Plausible Analytics

Paid

Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative.

Observability & Monitoring

Web & Product Analytics

Published 29 May 2026 · Last updated 27 September 2026

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Scores

Popularity4/5

Plausible consistently ranks as the top alternative to Google Analytics in privacy-focused developer communities. It has accumulated over 20,000 GitHub stars, generates regular discussion on Hacker News, and is frequently recommended on Reddit. Its bootstrapped, independent status resonates strongly with indie developers and small teams. Enterprise penetration is limited but growing as privacy regulations tighten globally.

Learning Curve1/5

Plausible is among the simplest analytics tools to adopt — drop in a single script tag and the dashboard populates immediately. The interface presents all key metrics on one scrollable page with no configuration required. Non-technical stakeholders can read and share reports without any training. Even the self-hosted Community Edition deploys via a single Docker Compose command. No other tool in this category has a lower barrier to first value.

Flexibility2/5

Plausible is deliberately minimal. It does not offer custom report builders, advanced audience segmentation, cohort analysis, heatmaps, or session replay. Custom events and properties provide some flexibility for tracking specific interactions, and the API allows data extraction. Teams that outgrow the built-in dashboard have limited options within the tool itself, though data can be exported to external systems. The intentional simplicity is a feature for some teams and a constraint for others.

Performance5/5

The tracking script weighs under 1 KB and loads asynchronously, adding effectively zero overhead to page load times compared to Google Analytics' 45 KB payload. Dashboard queries run against a ClickHouse backend and return results quickly even at scale. This is a core differentiator and design principle — Plausible's architecture is optimized for speed and minimal resource consumption from the ground up.

Portability5/5

Plausible's Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 licensed and self-hostable on any infrastructure via Docker. The cloud and self-hosted versions are functionally equivalent, and teams can migrate between them. All data is stored in ClickHouse and can be exported via the API. No proprietary formats or vendor-controlled lock-in exist — the Estonian company and open-source codebase ensure that teams retain full control over their analytics data.

About Plausible Analytics

Plausible Analytics is a privacy-first, open-source web analytics platform built as a deliberate alternative to Google Analytics. Founded in 2019 by Uku Täht and Marko Saric, Plausible Insights OÜ is an independent, bootstrapped company based in Estonia that funds its development entirely through user subscriptions rather than investor capital.

The platform collects web traffic data — pageviews, unique visitors, bounce rates, session duration, referrers, UTM campaign attribution, and custom events — without storing any personally identifiable information. It uses no cookies and no persistent identifiers, making it natively compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR without requiring consent banners or cookie notices. The tracking script weighs under 1 KB, meaning it adds near-zero overhead to page load times.

All analytics are presented on a single, scrollable dashboard designed to be read at a glance. There are no custom report builders, no layers of menus, and no training required — the goal is that any team member can interpret the data without analytics expertise.

Plausible is available as a managed cloud service (Plausible Cloud) and as a self-hosted Community Edition under the AGPL-3.0 license. The Community Edition is functionally equivalent to the cloud product and can be deployed via Docker on any Linux server. A 30-day free trial is offered for the cloud service with no credit card required.

Higher-tier plans unlock additional capabilities such as funnel analysis, revenue tracking, custom properties, team access controls, and Data Studio integration. An API is available for embedding stats in external dashboards or automating data exports. Plausible is widely used by indie developers, small SaaS products, content publishers, and privacy-conscious organizations as a direct replacement for Google Analytics.

Key Features

Cookie-free tracking with no personal data collection
Single-page dashboard with all key metrics at a glance
Custom event tracking and goal conversion measurement
Funnel analysis and revenue tracking (Business plan)
UTM campaign and referrer attribution
Traffic spike email alerts
Self-hostable Community Edition (AGPL-3.0)
Public stats pages for sharing with stakeholders

Pros

Fastest setup in the category — add a 1 KB script and you have data immediately
No cookie consent banners needed: GDPR/CCPA compliant by design
Clean, single-page dashboard that anyone on the team can read without training
Independent and bootstrapped — no VC pressure, strong privacy track record
Self-hostable Community Edition has full feature parity with cloud
Excellent bot filtering out of the box

Cons

No free cloud tier — paid plans start at $9/month
Intentionally limited: no heatmaps, session replay, or advanced segmentation
Higher-tier features (funnels, revenue) require Business plan at $39+/month
Limited third-party integrations compared to Google Analytics ecosystem
Not suited for product analytics use cases — web traffic focus only
Documentation has gaps and some sections are reported as outdated

Plausible Analytics Pricing

Paid

Starter$9/monthly

· 1 site, 10K monthly pageviews
· 3 years of data retention
· Goals, custom events, and Google Analytics import
· Yearly billing gives 2 months free

Growth$14/monthly

· Up to 3 sites, 10K monthly pageviews
· Up to 3 team members
· Shared links and embedded dashboards
· Yearly billing gives 2 months free

Business$19/monthly

· Up to 10 sites and 10 team members, 10K monthly pageviews
· 5 years of data retention
· Funnels, ecommerce revenue attribution, and custom properties
· Stats API and Looker Studio connector

EnterpriseContact sales

· Custom pricing for 10M+ monthly pageviews
· SSO and advanced access controls
· API access
· Dedicated support

Tech Stacks with Plausible Analytics

MERN Stack

Project

MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js: the classic JavaScript full-stack. A well-trodden path with massive community support and job-market demand.

Frontend

Backend

Programming

Databases

Hosting

Authentication

Auth:

Deploy on:

CI/CD add-on:

Containerization add-on:

Observability add-on:

Email add-on:

Payments add-on:

Styling add-on:

Analytics add-on:

Supabase + Next.js

Project

The fastest way to launch a modern web app. Next.js handles the frontend and API routes; Supabase provides Postgres, auth, realtime, and storage out of the box.

Frontend

Programming

Databases

Hosting

Authentication

Auth:

Deploy on:

CI/CD add-on:

Containerization add-on:

Observability add-on:

Email add-on:

Payments add-on:

Styling add-on:

Analytics add-on:

Python Web (FastAPI + React)

Project

A clean separation of concerns: React on the frontend, FastAPI serving a typed REST API, and PostgreSQL for persistent storage (MySQL, MariaDB, and serverless Postgres hosts are also available). Docker keeps environments consistent.

React

Frontend