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Marketing · head to head

Insider vs Umami

Insider logo

Insider

Marketing

Omnichannel personalisation platform with web experimentation and WhatsApp as first-class channels

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Umami has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Insider delivery depends heavily on the assigned account team, so results vary by region and a team change mid-contract can be felt immediately in campaign output.; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: Insider covers Architect journeys, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Insider and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where Insider and Umami differ
AttributeInsiderUmami
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by event count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, REST APIWeb, Linux

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Marketing).

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 Insider

  • Architect journeys
  • Web and app personalisation
  • WhatsApp commerce
  • Predictive segments
  • InStory and InMobile
  • Experimentation

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

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

Insider

  • A retailer in a WhatsApp-first market that needs conversational commerce rather than more email volumenot Umami
  • Personalising category and product pages by segment without waiting for engineering release cyclesnot Umami
  • A marketing team without in-house campaign operations that needs the vendor to build and run journeysnot Umami
  • Unifying web, app and messaging targeting on one profile store after outgrowing separate point toolsnot Umami

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot Insider
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot Insider
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot Insider
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot Insider

Where each one falls short

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

Insider

  • Delivery depends heavily on the assigned account team, so results vary by region and a team change mid-contract can be felt immediately in campaign output.
  • The suite is licensed by module, so the platform fee quoted at the start typically excludes the channels and predictive features that make the business case work.
  • Template-driven web personalisation targets the rendered DOM, which breaks on single-page applications that re-render after the template applies unless a developer wires in the framework hooks.
  • Reporting exports are limited compared with warehouse-native tools, so teams that want campaign data alongside finance data end up pulling it through the API on a schedule.
  • Contracts are annual and negotiated per traffic band, so a seasonal spike in visitors can push you into a renegotiation rather than a metered overage.

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Insider

On request
  • Insider Growth Management Platform$undefined/year
    • Licensed by module and by monthly traffic or user volume
    • Channels such as WhatsApp, SMS and email priced separately
    • Annual contract with an assigned delivery team

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Insider if

  • You need architect journeys.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, REST API.
  • You also want web and app personalisation.
Insider review

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is Insider or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. Insider starts at On request and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Insider or Umami?
Umami has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Insider and Free for Umami.
Does Insider or Umami run on more platforms?
Insider runs on Web, iOS, Android, REST API. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Umami for free?
Yes. Umami has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Insider starts at On request.
What is Insider best used for?
Insider is most often used for a retailer in a whatsapp-first market that needs conversational commerce rather than more email volume, personalising category and product pages by segment without waiting for engineering release cycles, a marketing team without in-house campaign operations that needs the vendor to build and run journeys, unifying web, app and messaging targeting on one profile store after outgrowing separate point tools. Of those, a retailer in a whatsapp-first market that needs conversational commerce rather than more email volume and personalising category and product pages by segment without waiting for engineering release cycles are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can Insider do that Umami cannot?
Insider covers Architect journeys, Web and app personalisation, WhatsApp commerce, Predictive segments. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Insider: Is WhatsApp actually usable at scale here?

Yes. It is a supported primary channel with catalogue and template message support, though WhatsApp conversation fees from Meta are passed through and are separate from the licence.

Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

Insider: Can we run it without vendor help?

You can, but the pricing assumes a managed relationship. Teams with strong in-house campaign operations often find they are paying for services they do not use.

Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

Insider: Does it work for B2B?

Rarely a good fit. The segmentation, recommendations and channel mix are built around high-frequency consumer behaviour.

Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

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