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<h1 style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 26px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Log
analyzers Comparisons</h1>

<a name="COMPARISON"></a> 
Comparison
between AWStats and other famous statistics tools 
<hr>
<table style="font-family: arial,helvetica,verdana; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0">

<tbody>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left" width="33%">Features/Softwares</td>
<td width="14%">AWStats</td>
<td width="13%">Analog</td>
<td width="15%"><a href="http://www.mrunix.net/webalizer/" target="_blank">Webalizer</a></td>

<td width="13%"><a href="http://www.sawmill.co.uk?ref=awstats" target="_blank">Sawmill
Analytics</a></td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Version - Date</td>
<td>7.2 - July 2013</td>
<td>6.0 - December 2004</td>
<td>2.01-10 - April 2002</td>
 <td>8.5 - July 2011</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Language</td>
<td>Perl</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>C</td>
 <td>C/Salang</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Available on all platforms</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Readable sources available</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>

<td>No (obfuscated sources for compilation only)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Price/Licence</td>
<td>Free/GPL</td>
<td>Free/GPL</td>
<td>Free/GPL</td>

<td>From $99 Per Profile 
<a href="http://www.sawmill.co.uk/pricing.html" target="_blank">Lite/Pro/Ent</a></td>

</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Works with Apache combined (XLF/ELF)</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Works with Apache common (CLF) log
format</td>

<td>All features
available with log format (b)</td>
<td>All features
available with log format (b)</td>
<td>All features
available with log format (b)</td>
 <td>All
features available with log format (b)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Works with IIS (W3C) log format</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>

<td>Need a patch</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Works with personalized log format</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Analyze Web/Ftp/Mail log files</td>
<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>
<td>Yes/No/No</td>
<td>Yes/No/No</td>
 <td>Yes/Yes/Yes (850+) </td>

</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report and update of statistics from</td>
<td>Command line (CLI)
and/or 
a browser (CGI)</td>
<td>Command line (CLI)
and/or 
a browser (CGI)</td>
<td>Command line</td>
 <td>Command
line (CLI) and/or 
a browser (CGI) 
and/or HTTP API 
</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Scheduler</td>
<td>External (crontab, windows task manager)</td>
<td>External (crontab, windows task manager)</td>
<td>External (crontab, windows task manager)</td>
 <td>Built-in</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Internal reverse DNS lookup</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">DNS cache file</td>
<td>Static and dynamic</td>

<td>Static or dynamic</td>
<td>Static or dynamic</td>
 <td>Yes
(per update, or custom)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Process logs spitted by load
balancing systems</td>

<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes (Sessions)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report unique "human" visitors</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes (Visitors)</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report session duration</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Not ordered records tolerance and
reorder for visits</td>

<td>Yes</td>
<td>Visits not supported</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Statistics for visits are based on</td>
<td>Pages *****</td>
<td>Not supported</td>

<td>Pages *****</td>
 <td>Pages *****</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Statistics for unique visitors are
based on</td>
<td>Pages *****</td>
<td>Not supported</td>
<td>Not supported</td>
 <td>Client IP / Cookie

Custom *****</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report countries</td>
<td>From IP location 
 or domain name</td>
<td>Domain name</td>
<td>Domain name</td>
 <td>From
IP location 
or domain name</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report regions (US and Canada states)</td>
<td>Need <a href="http://www.maxmind.com/en/city?rId=awstats">Maxmind
Regions</a> database</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes

GeoLite City included</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report cities and major countries
regions</td>
<td>Need <a href="http://www.maxmind.com/en/city?rId=awstats">Maxmind
Cities</a> database</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes

GeoLite City included</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report ISP</td>
<td>Need <a href="http://www.maxmind.com/en/city?rId=awstats">Maxmind
ISP</a> database</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Need

<a href="http://www.maxmind.com/en/city?rId=awstats">Maxmind
ISP</a> database</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report Organizations name</td>
<td>Need <a href="http://www.maxmind.com/en/city?rId=awstats">Maxmind
Org</a> database</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>

