Methodology
We compared the main options available to organisations that want to measure their SharePoint intranet and wider Microsoft 365 employee experience: Microsoft’s native analytics, Addin Analytics, SWOOP Analytics, AvePoint tyGraph and other specialist vendors. Each option was assessed against the requirements that matter most to communications, digital workplace, content and IT teams, using publicly available product information as of October 2026. Because products change frequently, we recommend that buyers validate any shortlist through a live demonstration using their own scenarios and data.
Requirements
The strongest evaluations start with business objectives rather than feature lists. We recommend assessing each option against these requirements:
- Outcome measurement: can you prove that communications reached the right people, were understood and led to the intended action?
- Flexible scope: can you report on a page, a site, selected sites, all of SharePoint or a campaign made up of pages from different sites?
- Flexible time periods: can reporting match a campaign, transformation programme or before-and-after comparison?
- Audience insight: can every report be filtered by audience, department and location?
- Employee journeys: can you follow behaviour across pages and sites, including drop-offs and calls to action?
- Search in context: can you see what people searched for, where they searched within a journey and what results they were shown?
- Microsoft 365 coverage: does the solution include Viva Connections and Viva Engage alongside SharePoint?
- Usability and sharing: can non-analysts use the reports, and can live views be shared with stakeholders?
- Expertise and support: will the vendor help you deploy, adopt and act on the insight, and keep pace with Microsoft 365 change?
- Security and procurement: does the vendor meet your security standards and offer a straightforward buying route?
Analytics comparison
Native Microsoft
Microsoft provides useful built-in analytics at no additional cost. SharePoint offers page-level statistics such as unique viewers, total views, average time spent per user and traffic by time over standard periods of 7 to 90 days, while Viva Engage includes its own analytics, with advanced features requiring Viva Engage Premium licensing. These tools are valuable for quick checks, but each reports in isolation. They cannot connect a message to the audience it was intended for, follow a journey across pages and sites, or show whether a search signalled confusion. Read more about the native limits of SharePoint analytics.
Addin365
We built Addin Analytics to answer the questions communications and digital workplace teams are asked most often: did the right people see it, did they understand it, and what did they do next? Our differentiators are:
Microsoft MVP expertise built in. Our team includes two Microsoft MVPs, Suzy Dean and Wes Hackett, recognised by Microsoft as global experts in Microsoft 365. Through the MVP programme, we have direct access to Microsoft product teams and upcoming roadmaps, so we learn about changes to SharePoint, Viva and Microsoft 365 up to 18 months before the wider market. We design Addin Analytics and our services around what is coming, not just what exists today. That means our product works harmoniously with Microsoft 365 as it evolves, and our customers are prepared for change rather than surprised by it, an advantage that vendors without this access cannot offer.
Journeys without limits. Journey Explorer follows employees through an unlimited number of steps across pages and sites, showing entry and exit pages, common paths, drop-offs and progression towards calls to action.
Search in the context of the journey. We show not only popular, failed and abandoned searches, but where a search happened within a journey and the results employees were shown, connecting the query to what happened before and afterwards.
Reporting shaped around your objective. Place a “lasso” around exactly the content that belongs together, from a single page to pages spread across different sites, and match the reporting period to your campaign or programme.
Audience-level evidence. Every report can be filtered by Microsoft 365 audience, department and location, revealing gaps that organisation-wide totals conceal.
One view across SharePoint and Viva. Engagement across SharePoint, Viva Connections dashboard tiles and Viva Engage is brought together in a reporting experience integrated into SharePoint pages.
Live, shareable views. Saved views give leaders and colleagues current data rather than static exports.
A product and a partner. We install and configure Addin Analytics, train your teams and run monthly sessions to turn insight into improvement. Our reports can also be extended with custom reporting.
Trusted by the public and private sectors. We are on the UK government’s G-Cloud 15 framework and Cyber Essentials Plus certified, and our customers range from 200 to 70,000 employees.
SWOOP
SWOOP Analytics is an established digital workplace analytics vendor covering SharePoint intranets, Viva Engage, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365, with a focus on benchmarking. Its SharePoint product includes health scores for content quality, experience and engagement, alerts for spelling mistakes and broken links, search term reporting and a visitor page flow report.
