TL;DR — Quick Summary

Deploy Plausible Analytics for privacy-friendly web analytics. No cookies, GDPR-compliant. Covers Docker setup, goals, custom events, and GA4 comparison.

What Is Plausible?

Plausible Analytics is a privacy-first, open-source alternative to Google Analytics. It gives you essential web analytics — pageviews, sources, countries, devices — without tracking individuals, using cookies, or slowing down your site.

Aspect Plausible Google Analytics 4
Script size <1 KB 45+ KB
Cookies ❌ None ✅ Multiple
Cookie banner needed ❌ No ✅ Yes (GDPR)
User tracking ❌ No PII ✅ Detailed profiles
Data ownership ✅ You own it ❌ Google owns it
Ad blocker proof ✅ (self-hosted) ❌ 30-40% blocked
Dashboard simplicity ✅ One page ❌ Complex
Free ✅ (self-hosted) ✅

Installation (Docker Compose)

git clone https://github.com/plausible/community-edition.git
cd community-edition

Configure plausible-conf.env:

BASE_URL=https://plausible.yourdomain.com
SECRET_KEY_BASE=your_64_char_secret_key
TOTP_VAULT_KEY=your_32_char_totp_key
docker compose up -d

Add to Your Site

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" 
  src="https://plausible.yourdomain.com/js/script.js"></script>

That’s it. One script tag, no configuration, no consent needed.

Features

Goals & Custom Events

// Track custom event
plausible('Signup', {props: {plan: 'premium'}});

// Track outbound links (add .outbound-link-click to script)
// src="https://plausible.yourdomain.com/js/script.outbound-links.js"

Available Script Extensions

Extension Script Suffix Tracks
Outbound links .outbound-links Clicks on external links
File downloads .file-downloads PDF, ZIP, etc. downloads
404 pages .404 Not found errors
Hash routing .hash SPA hash-based navigation
Revenue .revenue Revenue per conversion

Combine extensions: script.outbound-links.file-downloads.js

Plausible vs. Other Privacy Analytics

Feature Plausible Umami Matomo Fathom
Self-hosted ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ (paid)
Script size <1 KB <2 KB 22 KB 1 KB
Cookies ❌ ❌ Optional ❌
Dashboard Simple Simple Complex (GA-like) Simple
Custom events ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
API ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
RAM usage ~200 MB ~50 MB ~500 MB N/A

Summary

Plausible gives you the web analytics you actually need — without cookies, tracking, or compliance headaches. Self-host it to own all your data, avoid ad blockers, and get a clean, fast analytics dashboard.