Plausible vs Umami vs Fathom Analytics 2026
Google Analytics 4 Drove Developers Away
Google Analytics 4 launched with a completely redesigned interface, a different data model than Universal Analytics, and a privacy posture that requires cookie consent banners across the EU. For developer blogs, SaaS marketing sites, and small web projects, GA4 became overkill — complex to configure, consent banner required, and far more data collected than most sites need.
The privacy-first analytics market responded. Plausible, Umami, and Fathom all share the same core proposition: cookieless tracking (no consent banner required in most jurisdictions), a simple one-page dashboard with the metrics you actually want, and full GDPR/CCPA compliance by default.
The differences are in pricing model, self-hosting options, feature depth, and philosophical approach to data ownership.
TL;DR
Plausible is the best all-around choice for most developer-built sites — open-source (AGPL), self-hostable, excellent dashboard, strong funnel and goal tracking, starting at $9/month cloud or free self-hosted. Umami is the right choice for self-hosters who want the most powerful free option — MIT-licensed, unlimited sites, unlimited events, and a feature set that has grown significantly in recent versions. Fathom is the cloud-only premium option for teams that don't want to think about self-hosting — simpler, faster to set up, and unlimited sites on all plans, but more expensive and closed-source.
Key Takeaways
- Plausible starts at $9/month for 10K pageviews/month — AGPL licensed with a self-hostable Community Edition that's free to run yourself.
- Umami Cloud's free tier includes 1M events/month — the most generous free tier in the privacy analytics market. Self-hosted Umami (MIT license) is completely free with no event limits.
- Fathom starts at $15/month for 100K pageviews across unlimited sites — closed-source, cloud-only, no self-host option.
- All three are cookieless — no cookie consent banner required in most EU jurisdictions (verify with your legal team for specific requirements).
- Plausible is AGPL; Umami is MIT — the MIT license means you can use Umami commercially and modify it without releasing your changes. AGPL requires releasing changes if you distribute the software.
- Script size matters for performance: Plausible's script is ~1KB; Umami's is ~2KB; Fathom's is ~3KB. All are dramatically smaller than Google Analytics (45KB+).
- Self-hosted Plausible requires more setup than Umami — Plausible uses PostgreSQL + Clickhouse; Umami uses a single PostgreSQL or MySQL database.
Pricing Comparison
| Platform | Free Tier | Cloud Paid Starting | Self-Host | Open-Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plausible | No (30-day trial) | $9/month (10K PV) | Yes (AGPL) | Yes (AGPL) |
| Umami | Yes (1M events/month) | $9/month (cloud) | Yes (MIT) | Yes (MIT) |
| Fathom | No (trial) | $15/month (100K PV) | No | No |
| Simple Analytics | No | $9/month | No | Partial |
| Matomo | Self-host only | Free (self-host) | Yes | Yes |
Plausible
Best for: All-around best cloud option, developer-focused, self-hosting if data ownership matters
Plausible is the most feature-complete privacy-first analytics tool — goal tracking, funnel analysis, custom event properties, public dashboard option, and a UI that product and marketing teams actually understand. The AGPL license means the source is available, and the Community Edition is self-hostable (though the setup is more involved than Umami).
Pricing
| Plan | Cost | Pageviews/Month |
|---|---|---|
| 10K | $9/month | 10,000 |
| 100K | $19/month | 100,000 |
| 200K | $29/month | 200,000 |
| 1M | $69/month | 1,000,000 |
| 2M+ | Custom | 2M+ |
All plans include unlimited websites, team members, and data retention.
