Plausible Analytics
Privacy-first web analytics — simple, cookieless, and GDPR-compliant
From $9/mo
What is Plausible Analytics?
Plausible Analytics is an open-source, privacy-first web analytics platform that collects only the data you need — without cookies, without personal data tracking, and without the GDPR consent banners required by Google Analytics. The entire platform is built as a lightweight, fast alternative for websites that want meaningful traffic insights without the privacy trade-offs of Google Analytics.
The Plausible script weighs under 1KB (compared to GA4's ~17KB), which means faster page loads. It tracks pageviews, referral sources, device types, countries, and custom goals — the metrics that matter for most content and marketing teams — on a single clean dashboard. Because it does not use cookies or fingerprinting, it does not require a cookie consent banner, which itself often improves measured conversion rates. Plausible is EU-hosted (Germany), open-source, and can be self-hosted for complete data ownership. For publishers, bloggers, SaaS landing pages, and European e-commerce stores, Plausible is the cleanest GA4 alternative available.
Key Features
- Cookieless Tracking (no consent banner needed)
- GDPR/CCPA Compliant by Design
- Custom Goal Tracking
- Referral & UTM Source Tracking
- Device & Country Analytics
- Real-Time Dashboard
- Custom Events
- Funnel Conversion Tracking
- Self-Hosting Option (open source)
- Email & Slack Reports
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No cookie consent banner needed — fully GDPR compliant
- Script under 1KB — faster page loads than GA4
- Clean, single-page dashboard anyone can read in 5 minutes
- Open source with self-hosting option for complete data ownership
Cons
- No free plan — $9/mo minimum
- Less data depth than GA4 — no funnel complexity or behavioral analysis
- Not suitable for SaaS product analytics (use Mixpanel or Amplitude)
- No user-level session data or recordings
Pricing
Model: Subscription (by monthly pageviews)
| Plan | Price | Key Limits |
|---|---|---|
| 10K pageviews | $9/mo | Up to 10,000 monthly pageviews |
| 100K pageviews | $19/mo | Up to 100,000 monthly pageviews |
| 200K pageviews | $29/mo | Up to 200,000 monthly pageviews |
| 1M pageviews | $69/mo | Up to 1,000,000 monthly pageviews |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Plausible require a cookie consent banner?
- No. Plausible does not use cookies or collect personal data, so it does not require a GDPR cookie consent banner. This is one of its most valued features — removing the consent banner often increases measured conversion rates because fewer users bounce before accepting.
- Can I self-host Plausible?
- Yes. Plausible is open source and can be self-hosted on your own server. Self-hosting gives you complete data ownership with no monthly fee beyond server costs. The self-hosted version is functionally identical to the cloud version.
- Is Plausible as accurate as Google Analytics?
- Plausible often reports higher traffic numbers than GA4, because it captures visitors who have ad blockers or who reject GA4's cookie consent. Plausible is not blocked by most ad blockers. The data is different but arguably more complete.