alternative to Google Analytics, while the self-hosted version is also the technical foundation for Friendly's offering.
- Simple Analytics: Cookieless privacy-focused web analytics tool positioned against Google Analytics, comparable to Friendly Analytics. Targets EU customers with EU-hosted data and explicit GDPR compliance stance.
- Fathom Analytics: Privacy-first web analytics platform built as a Google Analytics alternative, very similar to Friendly Analytics. Offers cookieless tracking, GDPR compliance, and serves both SMB and enterprise customers seeking privacy-friendly analytics.
Broad incumbents
- HubSpot: Global marketing automation and CRM incumbent. Friendly Automate explicitly positions as a privacy-first alternative to HubSpot, serving similar SMB and mid-market use cases with email marketing, forms, and automation.
- ActiveCampaign: Established marketing automation and email marketing platform serving SMB and mid-market customers globally. Competes with Friendly Automate on core email campaign and automation functionality, though without the Swiss data sovereignty angle.
- Adobe Analytics: Enterprise analytics suite within the Adobe Experience Cloud. Competes with Friendly Analytics for enterprise web analytics use cases, particularly among large organizations with privacy requirements.
- Google Analytics: Dominant web analytics platform that Friendly Analytics directly competes against by offering Swiss-hosted, privacy-compliant analytics for organizations unwilling to share data with Google or Big Tech.
Emerging players
- Leuchtfeuer: German-based Mautic marketing automation specialist that Friendly explicitly partners with and refers customers to. Highly comparable in offering (Mautic-based), DACH market focus, and privacy-first positioning.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat7 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Friendly social profiles
Digital presenceFriendly compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Friendly financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Friendly leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Friendly funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Friendly M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Friendly
What does Friendly do?
Friendly sells two core SaaS products: Friendly Analytics, a privacy-first web analytics platform built on the open-source Matomo stack and positioned as the Swiss alternative to Google Analytics; and Friendly Automate, a privacy-first marketing automation platform built on the open-source Mautic stack offering email campaigns, forms, and automated workflows. Both products host customer data exclusively on Swiss private servers and are certified compliant with nFADP, GDPR, ISO 27001, and ISO 9001. The company supplements its subscriptions with hourly or fixed-price consulting services for custom implementations.
Is Friendly a public or private company?
Friendly is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Friendly founded?
Friendly was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Friendly based?
Friendly is headquartered in Hergiswil, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Friendly make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Software Subscriptions (MRR) is the primary driver. The others are consulting Services and usage-based adjustments.
Who are Friendly's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Plausible Analytics, Piwik PRO, Matomo, Simple Analytics and Fathom Analytics. Broad incumbents are HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics. Leuchtfeuer is listed as an emerging player.
Does Friendly have an API?
No public API is recorded for Friendly.
What industry is Friendly in?
Friendly's product category is Web Analytics and Marketing Automation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAFAC, Marketing Automation Platforms & Services. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.