Is Matomo or Pendo better?

Neither clearly leads. Matomo starts at Free and Pendo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Matomo or Pendo?

Matomo starts at Free and Pendo at Free.

Does Matomo or Pendo run on more platforms?

Matomo runs on Web, On-premise. Pendo runs on Web, Mobile, Desktop.

Can I use Matomo for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Matomo best used for?

Matomo is most often used for privacy focused web analytics as an alternative to google analytics, self hosting analytics so visitor data stays on owned infrastructure. Of those, privacy focused web analytics as an alternative to google analytics and self hosting analytics so visitor data stays on owned infrastructure are not what Pendo is typically brought in for.

What can Matomo do that Pendo cannot?

Matomo covers Web analytics, Real-time reports, Custom dimensions, Goal tracking. Pendo covers Product analytics, In-app messaging, User onboarding, Feature adoption tracking.

Marketing · head to head

Matomo vs Pendo

Matomo

Marketing

Privacy-focused web analytics

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Pendo

Technology

Product analytics and digital adoption platform

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Matomo the self hosted Community Edition is free but excludes A/B testing, heatmaps, session recording, cohorts, crash analytics and multi channel attribution, all of which are paid plugins; Pendo pricing is not publicly available and requires a custom quote
They diverge on capability: Matomo covers Web analytics, Pendo covers Product analytics.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Matomo and Pendo actually diverge.

Attributes where Matomo and Pendo differ
Attribute	Matomo	Pendo
Pricing model	freemium	Unknown
Platforms	Web, On-premise	Web, Mobile, Desktop
Category	Marketing	Technology
Founded	2007	2013

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Matomo

Web analytics
Real-time reports
Custom dimensions
Goal tracking
E-commerce tracking
Google Search Console
Privacy-focused
Cloud deployment

Only in Pendo

Product analytics
In-app messaging
User onboarding
Feature adoption tracking
User feedback
NPS surveys
Session replay
Mobile analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Matomo

Privacy focused web analytics as an alternative to Google Analyticsnot Pendo
Self hosting analytics so visitor data stays on owned infrastructurenot Pendo

Pendo

User onboardingnot Matomo
Feature adoptionnot Matomo
Product analyticsnot Matomo
User feedback collectionnot Matomo
Digital adoptionnot Matomo

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Matomo

The self hosted Community Edition is free but excludes A/B testing, heatmaps, session recording, cohorts, crash analytics and multi channel attribution, all of which are paid plugins
Premium plugin bundles for self hosted installs run from 275 EUR a month for 4 users to 3,400 EUR for 50
Cloud pricing is banded by monthly hits, and anything above 10 million requires contacting sales
Self hosting places all operation and upgrades on the operator while still needing paid plugins for the advanced features

Pendo

Pricing is not publicly available and requires a custom quote
Free tier limited to 500 monthly active users

Pricing, plan by plan

Matomo

Free

Self-hostedFree
- Open-source
- Full analytics
- Privacy-focused

Pendo

Free

FreeFree
- 500 MAU
- Core analytics
- In-app guides

Which should you pick?

Choose Matomo if

You need web analytics.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, On-premise.
You also want real-time reports.

Matomo review

Choose Pendo if

You need product analytics.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Mobile, Desktop.
You also want in-app messaging.

Pendo review

Questions people ask

Is Matomo or Pendo better?: Neither clearly leads. Matomo starts at Free and Pendo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Matomo or Pendo?: Matomo starts at Free and Pendo at Free.
Does Matomo or Pendo run on more platforms?: Matomo runs on Web, On-premise. Pendo runs on Web, Mobile, Desktop.
Can I use Matomo for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Matomo best used for?: Matomo is most often used for privacy focused web analytics as an alternative to google analytics, self hosting analytics so visitor data stays on owned infrastructure. Of those, privacy focused web analytics as an alternative to google analytics and self hosting analytics so visitor data stays on owned infrastructure are not what Pendo is typically brought in for.
What can Matomo do that Pendo cannot?: Matomo covers Web analytics, Real-time reports, Custom dimensions, Goal tracking. Pendo covers Product analytics, In-app messaging, User onboarding, Feature adoption tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Matomo: How much does Matomo cost?

Matomo Cloud starts at EUR 29 per month for the Starter plan, which covers 50,000 hits per month. Matomo On-Premise has a free Community edition, with paid bundles from EUR 275 per month for up to 5M hits and 4 users.

Source

Pendo: Does Pendo have a free tier?

Yes, Pendo Free supports up to 500 monthly active users and includes core product analytics, in-app guides, Pendo-branded roadmaps, and Pendo-branded NPS surveys.

Source

Matomo: Is Matomo free?

The On-Premise Community edition is free forever with unlimited users and hits, supported through the forum only. Matomo Cloud is a paid service, though a free trial with access to all core features is offered.

Source

Pendo: What is Pendo's core functionality?

Pendo combines product analytics, in-app guides, session replay, NPS surveys, product discovery, roadmaps, and cross-channel orchestration to measure and improve product adoption.

Source

Matomo: What is the difference between Matomo Cloud and On-Premise?

Cloud plans include hosting, maintenance, automatic updates and daily backups, priced by monthly hits from EUR 29. On-Premise is self-hosted, free in its Community edition, with paid bundles adding support and higher user counts.

Source

Pendo: What CRM systems does Pendo integrate with?

Pendo offers two-way integrations with Salesforce, mapping Pendo product usage and sentiment data with Salesforce records, and with HubSpot for contact mapping and campaign orchestration.

Source

Matomo: How many hits do the Matomo On-Premise bundles cover?

The Team bundle covers up to 5M hits per month and 4 users at EUR 275 per month. Business covers up to 30M hits and 20 users at EUR 1,450. Enterprise covers up to 100M hits and 50 users at EUR 3,400.

Source

Pendo: What impact does Pendo have on customer retention?

Companies using Pendo for product analytics see on average a 5% reduction in customer churn and report an average 15% increase in net revenue retention.

Source

Matomo vs Pendo

Matomo

Pendo

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Matomo

Only in Pendo

What people use each for

Matomo

Pendo

Where each one falls short

Matomo

Pendo

Pricing, plan by plan

Matomo

Pendo

Which should you pick?

Choose Matomo if

Choose Pendo if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Matomo

More on Pendo

Keep looking

Other head to heads