| Product | Plausible Analytics |
| Website | plausible.io |
| Category | Web Analytics |
| License | AGPLv3 (open source) |
| Pricing | From $9/mo (10K pageviews), self-hosted free |
What Is Plausible?
Plausible is a lightweight, privacy-friendly web analytics tool. No cookies, no personal data collection, GDPR compliant by design. The script is under 1KB (compared to Google Analytics at ~45KB), loads from a single file, and shows you the metrics that actually matter: visitors, pageviews, sources, and goals.
The pitch is simple: Google Analytics is overkill for most websites, invasive for users, and requires a cookie consent banner in the EU. Plausible gives you the traffic metrics you need without any of that overhead.
Key Features
No Cookies, No Consent Banners
Plausible doesn’t use cookies and doesn’t track personal data. Under GDPR, ePrivacy, and PECR, you don’t need a consent banner. Visitors are counted using a hash of the IP address plus a rotating daily salt — enough for unique visitor counts without identifying anyone.
One-Page Dashboard
Everything on one page: visitors over time, top pages, traffic sources, countries, devices, and goals. No training needed, no report builder, no segments to configure. Open the dashboard and see your traffic. The simplicity is intentional — you see what matters without clicking through tabs.
Lightweight Script
The tracking script is under 1KB. It adds zero perceptible load time to your pages. For sites that care about performance (and every site should), Plausible’s footprint is effectively invisible. Compare this to Google Analytics, which loads multiple scripts totaling 45KB+ and sets multiple cookies.
Self-Hosted Option
Run Plausible on your own infrastructure with Docker. Your data stays on your servers. For organizations with strict data residency requirements, self-hosting means complete control over where traffic data lives.
Who Is This For?
- Website owners who want simple traffic metrics
- Anyone who wants to avoid cookie consent banners
- Privacy-conscious businesses and developers
- Sites that care about page load performance
Pros
- No cookies, no consent banners needed
- Under 1KB tracking script
- Simple, one-page dashboard
- Open source (AGPLv3)
- Self-hosted option
- GDPR/CCPA compliant by design
Cons
- No advanced analytics (funnels, cohorts, custom dimensions)
- No free tier (starts at $9/mo)
- AGPLv3 limits commercial embedding
- Can’t match Google Analytics depth
- No mobile app
Verdict
Plausible is the best privacy-friendly analytics tool for websites that need traffic metrics without the overhead of Google Analytics. The no-cookie approach eliminates consent banners, the 1KB script doesn’t affect page speed, and the one-page dashboard shows you what you need without training.
For e-commerce sites, SaaS products with complex funnels, or teams that need custom analytics, Plausible is too simple. It’s designed for the 80% of websites that just want to know how many people visit, where they come from, and which pages they read.