SWOOP is a strong choice where benchmarking is the priority. Where we differ is in our depth on communication outcomes and employee journeys: unlimited journey steps across sites, search shown within the journey alongside the results returned, reporting built around campaigns that span different sites, and Viva Connections dashboard tile insight. We also serve organisations of 200 employees upwards, and combine the product with hands-on consultancy from Microsoft MVPs.
tyGraph
AvePoint tyGraph is part of AvePoint’s wider Microsoft 365 data management portfolio. It provides broad usage analytics across Microsoft 365, including licence optimisation, Viva Engage and SharePoint. Its SharePoint analytics are embedded through web parts and include navigation reporting and a limit of 365 days of history, with deeper analysis delivered through Power BI.
tyGraph suits organisations looking for licensing reporting from a large platform vendor. Where we differ is our specialist focus on communications and digital workplace outcomes. We connect content consumption, audiences, employee journeys and search in one experience, so teams can see whether the right people understood a message and acted on it. Customers also work directly with a specialist team, including Microsoft MVPs, rather than one product within a broad portfolio.
Other vendors
Other options fall into three broad groups:
- SharePoint engagement suites, such as CardioLog Analytics focuses on usage reporting.
- Governance and administration tools, such as Syskit Point, ShareGate and Netwrix, focus on permissions, storage, audit and compliance reporting rather than communication outcomes.
- Build-your-own reporting in Power BI, using exported SharePoint data, offers control but relies on regular manual or developer-automated data extraction, and inherits the limits of native page statistics.
These tools can complement a digital workplace strategy, but none is designed specifically to connect communications, audiences, journeys and search the way Addin Analytics is.
Matrix
| Requirement | Microsoft native | Addin Analytics | SWOOP | tyGraph |
| Primary focus | Basic usage statistics | Communications and digital workplace outcomes | Communication analytics | Broad Microsoft 365 usage and adoption |
| Reporting scope | Individual page or site | Page, site, selected sites, all of SharePoint or pages grouped across sites | Intranet, site and page | Page, site, hub and tenant |
| Time periods | Fixed, 7 to 90 days | Flexible, matched to campaign or comparison period | Selectable date ranges | Up to 365 days |
| Employee journeys | Not available | Unlimited steps across pages and sites | Limited visitor page flow | Navigation reporting |
| Search insight | Not connected to page analytics | Popular, failed and abandoned searches, plus search and results within journeys | Search terms and failure rates | Not available |
| Audience filters | Not available | Audience, department and location on every report | Audience and segment views | Organisation, department and custom member lists |
| Viva coverage | Separate Viva Engage analytics | Viva Connections dashboard tiles and Viva Engage | Viva Engage | Viva Connections and Viva Engage |
| Microsoft MVP expertise and roadmap insight | Not applicable | Two Microsoft MVPs, with roadmap insight up to 18 months ahead | Not available | Not available |
| Consultancy and enablement | Self-service | Installation, training and monthly best-practice sessions | Check with vendor | Check with vendor |
| UK public sector buying | Included with Microsoft 365 | G-Cloud 15 and Cyber Essentials Plus | Check with vendor | Check with vendor |
Best fit
Native Microsoft analytics are a sensible starting point for quick page checks. Broad Microsoft 365 analytics platforms suit organisations whose priority is licence optimisation, collaboration patterns or adoption reporting across the whole suite.
We are the best fit when you need to prove the impact of communications and continuously improve the employee experience across SharePoint and Viva. That includes showing that the right audiences were reached, following employees through journeys that span multiple sites, understanding what they searched for and why, and turning that evidence into action with the support of Microsoft MVPs who see Microsoft 365 change coming. We work with organisations from 200 to 70,000 employees, across both the public and private sectors.
Limits
This evaluation is based on publicly available information as of October 2026, and all vendors, including Microsoft, update their products regularly. It is intended as a guide, not a substitute for your own assessment. We recommend agreeing your requirements first, then asking each shortlisted vendor to demonstrate how their product answers your specific questions. We are always happy to show you Addin Analytics working against a real campaign or employee journey.