analytics
Simple, open source, lightweight (< 1 KB) and privacy-friendly web analytics alternative to Google Analytics.
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Empowering People Ethically with the leading open source alternative to Google Analytics that gives you full control over your data. Matomo lets you easily collect data from websites & apps and visualise this data and extract insights. Privacy is built-in. Liberating Web Analytics. Star us on Github? +1. And we love Pull Requests!
🦔 PostHog provides open-source product analytics, session recording, feature flagging and A/B testing that you can self-host.
Umami is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.
Fathom Lite. Simple, privacy-focused website analytics. Built with Golang & Preact.
Quick Overview
Plausible Analytics is an open-source, lightweight, and privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. It provides simple and easy-to-understand website analytics without using cookies and fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR. The project aims to offer a more ethical approach to tracking website visitors while still providing valuable insights.
Pros
- Privacy-focused: Does not use cookies or collect personal data
- Lightweight: Weighs less than 1KB, having minimal impact on website performance
- Simple and intuitive dashboard: Easy to understand analytics without complex metrics
- Self-hostable: Can be deployed on your own infrastructure for complete data control
Cons
- Less detailed data compared to Google Analytics
- Limited integrations with other tools and platforms
- Fewer advanced features for in-depth analysis
- Requires self-hosting or paid subscription for use, unlike free alternatives
Getting Started
To get started with Plausible Analytics, follow these steps:
- Sign up for an account at https://plausible.io/ or self-host the application
- Add your website to the Plausible dashboard
- Add the following script to your website's HTML, replacing
yourdomain.comwith your actual domain:
<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/plausible.js"></script>
- Wait for data to start appearing in your Plausible dashboard (usually within 24 hours)
For self-hosting instructions, refer to the official documentation: https://plausible.io/docs/self-hosting
Competitor Comparisons
Empowering People Ethically with the leading open source alternative to Google Analytics that gives you full control over your data. Matomo lets you easily collect data from websites & apps and visualise this data and extract insights. Privacy is built-in. Liberating Web Analytics. Star us on Github? +1. And we love Pull Requests!
Pros of Matomo
- More comprehensive feature set, including e-commerce tracking and A/B testing
- Highly customizable with a plugin system and API
- Offers both self-hosted and cloud-hosted options
Cons of Matomo
- More complex setup and maintenance due to its extensive features
- Higher resource requirements, potentially impacting performance on smaller servers
- Steeper learning curve for new users
Code Comparison
Matomo (PHP):
$tracker = new MatomoTracker($idSite = 1, 'http://example.org/matomo/');
$tracker->doTrackPageView('Page Title');
Plausible (JavaScript):
plausible('pageview', { props: { page: '/blog' } });
Matomo uses a server-side PHP tracking approach, while Plausible employs a simpler client-side JavaScript implementation. Matomo's code allows for more detailed configuration, reflecting its broader feature set, while Plausible's code is more concise and straightforward.
Both projects prioritize user privacy and offer GDPR-compliant analytics solutions. Plausible focuses on simplicity and lightweight implementation, making it ideal for smaller websites or those prioritizing minimal impact on page load times. Matomo, with its extensive features and customization options, is better suited for larger organizations or those requiring in-depth analytics capabilities.
🦔 PostHog provides open-source product analytics, session recording, feature flagging and A/B testing that you can self-host.
