TL;DRIn our opinion, Plausible is the best analytics tool for anyone who values speed, simplicity and privacy over deep behavioural tracking. It’s not trying to be GA4, and that’s precisely the point; it does 90% of what most sites actually need, without a consent banner, without slowing your pages down, and without hand…
Plausible is a privacy-first, cookieless analytics tool, and one we’ve moved a chunk of our sites over to. It’s the open-source answer to the bloated mess that is Google Analytics 4. plausible places no cookies, tracks zero personal data, and doesn’t do any cross-site tracking. Just gives you the numbers you actually need.
We run a self-hosted instance on a Hetzner VPS (more on that below), but the managed version at plausible.io does exactly the same job if you’d rather not babysit a server.
It’s safe to say we’re really happy with it, and here’s why:
Why we like Plausible
No cookies, no banner, no headache
This is the big one. The Plausible script is under 1KB and doesn’t collect personal data, so there’s nothing to consent to. No banner. No modal nagging your visitors before they’ve read a word.
That’s not just a nicer experience for the reader; it removes an entire compliance operation. No consent management platform to configure, no documented opt-out records, no quarterly audit of what does and doesn’t fire after someone clicks “decline”. All of that just evaporates.
If you’ve ever spent an afternoon in DevTools checking whether Consent Mode v2 is behaving itself, you’ll know exactly how good that feels.
A dashboard you can actually read
Open Plausible and you see visitors, sources, top pages, and what’s converting. On one screen. In plain English.
Compare that to GA4, where finding a basic metric feels like an escape room you didn’t sign up for. Reports buried three menus deep, terminology invented to justify a certification, and the interface changing the moment you’ve learnt where everything is. Plausible just shows you the thing.
Performance first
Under 1KB, no front-end builder, no bloated scripts dragging the page down. It loads instantly and doesn’t touch your Core Web Vitals. For a tool whose whole job is measuring your site, it’s refreshing that it doesn’t slow it down in the process.
Honest by default
The data is aggregated. No cross-site tracking, no fingerprinting, no building a dossier on your visitors. It’s GDPR-, CCPA- and PECR-compliant out of the box. Not as a paid add-on, not behind a settings toggle, not contingent on you wiring up a consent platform correctly. It just works like that.
Self-host it or don’t
This is the bit we love. You can run your own instance and own your data end to end, or take the managed version and never think about infrastructure again. Same tool either way.
We self-host on Hetzner because we like owning our infrastructure and genuinely enjoy the faff. For most people, the hosted version at plausible.io is the sensible choice; and you’re supporting an brilliant independent team building software the right way.
What’s not so great
The hosted plans climb quickly
The managed version starts cheap but the price ladder is steeper than it looks once you add sites or want funnels and Looker Studio export, which sit on a higher tier. If budget’s the deciding factor, that’s where self-hosting starts to look attractive; assuming you’ve somewhere to run it.
Self-hosting isn’t for everyone
Running your own instance means a server to patch, a database to keep an eye on, and the occasional late-night memory-tuning session. We enjoy that sort of thing. If you don’t, it’s a genuine downside and the reason the hosted version exists.
Last-touch attribution only
If you’re coming from GA4 hoping for multi-touch attribution models and deep funnel analysis, Plausible doesn’t do that. It’s deliberately simple. For most brochure and content sites that’s a feature, not a flaw; but it’s worth knowing before you switch.
Final Verdict
In our opinion, Plausible is the best analytics tool for anyone who values speed, simplicity and privacy over deep behavioural tracking. It’s not trying to be GA4, and that’s precisely the point; it does 90% of what most sites actually need, without a consent banner, without slowing your pages down, and without handing your visitors’ data to a third party.
Cookieless analytics shouldn’t be the exception. It should be the default – and Plausible is the easiest way to get there.
Frequently asked questions
Is Plausible free?
Is Plausible better than Google Analytics?
Does Plausible need a cookie banner?
Josh Cox
I'm Josh. I build, host and look after WordPress (and modern Astro / Next.js) sites from Didcot. These are honest reviews of tools I actually use day to day, all part of the stack I build on. Some links are affiliate links; they never change my verdict.