Installation
<!-- Add to your <head> — ~1KB, no cookies, no consent required -->
<script defer data-domain="yoursite.com"
src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js">
</script>
Custom Events
// Track conversions and custom events
// Using the plausible() function (injected by the script)
// Simple event
plausible("Signup Completed");
// Event with properties
plausible("Plan Upgraded", {
props: {
plan: "professional",
interval: "monthly",
amount: 29.99,
},
});
// Outbound link clicks
plausible("Outbound Link: Click", {
props: { url: "https://github.com/your-org/repo" }
});
// File downloads
document.querySelectorAll("a[href$='.pdf']").forEach(link => {
link.addEventListener("click", () => {
plausible("File Download", { props: { file: link.href } });
});
});
Goals and Funnels
// Plausible supports multi-step funnels
// Define goals in the Plausible dashboard:
// Goal 1: Visit /pricing
// Goal 2: Visit /signup
// Goal 3: Custom event "Signup Completed"
// Goal 4: Custom event "Plan Upgraded"
// Plausible shows conversion rates between each step
// No additional code required beyond the event calls above
API Integration
# Plausible Stats API — pull data programmatically
curl "https://plausible.io/api/v1/stats/aggregate" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $PLAUSIBLE_API_KEY" \
-G \
-d "site_id=yoursite.com" \
-d "period=30d" \
-d "metrics=visitors,pageviews,bounce_rate,visit_duration"
# Response:
# {
# "results": {
# "visitors": {"value": 12430},
# "pageviews": {"value": 28751},
# "bounce_rate": {"value": 52.3},
# "visit_duration": {"value": 127}
# }
# }
Self-Hosting
# docker-compose.yml — Plausible self-hosted
version: "3.8"
services:
plausible_db:
image: postgres:14
volumes:
- db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
environment:
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password
plausible_events_db:
image: clickhouse/clickhouse-server:23.3
volumes:
- event-data:/var/lib/clickhouse
- ./clickhouse-config.xml:/etc/clickhouse-server/config.d/logging.xml:ro
plausible:
image: ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:latest
command: sh -c "sleep 10 && /entrypoint.sh db createdb && /entrypoint.sh db migrate && /entrypoint.sh run"
ports:
- "8000:8000"
depends_on:
- plausible_db
- plausible_events_db
environment:
- BASE_URL=https://analytics.yourdomain.com
- SECRET_KEY_BASE=your-secret-key
- DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:password@plausible_db:5432/plausible_db
- CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE_URL=http://plausible_events_db:8123/plausible_events_db
When to Choose Plausible
Developer-built sites that need real goal tracking and funnel analysis beyond simple pageview counts, teams that want cloud hosting without managing infrastructure but with the option to self-host later, or organizations where AGPL licensing is acceptable and open-source transparency matters.
Umami
Best for: Self-hosters, 1M free events/month cloud, MIT license, multi-site operators
Umami is the MIT-licensed analytics tool — free to use commercially, free to modify, free to self-host with unlimited sites and unlimited events. The Umami Cloud free tier (1M events/month) is the most generous in the privacy analytics market. Self-hosted Umami requires only a single PostgreSQL or MySQL database — simpler infrastructure than Plausible's dual PostgreSQL + Clickhouse requirement.
Pricing
| Plan | Cost | Events/Month |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud Free | $0 | 1,000,000 |
| Cloud Pro | $9/month | 10,000,000 |
| Self-hosted | Free | Unlimited |
Installation
<!-- Umami tracking script (~2KB) -->
<script async defer
src="https://your-umami-instance.com/script.js"
data-website-id="your-website-id">
</script>
Custom Events
// Umami event tracking — using the global umami object
// injected by the tracking script
// Track a simple event
umami.track("button-click");
// Track event with properties
umami.track("plan-upgrade", {
plan: "professional",
interval: "monthly",
amount: 29.99,
});
// Track with custom data
umami.track("search-performed", {
query: searchQuery,
results: resultCount,
});
// Identify user (Umami does not track PII — use anonymous IDs)
umami.identify({ userId: hashedUserId });
React/Next.js Integration
// useUmami hook for React applications
import { useRouter } from "next/router";
import { useEffect } from "react";
export function usePageTracking() {
const router = useRouter();
useEffect(() => {
const handleRouteChange = (url: string) => {
if (typeof window !== "undefined" && (window as any).umami) {
(window as any).umami.track(url);
}
};
router.events.on("routeChangeComplete", handleRouteChange);
return () => {
router.events.off("routeChangeComplete", handleRouteChange);
};
}, [router.events]);
}
Self-Hosting with Docker
# docker-compose.yml — Umami self-hosted (simpler than Plausible)
version: "3.8"
services:
umami:
image: ghcr.io/umami-software/umami:postgresql-latest
ports:
- "3000:3000"
environment:
DATABASE_URL: postgresql://umami:umami@db:5432/umami
DATABASE_TYPE: postgresql
APP_SECRET: your-secret-key
depends_on:
- db
db:
image: postgres:15
environment:
POSTGRES_DB: umami
POSTGRES_USER: umami
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: umami
volumes:
- umami-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
volumes:
umami-db-data:
Umami's self-hosting is significantly simpler than Plausible — a single database, no Clickhouse required.