<td>Need
<a href="http://www.maxmind.com/en/city?rId=awstats">Maxmind
Org</a> database</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report hosts</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report WhoIs informations on hosts</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report authenticated users</td>

<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report/Filter robots (nb detected)</td>
<td>Yes/Yes (793**)</td>
<td>Yes / Yes(8**)</td>
<td>No/No</td>
 <td>Yes/Yes (250**)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report/Filter worms (nb of families detected)</td>
<td>Yes/Yes (5)</td>
<td>No / No</td>
<td>No/No</td>

<td>Yes/Yes (4)</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report rush hours</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report days of week</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report most often viewed pages</td>

<td>Yes 
</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report entry pages</td>
<td>Yes 
</td>

<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report exit pages</td>
<td>Yes </td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>

<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Not ordered records tolerance and reorder for entry/exit pages</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Entry/Exit not supported</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Detection of CGI pages as pages (and not just hits)</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Only if prog ends by a defined value</td>
<td>Only if prog ends by a defined value</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report pages by directory</td>
<td>No</td>

<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report pages with last access time/average size</td>
<td>Yes/Yes</td>
<td>Yes/No</td>

<td>No/No</td>
 <td>Yes/No</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Dynamic filter on hosts/pages/referers report</td>
<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>
<td>No/No/No</td>
<td>No/No/No</td>

<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report web compression statistics (mod_gzip,mod_deflate)</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>No</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report file types</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report by file size</td>
<td>No</td>

<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report OS (nb detected)</td>
<td>Yes (84)</td>
<td>Yes (29)</td>

<td>No (0)</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report browsers (nb detected)</td>
<td>Yes (210*)</td>
<td>Yes (9*)</td>
<td>Yes (4*)</td>

<td>Yes (~20*) </td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report details of browsers versions</td>
<td>Major and minor
versions</td>
<td>Major versions by
default, 
minor with SUBBROW option</td>
<td>Major an minor
versions</td>

<td>Major and minor
versions</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report screen sizes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes &amp; Depths</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">

<td align="left">Report tech supported by browser
for Java/Flash/PDF</td>
<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>
<td>No/No/No</td>
<td>No/No/No</td>
 <td>No/No/No</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report audio format supported by
browser for Real/QuickTime/Mediaplayer</td>
<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>

<td>No/No/No</td>
<td>No/No/No</td>
 <td>No/No/No</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report search engines used (nb
detected)</td>
<td>Yes (228***)</td>
<td>Yes (24)</td>

<td>No (0)</td>

<td>Yes (67***)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report keywords/keyphrases used on
search engines (nb detected)</td>
<td>Yes/Yes (118***)</td>
<td>Yes/No
(29***)</td>

<td>No/Yes
(14***)</td>

<td>Yes/Yes (67***)</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report external refering web page
with/without query</td>
<td>Yes/Yes</td>
<td>No/No</td>

<td>No/Yes</td>

<td>Yes/Yes</td>
</tr>

<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Report HTTP Errors</td>
<td>Yes 
</td>
<td>Yes</td>

<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Report 404 Errors</td>
<td>Nb +
List&nbsp;referer 
</td>
<td>Nb only</td>
<td>Nb only</td>

<td>Nb + List last date/referer</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Other personalized reports for
miscellanous/marketing purpose</td>
<td>Yes 
</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Daily statistics </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Weekly statistics </td>

<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Monthly statistics </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>

<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Yearly statistics </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
 <td>Yes</td>

</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Custom date range </td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>
 <td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Benchmark with no DNS lookup in
lines/seconds

(full features enabled, with XLF format, cygwin Perl 5.8, Athlon 1Ghz)</td>
<td>5200****</td>
<td>39000****</td>
<td>12000****</td>
 <td>Not
calculated</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Benchmark with DNS lookup in
lines/seconds 
(full features enabled, with XLF format, cygwin Perl 5.8, Athlon 1Ghz)</td>

<td>80****</td>
<td>80****</td>
<td>80****</td>
 <td>Not
calculated</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Analyzed data save format (to use
with third tools)</td>
<td>Structured text file
or XML</td>
<td>Text files with
OUTPUT option</td>