Pros of PostHog
- More comprehensive feature set, including session recording, feature flags, and A/B testing
- Highly extensible with plugins and integrations
- Supports both cloud and self-hosted deployments
Cons of PostHog
- More complex setup and configuration process
- Higher resource requirements for self-hosted installations
- Steeper learning curve due to the extensive feature set
Code Comparison
PostHog (JavaScript snippet):
!function(t,e){var o,n,p,r;e.__SV||(window.posthog=e,e._i=[],e.init=function(i,s,a){function g(t,e){var o=e.split(".");2==o.length&&(t=t[o[0]],e=o[1]),t[e]=function(){t.push([e].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,0)))}}(p=t.createElement("script")).type="text/javascript",p.async=!0,p.src=s.api_host+"/static/array.js",(r=t.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]).parentNode.insertBefore(p,r);var u=e;for(void 0!==a?u=e[a]=[]:a="posthog",u.people=u.people||[],u.toString=function(t){var e="posthog";return"posthog"!==a&&(e+="."+a),t||(e+=" (stub)"),e},u.people.toString=function(){return u.toString(1)+".people (stub)"},o="capture identify alias people.set people.set_once set_config register register_once unregister opt_out_capturing has_opted_out_capturing opt_in_capturing reset isFeatureEnabled onFeatureFlags".split(" "),n=0;n<o.length;n++)g(u,o[n]);e._i.push([i,s,a])},e.__SV=1)}(document,window.posthog||[]);
posthog.init('YOUR_PROJECT_API_KEY', {api_host: 'https://app.posthog.com'})
Plausible (JavaScript snippet):
<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/plausible.js"></script>
The code comparison shows that PostHog's implementation is more complex and customizable, while Plausible offers a simpler, more lightweight integration.
Umami is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.
Pros of Umami
- Self-hosted and completely free, offering full control over data
- Simpler setup process, especially for users familiar with Node.js
- More customizable dashboard with additional metrics and chart options
Cons of Umami
- Less polished UI compared to Plausible's clean and modern interface
- Fewer built-in features for advanced analytics (e.g., custom events, goals)
- Smaller community and ecosystem, potentially leading to slower development and fewer integrations
Code Comparison
Umami (JavaScript):
export async function savePageView(website_id, data) {
const { url, referrer, browser, os, device, screen } = data;
const [pageView] = await db.transaction(async () => {
// ... (implementation details)
});
return pageView;
}
Plausible (Elixir):
def insert(site, attrs) do
params = Map.merge(attrs, %{
"hostname" => URI.parse(attrs["pathname"]).host,
"site_id" => site.id,
"timestamp" => NaiveDateTime.utc_now() |> NaiveDateTime.truncate(:second)
})
%Pageview{}
|> cast(params, [:hostname, :pathname, :referrer, :user_agent, :screen_size, :country_code, :operating_system, :browser, :site_id, :timestamp])
|> validate_required([:hostname, :pathname, :timestamp, :site_id])
|> foreign_key_constraint(:site_id)
|> Repo.insert()
end
Both projects implement similar functionality for saving page views, but Umami uses JavaScript with async/await, while Plausible uses Elixir with a more functional approach.
Fathom Lite. Simple, privacy-focused website analytics. Built with Golang & Preact.
Pros of Fathom
- More mature project with longer development history
- Offers a hosted solution in addition to self-hosted option
- Provides more detailed documentation and user guides
Cons of Fathom
- Less frequent updates and releases compared to Plausible
- Larger codebase, potentially more complex to set up and maintain
- Fewer built-in integrations with third-party services
Code Comparison
Fathom (Go):
func (s *SQLStore) GetSiteStats(siteID int64, startDate time.Time, endDate time.Time) (*models.SiteStats, error) {
var stats models.SiteStats
err := s.db.Get(&stats, `
SELECT
COUNT(DISTINCT(pageviews.visitor_id)) as visitors,
COUNT(*) as pageviews,
COUNT(DISTINCT(pageviews.hostname || pageviews.pathname)) as pages
FROM pageviews
WHERE site_id = $1 AND timestamp >= $2 AND timestamp <= $3
`, siteID, startDate, endDate)
return &stats, err
}
Plausible (Elixir):
def aggregate(site, query) do
from(e in base_query(site, query),
select: %{
visitors: fragment("COUNT(DISTINCT visitor_id)"),
pageviews: fragment("COUNT(*)"),
bounce_rate: fragment("ROUND(100 * SUM(CASE WHEN sign = -1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)::float / COUNT(DISTINCT visitor_id), 1)"),
visit_duration: fragment("ROUND(AVG(duration::float), 2)")
}
)
|> Repo.one()
end
Both repositories implement analytics data aggregation, but use different programming languages and database query approaches.
