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tools / 07 — updated may 2026

Best privacy-first analytics for indie sites: 5 GA4 alternatives

Five Google Analytics 4 alternatives for indie sites. Privacy by default, prices that don't punish growth, self-hosted picks if you'd rather own the data outright. Free → $50/mo on starter tiers, no cookie banner required.

cheapstack editorialMethodologyPrices verified May 2026
5 tools · free → $6/mo paid · self-host or hosted · updated may 2026
Skip to TL;DRSee matrix →
tldr.txt — tools/privacy-analytics.mdour pick
$cat tldr.txt

Cheapest self-hosted: Umami (MIT, runs on your existing Postgres). Cheapest hosted: Pirsch at $6/mo or Plausible at $9/mo. Fathom if dashboard polish for non-technical stakeholders matters more than $6/mo savings. PostHog if you actually need product analytics, not just pageviews.

Updated May 2026see how we picked →
the list / 5 tools

The list

Fiveplatforms, ordered editorially — top of list isn’t “best,” it’s the shape that fits the most indie creators. Each card has the verdict tag, the pricing receipt, and the honest fit / skip lists. Affiliate links are disclosed.

01

Plausible

Plausible Insights OÜ
our pick

Open-source, privacy-first web analytics. Cookieless, GDPR-compliant by default. Hosted EU instance or self-host on your own infra.

pricing.txt — plausiblemonthly
Starter$9/mo · 10k pv base · 1 site$9/mo
Growth$14/mo · 3 sites · usage scales with pv$14/mo
Business$19/mo · 10 sites · advanced features$19/mo
Self-hostAGPL · Docker Composefree
use for
  • You want the option to self-host — even if you don't use it day one, having the exit ramp matters.
  • Cost matters: Plausible's $9 Starter beats every hosted vendor except Pirsch at the entry tier.
  • Open-source values resonate — you're choosing tools partly on whether the code is auditable and forkable.
  • You're a developer or technical team — the dense default dashboard is fine for you.
  • You want direct database access for custom analysis (self-host only).
skip for
  • You share analytics with non-technical stakeholders and dashboard polish matters.
  • You need session recordings or product analytics — Plausible is web-pageview-shaped only.
  • You need to track many sites — Starter is single-site only, you'd need to upgrade to Growth ($14/mo) for three sites or Business ($19/mo) for ten.
02

Fathom

Conva Ventures
polished pick

Privacy-first web analytics. Hosted only, on the founders' own infrastructure. Polished dashboard, simple pricing, indie-business-friendly.

pricing.txt — fathommonthly
Starter$15/mo · 100k pv$15/mo
Pro$60/mo · 1M pv$60/mo
Business$200/mo · 10M pv + extras$200/mo
use for
  • You want the most polished hosted experience without thinking about infrastructure ever.
  • You share analytics with non-technical stakeholders (clients, marketing, execs) and the UI polish matters.
  • 100k pv at $15 is the right shape for your traffic and the dashboard polish is worth $6/mo over Plausible's Starter.
  • You want monetary-value goals (track revenue per source directly in the dashboard).
  • You're an indie business and the 'support indie founders' values pitch resonates.
skip for
  • Self-host is non-negotiable — Fathom doesn't offer it and never has.
  • Open-source values are a hard requirement — Fathom is proprietary.
  • You want session recordings or feature flags — Fathom is web-pageview-shaped only.
03

PostHog

PostHog Inc.
product analytics pick

Open-source product analytics + session recordings + feature flags + experimentation. Goes far beyond pageviews. The 'one platform' choice for product teams.

pricing.txt — posthogmonthly
Free1M events/mo · all featuresfree
Paid$0.00005 / event after free · scales down at volumemetered
Self-hostMIT · Helm chartfree
use for
  • You're building a product and need user-behavior analytics (funnels, retention, cohorts), not just pageviews.
  • Session recordings or feature flags are part of the workflow — PostHog bundles them.
  • You want one tool for analytics + experimentation rather than three integrations.
  • Free tier (1M events/mo) covers genuine production usage at indie scale.
  • Self-host as a real option — PostHog runs on your own infra without the SaaS tier.
skip for
  • You only need pageview analytics — PostHog is overkill, Plausible/Fathom are simpler.
  • Privacy-by-default is the deciding factor — PostHog's autocapture mode is more invasive than Plausible.
  • You're cost-sensitive at high event volume — pricing scales aggressively past 1M events.
04

Umami

Umami Software · open source
self-host pick

Open-source, MIT-licensed analytics. Self-hosted on your own Postgres + a small server. The cheapest possible privacy analytics — free if you can run it.

pricing.txt — umamimonthly
Self-hostMIT · Postgres + small serverfree
Cloud Hobby$0/mo · 100k eventsfree
Cloud Pro$20/mo · 1M events$20/mo
use for
  • You want analytics for free and you can self-host on your existing Postgres.
  • Open-source values + simplicity matter — Umami is genuinely small and auditable.
  • Multi-site dashboard for managing many domains is your shape.
  • You want a free hosted option with real production-grade event volume.
  • Your team is comfortable running Docker / Vercel / similar self-deploy.
skip for
  • You don't want to operate anything — Umami self-host is real ops work.
  • Polished dashboard for non-technical stakeholders is a hard requirement.
  • You need real-time updates with sub-second latency — Umami's update cadence is slower.
05