<td>Flat text file</td>
 <td>Flat text file/MySQL/MS SQL/Oracle</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<td align="left">Export statistics to PDF</td>
<td>Experimental</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>No</td>

<td>Yes &amp; 
HTML (static/email) &amp; CSV</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td align="left">Graphical statistics in one page /
several / or frames</td>
<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>
<td>Yes/No/No</td>

<td>Yes/Yes/No</td>

<td>Yes/Yes/Yes</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
 

* This number is not really the number of browsers detected. All
browsers (known and unknown) can be detected by products that support
user agent listing (AWStats,Analog,Webalizer,Sawmill). The 'browser
detection feature' and number is the number of known browsers for which
different versions/ids of same browser are grouped by default in one
browser name. 
 
** AWStats can detect robots visits: All robots among the most common
are detected, list is in <a href="http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/active/all.txt">robotslist.txt</a>

(250Kb). Products that are not able to do this give you false
information, above all if your site has few visitors. For example, if
you're site was submitted to all famous search engines, robots can make
500 visits a month, to find updates or to see if your site is still
online. So, if you have only 2000 visits a month, products with no
robot detection capabilities will report 2500 visits (A 25% error !).
AWStats will report 500 visits from robots and 2000 visits from human
visitors.Sawmill Analytics uses a "currently active" list of robots
based on the <a href="http://www.robotstxt.org/db.html" target="_blank">robotstxt.org</a> database. 
 
*** AWStats has url syntax rules for the most popular search engines
(that's the 'number detected'). Those rules are updated with AWStats
updates. But AWStats has also an algorithm to detect keywords of
unknown search engines with unknown url syntax rules. Sawmill uses
unique syntax to detect 67 search engines, and you can add any number
of custom SE's. 
 
**** Most log analyzers have poor (or not at all) robots, search
engines, os or browsers detection capabilities and less features (no or
poor visits count, no filter rules, etc...). 
It is not possible to add all AWStats features to other log analyzers,
so don't forget that benchmarks results are for 'different features'.
For this benchmark, I did just complete Webalizer and Analog robots or
search engines databases with part of AWStats database. So Webalizer
config file was completed with this <a href="http://www.awstats.org/files/webalizeradd.txt">file</a>,
Analog config file was completed with this <a href="http://www.awstats.org/files/analogadd.txt">file</a>.
Note that without this very light add (using default conf file),
Webalizer speed is 3 times faster, Analog is 15% faster).

Benchmark was made on a combined (XLF/CLF) log record on an Athlon 1GHz. 
You must keep in mind that all this times are without reverse DNS
lookup. DNS lookup speed depends on your system, network and Internet
but not on the log analyzer you use. For this reason, DNS lookup is
disabled in all log analyzer benchmarks. Don't forget that DNS lookup
is 95% (even with a lookup cache) of the time used by a log analyzer,
so if your host is not already resolved in log file and DNS lookup is
enable, the total time of the process will be nearly the same whatever
is the speed of the log analyzer. 
 
***** Some visitors
use a lot of proxy servers to surf (ie: AOL users), this means it's
possible that several hosts (with several IP addresses) are used to
reach your site for only one visitor (ie: one proxy server download the
page and 2 other servers download all images). Because of this, if
stats of unique visitors are made on "Hits", 3 users are reported but
it's wrong. So AWStats, considers only HTML pages to count unique
visitors. This decrease the error (not totally, because
it's always possible that a proxy server download one HTML frame and
another one download another frame).
Sawmill Analytics allows you to choose what you define as a visitor -
by default the client IP is used, but you can use a cookie (persistant
or session) or any custom string, or combination of string from teh log
data. 
 
(a) Data were provided by Sawmill company (Graham Smith). 
 
(b) With such log format, there is no user agent information in log
file, so some reports are broken. For example, it's not possible to
make reports on browser or os for (information is not stored in log
file). To solve this, use another log format (like the combined
format). 
<hr>

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