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Plausible Analytics
Simple Metrics |
Lightweight Script |
Privacy Focused |
Open Source |
Docs |
Contributing
Plausible Analytics is an easy to use, lightweight (< 1 KB), open source and privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. It doesnât use cookies and is fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA and PECR. You can self-host Plausible Community Edition or have us manage Plausible Analytics for you in the cloud. Here's the live demo of our own website stats. Made and hosted in the EU ðªðº
We are dedicated to making web analytics more privacy-friendly. Our mission is to reduce corporate surveillance by providing an alternative web analytics tool which doesnât come from the AdTech world. We are completely independent and solely funded by our subscribers.
Why Plausible?
Here's what makes Plausible a great Google Analytics alternative and why we're trusted by 12,000+ paying subscribers to deliver their website and business insights:
- Clutter Free: Plausible Analytics provides simple web analytics and it cuts through the noise. No layers of menus, no need for custom reports. Get all the important insights on one single page. No training necessary.
- GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliant: Measure traffic, not individuals. No personal data or IP addresses are ever stored in our database. We don't use cookies or any other persistent identifiers. Read more about our data policy
- Lightweight: Plausible Analytics works by loading a script on your website, like Google Analytics. Our script is 45x smaller, making your website quicker to load. You can also send events directly to our events API.
- Email or Slack reports: Keep an eye on your traffic with weekly and/or monthly email or Slack reports. You can also get traffic spike notifications.
- Invite team members and share stats: You have the option to be transparent and open your web analytics to everyone. Your website stats are private by default but you can choose to make them public so anyone with your custom link can view them. You can invite team members and assign user roles too.
- Define key goals and track conversions: Create custom events with custom dimensions to track conversions and attribution to understand and identify the trends that matter. Includes easy ways to track outbound link clicks, file downloads and 404 error pages.
- Search keywords: Integrate your dashboard with Google Search Console to get the most accurate reporting on your search keywords.
- SPA support: Plausible is built with modern web frameworks in mind and it works automatically with any pushState based router on the frontend. We also support frameworks that use the URL hash for routing. See our documentation.
- Smooth transition from Google Analytics: There's a realtime dashboard, entry pages report and integration with Search Console. You can track your paid campaigns and conversions. You can invite team members. You can even import your historical Google Analytics stats. Learn how to get the most out of your Plausible experience and join thousands who have already migrated from Google Analytics.
Interested to learn more? Read more on our website, learn more about the team and the goals of the project on our about page or explore the documentation.
Why is Plausible Analytics Cloud not free like Google Analytics?
Plausible Analytics is an independently owned and actively developed project. To keep the project development going, to stay in business, to continue putting effort into building a better product and to cover our costs, we need to charge a fee.
Google Analytics is free because Google has built their company and their wealth by collecting and analyzing huge amounts of personal information from web users and using these personal and behavioral insights to sell advertisements.
Plausible has no part in that business model. No personal data is being collected and analyzed either. With Plausible, you 100% own and control all of your website data. This data is not being shared with or sold to any third-parties.
We choose the subscription business model rather than the business model of surveillance capitalism. See reasons why we believe you should stop using Google Analytics on your website.
Getting started with Plausible
The easiest way to get started with Plausible Analytics is with our official managed service in the cloud. It takes 2 minutes to start counting your stats with a worldwide CDN, high availability, backups, security and maintenance all done for you by us.
In order to be compliant with the GDPR and the Schrems II ruling, all visitor data for our managed service in the cloud is exclusively processed on servers and cloud infrastructure owned and operated by European providers. Your website data never leaves the EU.
Our managed hosting can save a substantial amount of developer time and resources. For most sites this ends up being the best value option and the revenue goes to funding the maintenance and further development of Plausible. So youâll be supporting open source software and getting a great service!
Can Plausible be self-hosted?
