Plausible Analytics

Plausible Analytics is a privacy-first, open-source web analytics tool founded in 2019 and based in Tallinn, Estonia. It was created as a direct response to the growing concerns about Google Analytics' invasive data collection practices and the complexity of GDPR compliance. Plausible offers a fundamentally different approach to web analytics: one that respects visitor privacy while still providing website owners with the actionable insights they need.

Why Privacy-First Analytics Matters

The traditional model of web analytics, exemplified by Google Analytics, involves extensive tracking of individual users across websites. This includes setting cookies, collecting IP addresses, building user profiles, and sharing data with advertising networks. This approach has been increasingly challenged by privacy regulations like GDPR and ePrivacy, which require explicit user consent for such tracking. The result is that many websites now display intrusive cookie consent banners that degrade the user experience.

Plausible eliminates this problem entirely. By not using cookies and not collecting personal data, Plausible does not require a cookie consent banner under GDPR or ePrivacy regulations. This is not a legal interpretation but a technical reality: Plausible simply does not set any cookies and does not collect any data that could be used to identify individual visitors. This makes compliance straightforward and removes friction from the user experience.

Lightweight Script and Performance

One of Plausible's most compelling technical features is its incredibly lightweight tracking script. At less than 1KB in size, Plausible's script is approximately 45 times smaller than Google Analytics' tracking code. This is not a trivial difference. For websites that care about page load speed, Core Web Vitals scores, and SEO rankings, the impact of analytics scripts on performance matters significantly.

The Plausible script loads asynchronously and does not block page rendering. It makes a single HTTP request to record a pageview, compared to the multiple requests and trackers that Google Analytics loads. For mobile users on slower connections, this difference is even more pronounced. Several independent benchmarks have shown that replacing Google Analytics with Plausible can measurably improve page load times.

Dashboard and Metrics

Plausible takes an opinionated approach to analytics by focusing on the metrics that matter most to website owners. Instead of overwhelming users with hundreds of reports and configuration options like Google Analytics, Plausible provides a clean, single-page dashboard that shows key metrics at a glance: unique visitors, total pageviews, bounce rate, visit duration, top pages, top referral sources, geographic breakdown, and device/browser information.

While this simplicity is Plausible's strength, it also means that advanced analytics users accustomed to Google Analytics' deep segmentation, custom dimensions, and complex funnel analysis may find Plausible's feature set limiting. However, for the vast majority of website owners who use only a fraction of Google Analytics' capabilities, Plausible provides all the essential data they need without the complexity.

Goals, Events, and Custom Properties

Plausible supports goal tracking and custom event tracking, allowing you to measure conversions and specific user interactions. You can track events like button clicks, form submissions, file downloads, and outbound link clicks. Custom properties (similar to custom dimensions in Google Analytics) let you attach additional metadata to events for more granular analysis.

The funnel analysis feature, introduced more recently, allows you to define multi-step conversion paths and see where visitors drop off. While not as sophisticated as Google Analytics' funnel visualization, it covers the most common use cases for understanding user journeys on your website.

Self-Hosting Option

As an open-source project licensed under AGPL, Plausible can be self-hosted for free. The self-hosted version is functionally identical to the cloud version, giving you complete control over your data. Plausible provides Docker-based deployment scripts that make self-hosting relatively straightforward for users with basic server administration skills. The self-hosted option is particularly popular with organizations that have strict data sovereignty requirements or want to avoid any third-party data processing.

For those who prefer not to manage their own infrastructure, the cloud-hosted version starts at 9 euros per month for up to 10,000 monthly pageviews, with pricing scaling based on traffic volume. This pricing model is transparent and predictable, unlike Google Analytics which is free but monetizes your visitors' data through advertising.

Integration and API

Plausible offers a comprehensive API that allows you to access your analytics data programmatically. This enables integration with dashboards, reporting tools, and automated workflows. The API supports querying all the metrics available in the Plausible dashboard, making it suitable for building custom analytics solutions.

Plausible also integrates with popular platforms and tools including WordPress (via an official plugin), Ghost, Carrd, and many others. The simple script-based installation means that Plausible can be added to virtually any website regardless of the technology stack.