Plausible Analytics

Plausible Analytics is a lightweight, open-source, privacy-first web analytics platform built as a simple, transparent alternative to Google Analytics. Founded in 2019 by Uku Täht and Marko Saric, Plausible has grown to serve over 10,000 paying customers and track billions of page views across 100,000+ websites worldwide. Unlike Google Analytics with its complex interface and privacy concerns, Plausible provides a clean, single-page dashboard showing all essential metrics at a glance while respecting visitor privacy without cookies or personal data collection. With its script weighing just 1KB (45 times smaller than Google Analytics), Plausible delivers fast-loading analytics that won't slow down your website, all while being fully GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant without requiring annoying cookie banners.

What makes Plausible unique is its commitment to simplicity and privacy by design. There are no cookie notices, GDPR consent prompts, or complicated setup—just add a single line of code to your site and you're tracking immediately. The entire analytics dashboard fits on one page, showing page views, unique visitors, bounce rate, visit duration, top pages, referral sources, countries, and devices in an intuitive, easy-to-understand format. Plausible is also fully open-source, allowing you to self-host if desired, and all data is processed and stored in the EU for maximum privacy compliance. Whether you're a blogger, startup, agency managing client sites, or enterprise concerned about data ownership and visitor privacy, Plausible offers the essential insights you need without the bloat, tracking, or privacy violations of traditional analytics tools.

Privacy-First Analytics

Plausible's privacy approach isn't just a marketing feature—it's the foundation of how the platform works. Unlike traditional analytics that collect extensive personal data for tracking and profiling, Plausible deliberately avoids collecting any personally identifiable information. There are no cookies, no local storage, no cross-site tracking, and no browser fingerprinting. The platform tracks only aggregate statistics: how many people visited which pages, where they came from, and what devices they used. Individual visitors remain completely anonymous.

This design makes Plausible fully GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant by default without requiring cookie consent banners. European sites can legally track analytics without showing those annoying popup notices that hurt user experience and conversion rates. All data is processed and stored exclusively in EU-based infrastructure, ensuring it stays within privacy-protective jurisdictions. You own 100% of your analytics data—Plausible never sells it, shares it with advertisers, or uses it for any purpose beyond providing you analytics insights. The entire codebase is open source on GitHub, so anyone can verify these privacy claims by examining the code directly.

Lightweight and Fast Performance

At just 1.6KB, Plausible's tracking script is 45 times smaller than Google Analytics' 45KB script. This dramatic size difference directly impacts your website's loading speed and Core Web Vitals scores—metrics that Google uses for search rankings. The script loads asynchronously from a global CDN, ensuring it never blocks page rendering or delays the display of content to visitors.

• Minimal Overhead: No external dependencies, additional libraries, fonts, or tracking pixels
• Better Performance Scores: Sites running Plausible maintain superior performance compared to traditional analytics
• Fast Load Times: Single lightweight API call transmits only essential data per pageview
• SEO Benefits: Improved Core Web Vitals contribute to better search rankings

Simple, Clean Dashboard

Plausible presents all your essential metrics on a single, scrollable page—no clicking through endless menus, reports, or configuration screens. At the top, you see real-time visitor count and key metrics: total page views, unique visitors, bounce rate, and average visit duration for your selected time period. Below that, the dashboard shows your top pages ranked by traffic, referral sources, geographic breakdown by country, and device/browser/OS statistics. Everything updates in real-time as visitors browse your site.

The interface uses clean typography, subtle colors, and intuitive data visualization without overwhelming you with options. Click any metric to drill down—clicking a referral source shows which pages that traffic visited, clicking a page shows its specific traffic sources and visitor behavior. UTM campaign parameters automatically appear when you use them in marketing links, letting you track email campaigns, social ads, and other promotional efforts without complex setup.

Goal and Conversion Tracking

Beyond basic traffic numbers, Plausible helps you track what actually matters: conversions. Define goals as either pageview destinations (thank-you pages, order confirmation pages) or custom events (button clicks, form submissions, downloads).

• Pageview Goals: Automatically count visits to specific URLs as conversions
• Custom Event Goals: Track button clicks, form submissions, video plays, downloads
• Funnel Analysis: Visualize multi-step conversion processes and drop-off points
• Revenue Tracking: Assign monetary value to conversions for ROI analysis
• Source Attribution: See which traffic sources drive the most conversions
• Property Tracking: Attach custom data (plan type, category) for deeper segmentation

Revenue tracking transforms vanity metrics into business metrics. Assign monetary value to conversions—if each newsletter signup is worth $50 over time, attach that value and see total revenue from each traffic source. This shifts analytics from "we got 10,000 visitors" to "organic search generated $2,400 in value this month"—actionable insights that justify marketing spend and content investments.

Multi-Site Management

A single Plausible account tracks unlimited websites, making it ideal for agencies, content networks, or anyone managing multiple properties. Switch between sites instantly from the dashboard dropdown, with each site maintaining completely independent analytics. This unlimited site allowance means your $9/month Growth plan can track ten different blogs, client sites, or project domains as long as combined monthly pageviews stay under 10,000.