Umami API
# Umami Stats API
curl "https://your-umami.com/api/websites/your-website-id/stats" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $UMAMI_API_TOKEN" \
-G \
-d "startAt=1672531200000" \
-d "endAt=1675209600000"
# Response: visitors, pageviews, bounceRate, totalTime
When to Choose Umami
Self-hosters who want the simplest possible setup (single database, MIT license), teams with multiple websites that need unlimited sites at no additional cost, or projects where the 1M events/month free cloud tier eliminates the need for self-hosting at all.
Fathom Analytics
Best for: Simplest setup, unlimited sites on all plans, no self-hosting complexity, GDPR by default
Fathom is the premium cloud-only option — no self-hosting, no open-source version, but the simplest setup experience and unlimited websites included on every plan. Fathom is fully cookie-consent compliant in the EU by design (no cookies set, no personal data collected), which is its core marketing position.
Pricing
| Plan | Cost | Pageviews/Month | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $15/month | 100,000 | Unlimited |
| Entrepreneur | $25/month | 200,000 | Unlimited |
| Business | $50/month | 500,000 | Unlimited |
| Enterprise | $90/month | 1,000,000 | Unlimited |
All plans include unlimited sites, team members, and email reports.
Installation
<!-- Fathom tracking script — ~3KB, cookieless by design -->
<script src="https://cdn.usefathom.com/script.js"
data-site="ABCDEFGH"
defer>
</script>
Custom Events
// Fathom custom events
// Create goals in the Fathom dashboard first, then track them
// Track a goal
window.fathom.trackEvent("Signup");
window.fathom.trackEvent("Plan Upgraded");
window.fathom.trackEvent("Purchase", { _value: 2999 }); // Value in cents
SPA Tracking (React/Next.js)
// Fathom + Next.js router
import { useEffect } from "react";
import { useRouter } from "next/router";
import * as Fathom from "fathom-client";
export default function App({ Component, pageProps }) {
const router = useRouter();
useEffect(() => {
Fathom.load("ABCDEFGH", {
includedDomains: ["yourdomain.com"],
});
function onRouteChangeComplete() {
Fathom.trackPageview();
}
router.events.on("routeChangeComplete", onRouteChangeComplete);
return () => {
router.events.off("routeChangeComplete", onRouteChangeComplete);
};
}, []);
return <Component {...pageProps} />;
}
When to Choose Fathom
Teams that want the simplest possible privacy analytics setup (no self-hosting, no infrastructure management), agencies managing analytics for multiple client sites (unlimited sites included), or companies where the closed-source nature is acceptable in exchange for zero operational overhead.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Plausible | Umami | Fathom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cookieless | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosting | Yes (AGPL) | Yes (MIT) | No |
| Cloud free tier | No (trial) | Yes (1M events) | No (trial) |
| Open-source | Yes (AGPL) | Yes (MIT) | No |
| Custom events | Yes | Yes | Yes (goals) |
| Funnel analysis | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Public dashboard | Yes | Yes | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple sites | Yes (all plans) | Yes (unlimited) | Yes (unlimited) |
| Email reports | Yes | No (self-host) | Yes |
| Real-time data | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Decision Framework
| Scenario | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Best all-around cloud option | Plausible |
| Best free tier (1M events) | Umami Cloud |
| Self-hosting, MIT license | Umami |
| Multiple sites, no self-hosting | Fathom |
| Self-hosting, want funnels | Plausible |
| GDPR compliance simplest setup | Fathom |
| Developer blog, low traffic | Umami (free) |
| Need API access | Plausible or Umami |
| No technical management | Fathom |
Verdict
Plausible is the best overall cloud choice for developer-built sites — the goal tracking, funnel analysis, and API are the most capable in this comparison, and the $9/month starting price is reasonable. The AGPL license and self-hosting option provide flexibility if data sovereignty becomes a requirement.
Umami wins on value — 1M events/month free on cloud, and completely free self-hosted with MIT license and no limits. The infrastructure is simpler to manage than Plausible's, and the feature set has grown substantially in recent versions.
Fathom is the right choice when simplicity and no operational overhead are the priorities. Unlimited sites on all plans, the simplest possible setup, and genuine GDPR compliance by design justify the premium ($15/month vs $9/month) for teams that don't want to manage infrastructure or deal with AGPL licensing complexity.
Compare privacy-first analytics pricing, features, and GDPR compliance documentation at APIScout — find the right Google Analytics alternative for your site.