You want website analytics. You don’t want to spy on your visitors or deal with cookie consent banners. Good news: you have options.
Plausible, Fathom, and Matomo are the three most popular privacy-friendly analytics tools. All three let you track page views, referrals, and conversions without dropping cookies or collecting personal data. But they’re not interchangeable.
This guide breaks down what each tool does, how much it costs, and who it’s best for — so you can pick the right one without second-guessing.
Why Consider Privacy-Friendly Analytics?
Traditional analytics tools (you know the one) collect enormous amounts of data, require cookie consent banners, and send your visitors’ information to third-party servers. That’s a problem for three reasons:
- Legal compliance. GDPR, CCPA, and similar regulations make consent management complex and risky. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has issued significant fines for non-compliance.
- User trust. Visitors increasingly block trackers or bounce when they see intrusive consent popups. According to Electronic Frontier Foundation, tracking erodes user trust.
- Data ownership. Your analytics data lives on someone else’s servers, subject to their terms.
Privacy-friendly analytics tools solve this by collecting only what you need, skipping cookies entirely, and keeping data either on your own servers or in privacy-respecting cloud infrastructure.
The result: accurate analytics, no consent banners, and happier visitors.
Quick Comparison Overview
| Feature | Plausible | Fathom | Matomo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud or Self-hosted |
| Cookie-free | Yes | Yes | Yes (configurable) |
| Open source | Yes | No | Yes |
| Script size | ~1 KB | ~2 KB | ~22 KB |
| Starting price | $9/mo | $15/mo | Free (self-hosted) or $23/mo |
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom events | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ecommerce tracking | Basic | Basic | Advanced |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| White-label | No | Yes | Yes (self-hosted) |
Plausible Analytics
Plausible is a lightweight, open-source analytics tool built in the EU. It’s designed to be the simplest possible alternative to traditional analytics — and it delivers.
What It Does Best
Simplicity. The dashboard fits on one screen. No navigation menus, no nested reports, no training required. You see page views, visitors, referrers, countries, devices, and goals — all at once.
Lightweight script. At under 1 KB, Plausible’s tracking script is the smallest of the three. That matters for page speed and Core Web Vitals — Google’s metrics for user experience.
Transparent development. Plausible is fully open source on GitHub. You can inspect the code, self-host if you want, or trust their EU-based cloud. Read their privacy policy — it’s refreshingly short.
Pricing
Starts at $9/month for up to 10K monthly page views. Check their pricing page for current rates. Annual billing saves roughly 2 months.
Self-hosting is free but requires your own server and maintenance. See their self-hosting documentation.
Who It’s For
Plausible fits content sites, blogs, SaaS marketing pages, and small businesses that want clean data without complexity. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by analytics dashboards, Plausible is the antidote.
Not ideal if you need advanced segmentation, full e-commerce tracking, or granular user-level data.
Fathom Analytics
Fathom positions itself as “digital analytics that doesn’t compromise visitor privacy.” It’s a commercial product (not open source) with a polished experience and strong infrastructure.
What It Does Best
Reliability at scale. Fathom handles high-traffic sites without breaking a sweat. Their infrastructure is battle-tested, and they offer an uptime guarantee.
Intelligent bot filtering. Fathom aggressively filters bot traffic, giving you cleaner data out of the box. They explain their approach in their bot filtering documentation.
White-label option. You can use a custom domain for tracking, which helps with ad-blocker bypass and brand consistency.
Pricing
Starts at $15/month for up to 100K page views. See Fathom pricing for details. More expensive than Plausible at lower traffic levels, but the pricing scales reasonably for high-traffic sites.
No self-hosted option — cloud only.
Who It’s For
Fathom works well for agencies, SaaS products, and established businesses that value reliability and polish. The white-label feature is particularly useful for client work.
Not ideal if you want open-source, need self-hosting, or want the absolute lowest price.
Matomo
Matomo (formerly Piwik) is the veteran of the privacy analytics space. It’s been around since 2007 and offers the most features of any privacy-friendly analytics tool.
What It Does Best
Feature depth. Matomo offers heatmaps, session recordings, A/B testing, form analytics, funnels, cohorts, and full e-commerce tracking. If you need it, Matomo probably has it.
Self-hosting. Matomo’s self-hosted version is completely free and gives you full control over your data. No page view limits, no monthly fees — just your server costs.
Migration from GA. Matomo can import historical data from Google Analytics, making migration smoother.
Pricing
- Self-hosted: Free forever. You pay only for hosting. Installation guide.
- Cloud: Starts at $23/month for 50K hits. See Matomo Cloud pricing. Additional features (heatmaps, A/B tests) cost extra.
Who It’s For
Matomo is the choice for enterprises, e-commerce sites, and teams that need advanced analytics without giving up privacy. The self-hosted option appeals to organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements.
Not ideal if you want simplicity. Matomo’s dashboard has more features than many teams will ever use, and the learning curve is steeper than Plausible or Fathom.
Feature-by-Feature Breakdown
| Capability | Plausible | Fathom | Matomo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard simplicity | Excellent | Very good | Moderate |
| Real-time data | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Goal/conversion tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes (advanced) |
| Custom events | Yes (simple) | Yes (simple) | Yes (advanced) |
| E-commerce tracking | Revenue only | Revenue only | Full |
| Funnels | No | No | Yes |
| Heatmaps | No | No | Yes (paid) |
| Session recordings | No | No | Yes (paid) |
| A/B testing | No | No | Yes (paid) |
| API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | CSV, API | CSV, API | CSV, API, SQL |
| Ad-blocker resistance | Moderate | Good | Good (self-hosted) |
Which One Should You Pick?
Choose Plausible if:
- You want the simplest possible analytics
- Page speed matters (smallest script)
- You prefer open-source tools
- Your budget is tight but you don’t want to self-host
Choose Fathom if:
- You need white-label analytics for clients
- Reliability and uptime are critical
- You want polished UX without managing infrastructure
- You’re willing to pay more for a premium experience
Choose Matomo if:
- You need advanced features (funnels, heatmaps, A/B tests)
- You want to self-host for full data control
- You’re migrating from Google Analytics and want a similar feature set
- You run an e-commerce site with complex tracking needs
My Recommendation
For most websites — blogs, SaaS marketing pages, small business sites — Plausible is the best starting point. It’s simple, affordable, and gets out of your way.
If you’re running an agency or need white-label features, Fathom is worth the premium.
If you need serious analytics firepower and want to own your data completely, Matomo self-hosted is unbeatable on value.
All three respect your visitors’ privacy. You can’t go wrong — but you can pick the one that fits your needs better.
Further Reading
- Why Google Analytics is illegal in some EU countries — Plausible Blog
- GDPR and Google Analytics: What you need to know — Matomo Blog
- Google Analytics and GDPR compliance — CNIL (French Data Protection Authority)