Google Analytics vs Plausible Analytics
Google Analytics is free, while Plausible is a paid, privacy-focused, open-source alternative.
Pick Google Analytics if…
You want free measurement tied closely to Google Ads and Search Console, and you are fine with Google's data retention limits.
Pick Plausible Analytics if…
You want a simple dashboard, a no-cookie approach, or the option to self-host open-source code, and you can pay from $9 per month.
Price
- Free
- Paid
- Open source
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Google's tool for measuring how people use your websites and apps. | Privacy-focused web analytics with a simple one-page dashboard, hosted or self-hosted. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | — | $9/month (Starter, up to 10k monthly pageviews) |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Works on | Web | Web |
| Try Google Analytics (opens the Google Analytics website in a new tab) | Try Plausible Analytics (opens the Plausible Analytics website in a new tab) |
Google says Google Analytics is available 'free of charge', and links to Google Ads, Search Ads 360, Search Console and Google Cloud. Standard properties keep data for up to 14 months, and the code is not open source.
Plausible has no free hosted plan. It starts at $9 per month (Starter, up to 10k monthly pageviews), with Growth at $14, Business at $19 and a 30-day free trial. Yearly billing shows 'two months free'.
Plausible says it uses no cookies, needs no cookie banner and processes data on servers owned by European companies; these are the vendor's claims. It also integrates with Google Search Console.
Plausible's Community Edition is open source under AGPLv3 and can be self-hosted. It lacks funnels, ecommerce revenue goals, SSO and the sites API, and support is community-only.
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Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money