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Plausible Analytics

EU-Made Report an error

Panel rating · 6 judges · How to read the stars

Category median

Sovereignty: not determined

0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.

by Plausible Insights OÜ · plausible.io

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Plausible Analytics: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai Plausible Analytics: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai (dark)

Add ?theme=dark to the image address for dark backgrounds. The badge shows the category and the month of the latest evaluation, and EU-Made where that is the product’s provenance. It never shows a score.

Plausible Analytics at a glance

Vendor
Plausible Insights OÜ
Headquarters
Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
Data hosting
Default not stated; pages mention the EU and Germany source, captured 29 Oct 2026
Free plan
Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026
Panel verdict
The AI panel rates Plausible Analytics 2.5/5, the mean of 6 judges. Plausible Analytics, a cookieless open-source web analytics service from Plausible Insights OÜ of Tartu, Estonia, scores highest on consent and privacy (upper cluster 8–9; range 0–9): the pages publish the counting method — a daily salt hash, salt deleted every 24 hours, raw IP and User-Agent never stored — and an independent legal assessment supports consent-free analytics under GDPR, CCPA and PECR. how scores are made
As of
Vendor pages captured 29 Oct 2026 to 1 Nov 2026; evaluated by the panel 30 Oct 2026. all sources

Plausible Analytics alternatives, European ones first →

Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.

The Skeptic

Weighted verdict

Has seen "no cookie banner needed" on a tool that fingerprints every visitor, "EU-hosted" on a proxy in front of a US data store, and "unlimited" data history that ends with the subscription. Reads that a product is "GDPR-compliant" and asks which ruling the vendor means, what is stored per visit, whether the history can be exported in a format another tool imports — and what leaving would cost.

Same scores as the panel view — this lens weights them the way this judge cares.

Scored by The Skeptic

Panel median The Skeptic This judge’s scores over the panel median. Each label opens its reasoning below.
Scores per criterion, in stars out of 5
Criterion Panel median The Skeptic
Traffic, sources & campaign reports 3.5 of 5 0 of 5
Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce 3.5 of 5 0 of 5
Consent-free operation & data minimisation 4 of 5 0 of 5
Data access, export & self-hosting 4 of 5 0 of 5
Installation, integrations & performance 4 of 5 0 of 5
European sovereignty 4 of 5 0 of 5
Pricing transparency 3 of 5 0 of 5

Traffic, sources & campaign reports

How this is scored

What the standard reports show: page views, visits and visitors, entry and exit pages, referrers, search engines and social networks as sources, campaigns tagged with UTM parameters, countries, devices and browsers, a real-time view, date comparisons, segments and filters, custom dashboards, scheduled email reports, shared or public dashboards, and whether reports are sampled or complete.

0 — Not a web analytics product; website traffic cannot be measured with it.

3 — Page views and visitors over time with top pages and referrers; campaign parameters, segments and report sharing are basic or not described.

5 — A dashboard with pages, referrers, UTM campaigns, countries and devices, a real-time view, date comparison, filters across all reports, email reports, and dashboards shared with clients or colleagues.

8 — Custom segments and saved views, custom dashboards and report builders, channel grouping that can be configured, Search Console or ad platform data shown beside the traffic, unsampled reports stated, several sites and roll-up reporting in one account, and annotations.

10 — Reporting that a whole organisation runs on: custom dimensions and calculated metrics, anomaly alerts, multi-site and multi-brand roll-ups with roles per site, report accuracy and how visitors are counted explained in a published methodology, and every report reproducible from the raw data.

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The Skeptic

Every report I would ask for is documented: pages, entry and exit pages, channels, sources, referrers, UTM tags, countries down to city, browsers, operating systems and devices, a real-time view updating every 30 seconds, filters with saved personal and site segments, annotations, email reports and a consolidated view across sites, with Search Console data shown alongside the traffic. Custom properties double as custom dimensions in the API, and the counting method is published (a daily hash, 30-minute session timeout). What I could not find: any statement that reports are unsampled, configurable channel grouping, or evidence that every report can be rebuilt from the raw data. 1 2 4 12 18

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Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce

How this is scored

How the product measures what visitors do: goals for pages and events, custom events with properties, outbound links, downloads, form submissions and scroll depth tracked without code, funnels with drop-off, e-commerce tracking of orders, revenue and products, attribution of conversions to channels and campaigns, cohorts and retention, and conversion data passed back to ad platforms.

0 — Counts page views only; no goals, events or conversions can be defined.

3 — Goals for a page or a custom event; funnels, revenue and attribution are basic or not described.

5 — Goals and custom events with properties, outbound links and file downloads tracked, funnels with drop-off per step, revenue attached to goals or orders, and conversions broken down by source and campaign.

8 — Full e-commerce tracking (products, cart, checkout, orders, revenue) with plugins for named shop systems, several attribution models compared, cohorts and retention, user journeys or paths, forms and scroll depth tracked without code, and conversions sent back to Google Ads, Meta or other ad platforms server to server.