Plausible is open source web analytics and we have a free as in beer and self-hosted solution called Plausible Community Edition (CE). Here are the differences between Plausible Analytics managed hosting in the cloud and the Plausible CE:
| Plausible Analytics Cloud | Plausible Community Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure management | Easy and convenient. It takes 2 minutes to start counting your stats with a worldwide CDN, high availability, backups, security and maintenance all done for you by us. We manage everything so you donât have to worry about anything and can focus on your stats. | You do it all yourself. You need to get a server and you need to manage your infrastructure. You are responsible for installation, maintenance, upgrades, server capacity, uptime, backup, security, stability, consistency, loading time and so on. |
| Release schedule | Continuously developed and improved with new features and updates multiple times per week. | It's a long term release published twice per year so latest features and improvements won't be immediately available. |
| Premium features | All features available as listed in our pricing plans. | Selected premium features such as funnels and ecommerce revenue goals are not available as we aim to ensure a protective barrier around our cloud offering. |
| Bot filtering | Advanced bot filtering for more accurate stats. Our algorithm detects and excludes non-human traffic patterns. We also exclude known bots by the User-Agent header and filter out traffic from data centers and referrer spam domains. | Basic bot filtering that targets the most common non-human traffic based on the User-Agent header and referrer spam domains. |
| Server location | All visitor data is exclusively processed on EU-owned cloud infrastructure. We keep your site data on a secure, encrypted and green energy powered server in Germany. This ensures that your site data is protected by the strict European Union data privacy laws and ensures compliance with GDPR. Your website data never leaves the EU. | You have full control and can host your instance on any server in any country that you wish. Host it on a server in your basement or host it with any cloud provider wherever you want, even those that are not GDPR compliant. |
| Data portability | You see all your site stats and metrics on our modern-looking, simple to use and fast loading dashboard. You can only see the stats aggregated in the dashboard. You can download the stats using the CSV export, stats API or tools such as the Data Studio Connector. | Do you want access to the raw data? Self-hosting gives you that option. You can take the data directly from the ClickHouse database. |
| Premium support | Real support delivered by real human beings who build and maintain Plausible. | Premium support is not included. CE is community supported only. |
| Costs | There's a cost associated with providing an analytics service so we charge a subscription fee. We choose the subscription business model rather than the business model of surveillance capitalism. Your money funds further development of Plausible. | You need to pay for your server, CDN, backups and whatever other cost there is associated with running the infrastructure. You never have to pay any fees to us. Your money goes to 3rd party companies with no connection to us. |
Interested in self-hosting Plausible CE on your server? Take a look at our Plausible CE installation instructions.
Plausible CE is a community supported project and there are no guarantees that you will get support from the creators of Plausible to troubleshoot your self-hosting issues. There is a community supported forum where you can ask for help.
Our only source of funding is our premium, managed service for running Plausible in the cloud.
Technology
Plausible Analytics is a standard Elixir/Phoenix application backed by a PostgreSQL database for general data and a Clickhouse database for stats. On the frontend we use TailwindCSS for styling and React to make the dashboard interactive.
Contributors
For anyone wishing to contribute to Plausible, we recommend taking a look at our contributor guide.
Feedback & Roadmap
We welcome feedback from our community. We have a public roadmap driven by the features suggested by the community members. Take a look at our feedback board. Please let us know if you have any requests and vote on open issues so we can better prioritize.
To stay up to date with all the latest news and product updates, make sure to follow us on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn or Mastodon.
License & Trademarks
Plausible CE is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License Version 3 (AGPLv3) or any later version. You can find it here.
To avoid issues with AGPL virality, we've released the JavaScript tracker which gets included on your website under the MIT license. You can find it here.
Copyright (c) 2018-present Plausible Insights OÃ. Plausible Analytics name and logo are trademarks of Plausible Insights OÃ. Please see our trademark guidelines for info on acceptable usage.
Top Related Projects
Empowering People Ethically with the leading open source alternative to Google Analytics that gives you full control over your data. Matomo lets you easily collect data from websites & apps and visualise this data and extract insights. Privacy is built-in. Liberating Web Analytics. Star us on Github? +1. And we love Pull Requests!
🦔 PostHog provides open-source product analytics, session recording, feature flagging and A/B testing that you can self-host.
Umami is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.
Fathom Lite. Simple, privacy-focused website analytics. Built with Golang & Preact.
Convert designs to code with AI
Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.
Try Visual Copilot