How to Set Up Plausible Analytics in 10 Minutes

You’ve decided to try Plausible Analytics — good choice. Now let’s get it running on your website. The whole process takes about 10 minutes, and you don’t need any technical expertise.

This guide covers everything: creating your account, adding the tracking script, setting up goals, and verifying that data flows correctly.

Infographic showing 6 steps to set up Plausible Analytics — The complete Plausible setup process — just 6 simple steps.

What You’ll Need

Access to your website’s HTML (or a CMS like WordPress, Webflow, etc.)
An email address for your Plausible account
10 minutes of uninterrupted time

That’s it. No developer required, no complex configuration.

Step 1: Create Your Plausible Account

Head to plausible.io/register and create an account. Plausible offers a 30-day free trial — no credit card required.

Enter your email and choose a password. You’ll receive a confirmation email. Click the link to verify your account.

Privacy note: Plausible stores your account data in the EU and doesn’t share it with third parties. You can read their privacy policy — it’s refreshingly short.

Step 2: Add Your Website

After logging in, Plausible will prompt you to add your first website. Enter your domain name — just the domain, without https:// or trailing slashes.

Examples:

Correct: example.com
Correct: blog.example.com (for subdomains)
Wrong: https://example.com
Wrong: example.com/

Choose your timezone. This determines how Plausible groups data by day — pick the timezone where most of your visitors are located, or your business timezone.

Step 3: Install the Tracking Script

Plausible will show you a small snippet of code. It looks like this:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>

Infographic explaining the tracking script structure — Understanding the Plausible tracking script — each part has a purpose.

This script is:

Under 1 KB — the smallest analytics script available
Loaded with defer — won’t block your page from rendering
Cookie-free — no consent banner needed

Add this script to the <head> section of every page you want to track. How you do this depends on your platform.

WordPress

The easiest method: install the official Plausible Analytics plugin.

Go to Plugins → Add New
Search for “Plausible Analytics”
Install and activate the plugin
Go to Settings → Plausible Analytics
Enter your domain name
Save changes

Done. The plugin handles everything automatically.

Alternative: If you prefer not to use a plugin, add the script manually via your theme’s header.php file or use a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers.

Static HTML

Open your HTML file and paste the script inside the <head> tag:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Your Page</title>
    <script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Your content -->
</body>
</html>

Other Platforms

Plausible has integration guides for most platforms:

Check the full documentation for your specific platform.

Step 4: Verify Installation

After installing the script, visit your website in a new browser tab. Then check your Plausible dashboard — you should see yourself as a visitor within a few seconds.

Not seeing data? Common issues:

Ad blocker enabled: Some ad blockers block Plausible. Try disabling it temporarily or use a different browser.
Caching: If your site uses caching, clear the cache after adding the script.
Wrong domain: Double-check that the data-domain in your script matches exactly what you entered in Plausible.
Script not in <head>: Make sure the script is inside the <head> section, not <body>.

You can also use your browser’s Developer Tools (F12) → Network tab to verify the script loads. Look for a request to plausible.io/js/script.js.

Step 5: Set Up Goals (Optional but Recommended)

Goals let you track specific actions: button clicks, form submissions, signups, purchases. This is where analytics becomes actually useful for decision-making.

Plausible supports two types of goals:

Comparison of two types of goals in Plausible — Plausible offers two ways to track conversions — choose based on what you need to measure.

Pageview Goals

Track visits to specific pages — like a “Thank You” page after form submission.

In Plausible, go to your site settings → Goals
Click “Add Goal”
Select “Pageview”
Enter the page path: /thank-you
Save

Now every visit to /thank-you is tracked as a conversion.

Custom Event Goals

Track specific interactions like button clicks or form submissions.

First, create the goal in Plausible:

Go to site settings → Goals
Click “Add Goal”
Select “Custom Event”
Enter event name: Signup
Save

Then trigger the event from your website. Add this JavaScript where the action happens:

// When user clicks signup button
document.getElementById('signup-button').addEventListener('click', function() {
    plausible('Signup');
});

For detailed examples, see Plausible’s custom events documentation.

Step 6: Enable Additional Features

Plausible offers optional script extensions for additional tracking. These features require a slightly different script URL.

Track Outbound Links

Automatically track clicks on links to external websites:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.outbound-links.js"></script>

Track File Downloads

Track downloads of PDFs, ZIPs, and other files:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.file-downloads.js"></script>

Combine Multiple Extensions

Want both? Combine them:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.outbound-links.file-downloads.js"></script>

See all available extensions in the script extensions documentation.

What You’ll See in Your Dashboard

Once data starts flowing, your Plausible dashboard shows everything on one screen:

Overview of metrics shown in Plausible dashboard — The Plausible dashboard — all your key metrics visible at a glance, no clicking through menus.

Unique visitors — individual people visiting your site
Total pageviews — all page loads
Bounce rate — visitors who leave after one page
Visit duration — average time on site
Top pages — most visited content
Top sources — where visitors come from (Google, Twitter, direct, etc.)
Locations — countries and cities
Devices — desktop, mobile, tablet
Browsers — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.

All on one screen. No clicking through endless menus.

Common Questions

Do I need a cookie consent banner?

No. Plausible doesn’t use cookies and doesn’t collect personal data. It’s GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant without consent banners.

Will it slow down my website?

No. The script is under 1 KB and loads asynchronously with defer. It has zero impact on Core Web Vitals.

Can I share the dashboard publicly?

Yes. Go to site settings → Visibility → make it public. You’ll get a shareable link like plausible.io/yourdomain.com. See Plausible’s own public dashboard as an example.

How accurate is it compared to Google Analytics?

Often more accurate. Since Plausible doesn’t require cookies, it isn’t blocked by privacy tools as aggressively. You’ll likely see more visitors in Plausible than in traditional analytics tools. Read Plausible’s analysis of data accuracy.

Next Steps

Your analytics are now running. Here’s what to do next:

Wait 24-48 hours for meaningful data to accumulate
Set up goals for your most important conversions
Enable email reports — get weekly stats in your inbox (Settings → Email Reports)
Invite team members if needed (Settings → People)
Connect to Slack or other tools via the Plausible API

That’s it. You now have privacy-friendly analytics running on your website — no cookies, no consent banners, no complexity. Your visitors stay private, and you get the data you need to make decisions.

Not sure if Plausible is the right tool for you? Read our comparison of Plausible, Fathom, and Matomo to see how they stack up.