• Unlimited Sites: Add as many websites as needed, no per-site charges
• Independent Analytics: Statistics, goals, and integrations configured separately per property
• Site Groups: Organize related properties into logical collections
• Per-Site Permissions: Grant team members access to specific sites only
• Agency-Friendly: Perfect for managing multiple client websites from one account

Data Export and API Access

Your analytics data isn't locked inside Plausible—comprehensive API and export capabilities ensure you can access it however needed. The Stats API provides RESTful endpoints to query all analytics data programmatically: aggregate metrics by time period, break down stats by page/source/device, retrieve real-time visitor counts, and access conversion data.

• RESTful API: Simple GET requests with query parameters, JSON responses
• CSV Export: Download any metrics for analysis in Excel or Google Sheets
• Real-Time Access: Query current visitor data programmatically
• Custom Dashboards: Build analytics displays in your own admin panels
• Generous Rate Limits: Accommodate automation and regular polling
• Data Portability: Full export capability prevents vendor lock-in

Email Reports and Notifications

Automated email reports keep stakeholders informed without requiring dashboard access. Schedule weekly or monthly reports summarizing traffic, top content, referral sources, and conversions delivered automatically to any number of recipients. Perfect for agencies sending client updates, teams keeping executives informed, or content creators tracking blog performance without opening the dashboard daily.

Traffic spike notifications alert you immediately when visitor counts surge beyond normal levels—catch viral content as it happens, respond to sudden interest from press coverage, or investigate unexpected traffic sources. This real-time alerting helps capitalize on momentum by quickly sharing popular content on social media or identifying high-value traffic sources to engage.

Open Source and Self-Hosting

Plausible stands apart from proprietary analytics platforms by publishing its entire codebase under the AGPLv3 license on GitHub. Anyone can inspect the code, verify privacy claims, contribute improvements, or fork the project. This transparency builds trust—you're not taking the company's word about data handling because you can read exactly what the software does.

Self-Hosting Options:

• Community Edition: Free, open-source version for self-hosting
• Docker Support: Easy deployment with Docker containers
• Complete Control: Manage data storage location, retention policies, server configuration
• All Features Available: Self-hosted version includes everything from paid cloud
• No Vendor Lock-In: Export data and migrate between cloud/self-hosted anytime

Self-hosting requires technical expertise to maintain servers, apply security updates, manage backups, and ensure high availability. For most users, the cloud-hosted version provides the same features with professional infrastructure management, automatic updates, and guaranteed uptime for less than the cost of running your own servers.

Integrations and Compatibility

Plausible integrates smoothly with modern web platforms through official plugins and simple script installation:

• WordPress Plugin: Official integration without editing theme files
• Ghost Integration: Native support through theme settings
• Website Builders: Webflow, Carrd, Wix, Squarespace via custom code injection
• Static Site Generators: Next.js, Gatsby, Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy support
• Framework Packages: Typed components for React, Vue, Svelte developers
• Shopify: E-commerce tracking with conversion rates by traffic source
• Google Search Console: Import organic search query data directly
• Cloudflare Proxy: Serve script from your own domain to bypass ad blockers

Google Analytics Import

Switching from Google Analytics doesn't mean losing historical data. Plausible's import tool connects to your Google Analytics account (both Universal Analytics and GA4) and imports historical pageview data, traffic sources, popular pages, and geographic information. This preserves years of past performance data for comparison, letting you analyze long-term trends without abandoning context when migrating analytics platforms.

Run both Plausible and Google Analytics simultaneously during the transition period to verify data accuracy and ensure your team adjusts to the simpler interface. This side-by-side operation reveals how Plausible's privacy-first approach (no cookie tracking, no ad blocker issues) often captures more accurate visitor counts than Google Analytics, whose scripts are frequently blocked by privacy tools and browser extensions.

Advanced Features

Beyond basic pageview tracking, Plausible's modular script extensions enable specialized tracking without bloating the core script:

• 404 Error Tracking: Automatically log broken pages and referring URLs
• Outbound Link Tracking: Monitor clicks on external links and affiliate links
• File Download Tracking: Count PDF, ZIP, ebook, and software downloads
• Search Query Tracking: Capture internal site search queries
• Hash-Based Routing: Track SPAs (React, Vue, Angular) route changes
• Excluded Pages: Filter out admin pages or staging URLs
• Localhost Tracking: Test analytics in development environments

Data Retention and Storage

Plausible retains your analytics data for as long as you maintain an active subscription—access historical stats from years ago to analyze long-term trends, seasonal patterns, and growth trajectories. If you cancel your subscription, data is automatically deleted after a grace period, ensuring your analytics information doesn't persist on servers you're no longer paying for.

