BlogComparison

Umami vs Plausible (2026)

Abbas Aga
Abbas Aga · 1 min read

TL;DR:
Umami and Plausible are both open-source, cookieless and simple. Umami meters events and is free to self-host (MIT); Plausible meters pageviews and is AGPL with an EU-hosted plan from $9/mo. Neither attributes revenue to its source, Open Analytics does, at $9/mo on events, which is why it leads this comparison.

Umami and Plausible are the two open-source names that come up most for teams that want to own their analytics. They are close: both cookieless, both simple, both self-hostable. The differences are the meter, the licence, and how the hosted option is priced, plus what neither of them does.

At a glance

Open AnalyticsUmamiPlausible
From (hosted)$9/moFree–$20/mo$9/mo
Self-hostYes (AGPL)Yes (MIT)Yes (AGPL)
MetersEventsEventsPageviews
Revenue attributionYesNoNo
Per-visitor journeyYesLimitedNo

The three, and what each is best at

  1. 01

    Open Analytics

    That's us

    The pick when you want open-source and cookieless, plus revenue attribution and journeys the other two lack.

    Price: From $9/mo for 50,000 events (a pageview or anything you tag), 3-day free trial.

    Strengths

    • Revenue attributed back to the visit and source that earned it
    • Built-in MCP server: ask your analytics in plain English
    • Realtime journeys, funnels and Core Web Vitals in one script
    • Open source (AGPL) and self-hostable

    Trade-offs

    • Newer than Plausible or Fathom
    • Meters events, so tagged conversions count
    • No free plan, only the trial
  2. Best if you want a free, MIT-licensed tool you can self-host and meter by events.

    Price: Free self-hosted; Cloud free for 100,000 events, then $20/mo.

    Strengths

    • Free to self-host
    • MIT licence (most permissive)
    • Event-metered

    Trade-offs

    • No revenue attribution
    • Limited importers
    • Basic journeys
  3. Best if you want the simplest dashboard and an EU-hosted managed plan.

    Price: From $9/mo for 10,000 pageviews.

    Strengths

    • Simplest to read
    • EU-owned and EU-hosted
    • Polished managed product

    Trade-offs

    • Pageview-metered
    • No revenue attribution
    • No per-visitor journey

Rule of thumb: free self-host and event metering, pick Umami; simplest managed dashboard, pick Plausible; revenue attribution and journeys, pick Open Analytics. Figures checked 2026-08-07.

Open Analytics is the events-metered, revenue-aware option with an AI-queryable dataset. Try it free for three days.

Start free trial

Frequently asked questions

Is Umami or Plausible better?
Umami is better if you want a free, MIT-licensed tool to self-host and metering by events; Plausible is better for the simplest managed dashboard and an EU-hosted plan. They are otherwise very similar, both cookieless and open source. Neither attributes revenue to its source, which is where Open Analytics differs.
Is Umami really free?
Self-hosted, yes, Umami is MIT-licensed and free to run on your own Node and PostgreSQL server. Umami Cloud has a free tier for 100,000 events on one site, then $20/mo for a million events. The cost of self-hosting is the server and its upkeep, not a licence.
Do Umami and Plausible have revenue attribution?
No. Both can record revenue values on events you instrument, but neither ties a payment back to the visit or source that produced it. Open Analytics adds that via a Stripe connection, at the same $9 entry as Plausible.