[philipptemmel]

My point is that a lot of folks use GA although they do not need to, but they are using it simply because it is a Google product and the most popular solution out there.

What I mean is, that you do not need to use GA on your portfolio website or blog. I agree with you that some of the alternatives mentioned lack in enterprise features. Also, therefore most of the mentioned alternatives are not competing with GA, but they are a more suitable solution for folks who simply want to get insights about the traffic happening on their website, lightweight, simple, and minimal.