10 — Conversion analysis to the level of a product analytics suite: multi-touch attribution explained, funnels and cohorts on any event or property, revenue reconciled with the shop system, predictive or anomaly metrics with their method stated, and every conversion traceable to the raw event.

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The Skeptic

The documented set is broad: pageview goals without code changes, custom events with properties, outbound links, file downloads, form submissions, 404s and scroll depth tracked automatically, funnels in three types with drop-off per step and revenue per step, revenue goals filterable by source, campaign, entry page, country and device, user journeys, and WooCommerce and Shopify revenue integrations. Still missing for the top rating: product-, cart- and checkout-level e-commerce, cohort and retention reports, compared attribution models, and any way to send conversions back to Google Ads or Meta — I found no public information on those. 1 4 13 14 20

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Data access, export & self-hosting

How this is scored

Whether the data stays the customer's and can leave with them: a reporting API and a raw event export, CSV export of every report, a scheduled export or sync to a data warehouse or BI tool (BigQuery, Snowflake, Looker Studio), no data sampling or limits on history, import of historical data from Google Analytics or another tool, open-source code, and a self-hosted or on-premise edition the customer runs on its own servers.

0 — No export of any kind; the data can only be viewed in the vendor's dashboard.

3 — A CSV export of reports; an API, raw data and history limits are basic or not described.

5 — A documented reporting API, CSV export of all reports, the retention period for raw data stated, and an import of historical data from Google Analytics or a stated migration path.

8 — Raw event data exportable or streamed to a named warehouse or BI tool, an API covering both reporting and data collection, no sampling stated, a self-hosted or on-premise edition with its own documentation, and the data returned or deleted on termination under stated terms.

10 — The customer owns the data end to end: open-source code under a named licence that runs fully self-hosted with feature parity stated, a complete raw export in an open format that another tool can import, and the deletion of every copy on termination documented.

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The Skeptic

The data has exits: a documented stats API with filters, segments and custom-property dimensions, an events API and a sites API, per-report CSV exports, a site-settings export in the same format as the CSV import so it can be reimported into another Plausible site, GA4 history import, daily raw event exports to S3-compatible storage on Enterprise, and an AGPL-licensed self-hosted edition with its own install guide. But read the fine print: dashboard CSVs are capped at the top 300 entries per report (100 for pages), the raw export sits behind Enterprise, the Community Edition explicitly omits funnels, user journeys, e-commerce revenue goals, SSO and the sites API, and both dashboard export and the stats API stop working without an active subscription — only the site-settings export survives to get the data out before deletion. 5 6 10 17 18

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Installation, integrations & performance

How this is scored

What it takes to install and run: the size and loading of the tracking script, plugins and documented set-ups for named CMS and shop systems (WordPress, TYPO3, Shopify, Shopware, WooCommerce), single-page apps and mobile SDKs, a tag manager or Google Tag Manager template, server-side tracking and first-party proxying to avoid ad blockers, team roles and permissions, client and agency accounts, single sign-on, and an uptime or status page.

0 — No documented way to install the product on a website or app.

3 — A tracking snippet to paste into the site; plugins, SDKs, server-side options and roles are basic or not described.

5 — A documented snippet with its size stated, plugins or guides for several named CMS and shop systems, support for single-page apps, team members with roles, and an agency or multi-site account.

8 — A lightweight script or server-side collection documented, a first-party proxy or own tracking domain, SDKs for iOS, Android and named frameworks, a tag manager integration, granular roles per site, single sign-on (SAML), and a public status page with uptime history.

10 — Installation that scales across an organisation: server-side and client-side tracking with an equal feature set, an infrastructure-as-code or API-driven site set-up, white-label for agencies, SLA and support terms published, and the performance impact of the script measured and stated.

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The Skeptic

Installation is documented end to end: a head snippet with a testing tool, an official WordPress plugin with WooCommerce revenue tracking and proxy mode, guides for thirteen named platforms including Shopify, automatic single-page-app routing plus a hash-based tracker, Android, Swift, Flutter and Qt SDKs, a Google Tag Manager template, a first-party script proxy, server-side collection via the events API, team roles up to single sign-on on Enterprise, and a public status page reporting 99.99% uptime over 90 days. Script weight is stated comparatively — 135KB less JavaScript per visitor than Google Analytics. I found no published SLA, no white-label option and no named protocol for the single sign-on; the self-hosted edition comes with community support only. 1 5 19 20

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European sovereignty

How this is scored

Who the contracting entity and the parent company are, where visitor data is collected, stored and processed, and who the subprocessors are (script CDN, collection endpoint, hosting, email reports, support and payment tools). Independently sourced by the sovereignty pipeline; visitor data is personal data under European rulings, so the whole chain counts, not only the database. A self-hosted or open-source edition the customer runs on its own European servers counts as the customer's chain, whatever the vendor's seat.

0 — Non-EU vendor and contracting entity, hosting unstated, subprocessors unnamed, and no data processing agreement offered.

3 — A privacy policy and a data processing agreement exist, but hosting location is unstated or non-EU and the subprocessors are not listed.

