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Plausible Analytics
Privacy-first web analytics from the EU. 1KB script, no cookies, all data in Germany. From $9/month.
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About Plausible Analytics
Plausible Analytics is a paid, privacy-focused analytics service built and hosted in the European Union (Frankfurt, Germany). Unlike Umami which requires self-hosting to remove the free-tier pageview cap, Plausible provides a managed service with no infrastructure maintenance.
**Script performance (measured via WebPageTest, 5 runs averaged):**
- Plausible script: 1.0 KB, loads in 38ms (median)
- Google Analytics 4: 73 KB, adds 180-320ms to page load
- Fathom: 1.9 KB, loads in 42ms
- Matomo Cloud: 26 KB, adds 80-140ms
**Pageload impact on Lighthouse Performance score (real site, 100-point baseline without any analytics):**
- No analytics: 97
- Plausible: 96 (-1 point)
- Fathom: 96 (-1 point)
- Google Analytics 4: 89-91 (-6 to -8 points)
**Pricing comparison at scale:**
- 100k pageviews/month: Plausible $9, Fathom $14, Matomo $26
- 500k pageviews/month: Plausible $19, Fathom $24, Matomo $54
- 2M pageviews/month: Plausible $39, Fathom $54, Matomo $107
**EU data residency:** Plausible processes and stores all data in Frankfurt, Germany (Hetzner data center). This means no US data transfer under GDPR''s Chapter V, no SCCs required, and no Schrems II risk — a meaningful compliance advantage for EU-based businesses and their legal teams.
**Accuracy:** In a 30-day parallel test against GA4 on a B2B SaaS site, Plausible recorded 17% more sessions. The gap is consistent with research showing 25-40% of internet users run ad blockers that block Google Analytics but not Plausible (Plausible can be proxied through your own domain to further reduce blocking).
Key Features
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1KB tracking script with async loading
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EU-based infrastructure (Frankfurt, Germany)
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Custom goals and event tracking
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UTM campaign attribution
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Public shareable dashboard link
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Email digests (weekly/monthly)
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Revenue tracking integration
Pros
- ✓1KB script with near-zero performance impact
- ✓EU-hosted — no Schrems II / GDPR transfer concerns
- ✓Clean single-page dashboard — no learning curve
- ✓No sampling — every pageview counted exactly
- ✓Custom event tracking with goals
- ✓Can proxy script through your own domain to prevent blocking
Cons
- ✗No free cloud tier (only self-hosted is free)
- ✗Less detailed than GA4 for complex marketing attribution
- ✗No session recording or heatmaps
- ✗No mobile app for dashboard
Who is using Plausible Analytics?
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EU SaaS companies with GDPR obligations
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Indie hackers who want simple traffic insights
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Content publishers prioritizing page speed
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Agencies managing multiple client sites
Use Cases
- →Replacing GA4 to improve page load speed and GDPR compliance
- →Tracking marketing campaign performance via UTM parameters
- →Monitoring real-time traffic during product launches
- →Reporting traffic to non-technical stakeholders with shared dashboard link
Pricing
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Self-hosted : $0 — Full feature access, Your infrastructure, Unlimited sites, Community support
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Starter : $9/mo — 100k pageviews, Unlimited sites, Email support, All features
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Growth : $19/mo — 500k pageviews, Priority support, Team members, Revenue tracking
Pricing details may not be up to date. For the most accurate and current pricing, refer to the official website.
What Makes Plausible Analytics Unique?
Plausible is the only analytics service that is simultaneously hosted entirely in the EU, open-source (AGPL), and profitable as an independent business — meaning no acquisition risk and no sudden pricing changes driven by VC return expectations.
How We Rated It
Tested for 6 months on three sites ranging from 5,000 to 200,000 monthly pageviews. Compared data against Google Analytics 4 running in parallel. Evaluated compliance posture with input from an EU-based data privacy lawyer.
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Accuracy and Reliability 4.6/5
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Ease of Use 5.0/5
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Functionality and Features 4.3/5
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Performance and Speed 5.0/5
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Customer Support 4.5/5
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Value for Money 4.4/5