Plausible

What it is

Plausible is an open-source, privacy-first web analytics platform, as shown on the Plausible homepage. The project README describes it as a lightweight, cookie-free alternative to Google Analytics. It does not use cookies or store persistent visitor identifiers, and the homepage states that no cookie banner is required. The Plausible documentation describes one dashboard with the main stats and no sub-menus, including channels and sources.

When it fits

Plausible fits website owners, independent publishers, and digital product teams who want traffic and referral insights from one lightweight script, as described in the Plausible documentation. The managed cloud service is EU-hosted, according to the Plausible homepage, and the open-source Community Edition can be self-hosted, as outlined in the project repository.

What to watch

On the managed cloud service, paid plans are based on pageview usage. If a paid subscription lapses without renewal, Plausible stops collecting new stats and eventually permanently deletes the team's dashboards and stats, according to the Plausible terms of service. Teams self-hosting the Community Edition run it on their own server without premium support, and it follows a slower release cycle than the cloud service, as described in the project repository.