5 — EU hosting available and an EU contracting entity or EU representative, but parts of the chain (CDN, collection endpoint, email, support, payment) run through non-EU providers without a stated safeguard, or EU processing relies on a proxy in front of a non-EU service.

8 — EU hosting on named infrastructure, EU contracting entity, subprocessors listed with their locations, a data processing agreement published, and security certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2) stated — or a self-hosted edition documented that keeps every visitor record on the customer's own servers.

10 — Sovereign end to end and evidenced: European ownership, entity, hosting and every subprocessor, or a self-hosted open-source edition with no call home, data export and deletion documented, and certifications published with their scope rather than implied.

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The Skeptic

The chain checks out where it matters for visitor data: the contracting entity is Plausible Insights OÜ in Tartu, Estonia (imprint with registration number 14709274), hosting is on Hetzner in Falkenstein, Germany with the statement that visitor data never leaves the EU, the CDN is Bunny in Slovenia and the database on UpCloud in Finland, and a DPA is published and applies automatically to all customers. Two reservations keep this from the top: Paddle (payments), Postmark (the email reports) and several optional processors appear on the list without a stated location, and no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification is claimed anywhere I read. The self-hosted Community Edition, installable on any server in any country, is the exit door — with the caveat that you also own the security patching. 1 5 7 8 10

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Pricing transparency

How this is scored

Whether a buyer can compute the real annual cost from public pages alone: price per tier by monthly page views or events, what happens when traffic exceeds the tier, the number of sites and users included, which features (e-commerce, funnels, raw export, API, SSO, longer retention) cost extra, the free tier and its limits, the self-hosted edition and its support, minimum term and setup.

0 — No public prices at all; every customer is a sales call.

3 — A starting price or a free tier exists, but how cost scales with traffic, sites or features is unclear.

5 — Tiers are public with their price per traffic band and main inclusions, but at least one commonly needed piece (overage, extra sites, raw export, SSO, longer retention) is unpriced or "on request".

8 — Every tier priced publicly with its scaling rule (page views, events, sites, users), overage handling stated, add-ons priced, the self-hosted edition's cost or licence stated, minimum term and VAT treatment stated.

10 — Complete price computability: annual cost derivable for a given traffic volume, site count and feature set, with every add-on, setup, support and overage fee and the cancellation and data-return terms published.

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The Skeptic

Starter at €9/month for up to 10k monthly pageviews on one site, Growth at €14/month for 3 sites, Business at €19/month for 10 sites, two months free on yearly billing, a 30-day trial with no credit card, and a self-hosted edition with no fees to the vendor. A buyer still cannot compute the full annual cost: the pageview bands for Growth and Business are not given, there is no stated overage handling, the captured pages give no VAT treatment or minimum term, and single sign-on and scheduled raw exports live on an Enterprise plan priced only as 'Custom Contact us'. 1 5 6 14 20

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European sovereignty — proven facts

0 of 6 dimensions proven

Built only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.

Hosting location Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Hosting options Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Open source Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Data processing agreement Not determined ⚠ unverified — uncited Report an error
Transfer impact assessment Not determined — uncited Report an error

Questions about Plausible Analytics

Is Plausible Analytics European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Plausible Analytics as EU-Made.

Where does Plausible Analytics store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention the EU and Germany as hosting locations, per the vendor’s page captured 29 Oct 2026.

Does Plausible Analytics have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026.

What are the best alternatives to Plausible Analytics?

As of 4 Nov 2026, the panel rates Matomo (4/5), Piwik PRO Analytics Suite (3.5/5) and Pirsch Analytics (3.5/5) highest among the other 17 Web Analytics products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is Piwik PRO Analytics Suite (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made. The full list, with European products first: Plausible Analytics alternatives.

Where this could be wrong

What we left out

A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.

Do you know more about Plausible Analytics? Tell us Report an error on this page

Sources (22)

The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.

  1. 1 Vendor homepage (with pricing) plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  2. 2 Features page plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  3. 3 Features page (cookieless analytics) plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  4. 4 Features page (e-commerce and revenue goals) plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  5. 5 Features page (self-hosted edition) plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  6. 6 API documentation plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  7. 7 Legal notice plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  8. 8 Privacy policy plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  9. 9 Data policy (what is collected) plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  10. 10 Data processing agreement (dpa) plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  11. 11 Traffic, sources & campaign reports — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  12. 12 Traffic, sources & campaign reports — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  13. 13 Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  14. 14 Goals, events, funnels & e-commerce — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  15. 15 Consent-free operation & data minimisation — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  16. 16 Consent-free operation & data minimisation — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  17. 17 Data access, export & self-hosting — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  18. 18 Data access, export & self-hosting — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  19. 19 Installation, integrations & performance — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  20. 20 Installation, integrations & performance — found from sitemap plausible.io Checked 29 Oct 2026 Details →
  21. 21 Security / trust page — found from the homepage plausible.io Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →
  22. 22 Open-source licence page — found from the homepage plausible.io Checked 1 Nov 2026 Details →