Software · head to head
Matomo vs Plausible
The short version
- Only Matomo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- 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; Plausible there is no free tier, only a 30 day trial
- They diverge on capability: Matomo covers Web analytics, Plausible covers Page view tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Matomo and Plausible actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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
- E-commerce tracking
- Google Search Console
- On-premise deployment
- On-premise support
- 50+ languages language support
Only in Plausible
- Page view tracking
- Real-time analytics
- Outbound link click tracking
- No cookies
- 20+ languages language support
Both cover
- Goal tracking
- Privacy-focused
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
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 Plausible
- Self hosting analytics so visitor data stays on owned infrastructurenot Plausible
Plausible
- Privacy-focused web analytics without cookies or personal datanot Matomo
- A Google Analytics replacement that needs no consent bannernot Matomo
- Self-hosted analytics on your own infrastructurenot Matomo
- EU-hosted measurement for data residency requirementsnot 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
Plausible
- There is no free tier, only a 30 day trial
- Paid plans are metered on monthly pageviews, so a traffic spike moves you up a plan
- Self-hosting is possible but means running and updating the service yourself
- Deliberately simple, so there are no user-level profiles or funnel-by-individual reports the way a cookie-based analytics tool provides
Pricing, plan by plan
Matomo
Free- Self-hostedFree
- Open-source
- Full analytics
- Privacy-focused
Plausible
$9/month- Starter$9/month
- Up to 10k monthly page views
- 30 days retention
- Basic analytics
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Matomo or Plausible better?
- Neither clearly leads. Matomo starts at Free and Plausible at $9/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Matomo or Plausible?
- Matomo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Matomo and $9/month for Plausible.
- Does Matomo or Plausible run on more platforms?
- Matomo runs on Web, On-premise. Plausible runs on Web.
- Can I use Matomo for free?
- Yes. Matomo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Plausible starts at $9/month.
- 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 Plausible is typically brought in for.
- What can Matomo do that Plausible cannot?
- Matomo covers Web analytics, Real-time reports, Custom dimensions, E-commerce tracking. Plausible covers Page view tracking, Real-time analytics, Outbound link click tracking, No cookies. Both handle Goal tracking, Privacy-focused, Cloud deployment, Web support.