• Long-Term Access: Historical data available for the lifetime of your subscription
• Complete Export: Download all analytics history anytime via CSV or API
• Self-Hosted Control: Manage backup schedules and retention policies directly
• GDPR Deletion: Complete data removal available on request
• No Vendor Lock-In: Export and migrate data anytime without restrictions

Team Collaboration

Plausible supports unlimited team members with role-based permissions:

• Admin Role: Control billing and site settings
• Editor Role: Manage goals and integrations
• Viewer Role: Read-only access to statistics
• Site-Specific Permissions: Grant access to individual sites only
• Public Dashboards: Share read-only dashboards with shareable URLs
• Password Protection: Protect shared dashboards with passwords
• Embeddable Dashboards: Embed analytics in your own admin panels

For agencies managing client sites, grant each client access to only their specific site's analytics while maintaining central oversight across all properties. Numerous open-source projects, SaaS companies, and digital agencies publicly share their Plausible dashboards to demonstrate traffic transparency and build trust.

Pricing Plans

Simple, transparent pricing based on monthly page views:

Growth Plan - $9/month:

• Up to 10,000 monthly page views
• Unlimited websites
• All features included
• Email support
• 30-day free trial

Business Plan - $19/month:

• Up to 100,000 monthly page views
• All Growth features
• Priority support
• Google Search Console integration

Enterprise Plans:

• $69/month: 1M page views
• $149/month: 2M page views
• $299/month: 5M page views
• $599/month: 10M page views
• Custom: 50M+ page views available

Self-Hosted (Community Edition):

• Free and open-source
• Host on your own infrastructure
• All features available
• Community support

Comparison to Google Analytics

The contrast between Plausible and Google Analytics reveals fundamentally different philosophies:

Technical Differences: Google Analytics ships 45KB of JavaScript compared to Plausible's 1.6KB—making Plausible 45 times lighter. This size difference directly impacts page load speed: GA adds noticeable delay especially on mobile connections, while Plausible's script loads imperceptibly. Google Analytics requires cookie consent banners across the EU because it tracks visitors across sites and collects personal data for advertising purposes. Plausible requires no consent banner because it doesn't use cookies, doesn't track individuals, and doesn't share data with advertisers.

User Experience: Google Analytics presents dozens of reports across multiple navigation sections requiring extensive training to use effectively. Finding a simple answer like "which blog post got the most traffic last week" involves navigating through Behavior > Site Content > All Pages, applying date filters, and sorting columns. Plausible shows the same information instantly on its single-page dashboard—scroll to Top Pages, select last week, and you're done. Setup time mirrors this complexity gap: Google Analytics requires hours of configuration with Tag Manager, goal definitions, and filtering rules. Plausible needs one script tag added to your site header—functional analytics in under five minutes.

Privacy and Ownership: Google Analytics exists to feed Google's advertising empire with behavioral data about your visitors. Google owns this data, uses it across its network, and can discontinue or radically change the service as it did migrating from Universal Analytics to GA4. Plausible is open source with transparent code on GitHub, hosts data in EU privacy-compliant infrastructure, gives you complete data ownership with full export capabilities, and charges for analytics directly rather than monetizing visitor tracking.

Documentation and Support

Plausible's documentation covers everything from basic setup to advanced API integration:

• Platform Guides: Step-by-step tutorials for WordPress, Ghost, Next.js, Gatsby, Webflow, Shopify
• API Documentation: Complete endpoint reference with example requests in multiple languages
• Video Tutorials: Visual guides for common workflows
• Blog: Analytics best practices, privacy law updates, customer case studies
• Email Support: Responsive support on all paid plans
• Priority Support: Faster response times on higher-tier plans
• GitHub Issues: Public bug tracking and feature requests
• Community Forum: Deployment assistance and troubleshooting for self-hosted users

Ideal Use Cases

Plausible serves diverse analytics needs with a privacy-first approach:

Privacy-Conscious Businesses: European websites particularly benefit from automatic GDPR compliance—no cookie banners cluttering the user experience, no data protection officer consultations about analytics, no worries about Privacy Shield invalidation or transatlantic data transfer regulations. Bloggers and content creators get essential traffic metrics (popular posts, referral sources, reader locations) without drowning in dozens of unused reports and configuration options.

Startups and SaaS Companies: Track product adoption, feature usage, and conversion funnels ethically without surveillance capitalism implications. The lightweight 1.6KB script prevents analytics from becoming a performance bottleneck as you optimize load times and Core Web Vitals for better search rankings and user experience.

Digital Agencies: Managing multiple client sites becomes seamless with unlimited site tracking, client-specific permissions, and public dashboard sharing that demonstrates transparency without manual report generation. The pricing model works beautifully for agencies: one account covers all clients, billing based on combined traffic rather than per-site fees.

Open Source Projects: Self-host Plausible for free, maintaining complete control over documentation site analytics, download tracking, and community statistics without depending on closed-source platforms or feeding visitor data to advertising networks. Non-profit organizations operate ethically with affordable analytics that respect donor and volunteer privacy.