Pirsch

Pirsch Analytics
EU pick

EU-based privacy analytics. Cookieless, GDPR/CCPA compliant by default. Slightly more affordable than Fathom; less feature-rich than PostHog.

pricing.txt — pirschmonthly
Standard$6/mo · 10k pv base · 50 sites$6/mo
Plus$12/mo · 10k pv base · unlimited sites$12/mo
Enterprisecustom · high-volume + SLAscustom
use for
  • You want EU-resident data by default (Pirsch is German-hosted).
  • Slightly cheaper than Plausible/Fathom at the comparable tier.
  • GDPR conversation is constant in your market and Pirsch's posture is a feature.
  • Dashboard ergonomics are clean and similar to Plausible/Fathom in look and feel.
  • You want a vendor outside the US tech ecosystem for risk-spreading reasons.
skip for
  • You need open-source / self-host — Pirsch is proprietary.
  • You want session recordings or feature flags — Pirsch is web-pageview-shaped only.
  • Brand recognition is the deciding factor for stakeholders — Plausible/Fathom are better-known.
scoreboard / category matrix

Category scoreboard

Six dimensions, 5tools. The olive dot marks the clear winner per row when there is one — most rows have multiple credible answers. Use this for shape-spotting, not for ranking.

dimension
Plausible
Fathom
PostHog
Umami
Pirsch
Free tier
self-host · forever
30-day trial
1M events/mo
self-host + 100k cloud
30-day trial
Cheapest paid tier
$9/mo · 1 site
$15/mo · 100k pv
metered
$20/mo · 1M events
$6/mo · 50 sites
Open source
yes · AGPL
no
yes · MIT
yes · MIT
no
Self-hostable
yes · Docker
no · cloud only
yes · Helm
yes · Docker
no · cloud only
Beyond pageviews
events + funnels
events + goals
session rec + flags + AB
events
events + goals
Data residency
EU (hosted) / anywhere
Canada
US (hosted) / anywhere
anywhere · self-host
EU · Germany
decision / when to pick which

When to pick which

8 user shapes, 8picks. The right answer depends on what you’re optimizing for — revenue model, content shape, growth lever, ownership appetite.

  1. Switching off Google Analytics 4 to something privacy-first
    Plausible or Fathom

    GA4 alternatives split into two camps for indie sites. Plausible if you're a developer comfortable with a denser dashboard and want the option to self-host (AGPL, runs on a $5 VPS). Fathom if you share analytics with non-technical stakeholders and the polished UI is worth the extra $6/mo at the entry tier ($9 Starter vs $15 Starter). Both are cookieless and GDPR-native by default, so the cookie banner goes away with either.

  2. Total analytics budget needs to be under $50/mo and that's the hard constraint
    Umami self-host or Pirsch

    Two paths keep the analytics bill under $50/mo with room for everything else. Umami self-host is free MIT, runs on a Postgres you already pay for plus a tiny app server. Pirsch at $6/mo on the Standard tier is the hosted answer if you want zero ops work. Plausible at $9/mo Starter and Fathom at $15/mo Starter both also fit under $50 but cost more than Pirsch for comparable pageview ranges.

  3. Self-hosted analytics is non-negotiable for compliance, ownership, or cost
    Plausible or Umami

    If self-hosting is the deciding feature, Plausible (AGPL, Docker Compose) and Umami (MIT, Postgres) are the two real options. Plausible self-host runs a slightly larger footprint with Erlang under the hood, paid for by the longer feature head start. Umami is intentionally smaller, just Node and Postgres. Both write to a database you control and remove any third-party data residency question. PostHog also self-hosts via Helm, but only if you need product analytics rather than just pageviews.

  4. Want open-source + cheap + dev-team-friendly dashboard
    Plausible

    If you're a developer or technical team and want analytics that you can self-host (or pay $9/mo for hosted), Plausible is the answer. Dense default dashboard, no fluff, AGPL source. Most cheapstack readers default to this.

  5. Polished dashboard for non-technical stakeholders
    Fathom

    If you share analytics with clients/marketing/execs and the dashboard polish matters, Fathom's UX is meaningfully nicer. The $6/mo premium over Plausible's Starter ($9 vs $15) buys you that polish + the 'support an indie founder' values pitch.

  6. Product analytics — funnels, retention, session recordings, feature flags
    PostHog

    If you need to know what users do (not just where they came from), PostHog bundles session recordings, feature flags, A/B tests, and funnels. Free tier covers 1M events/mo. Skip if you only need pageview analytics — overkill.

  7. Cost is zero, ops appetite exists, ready to self-host
    Umami

    If you have a $5 VPS and a Postgres, Umami runs free forever. MIT-licensed, simple, and the cheapest possible production analytics. Trade ops for $0/mo cost. Cloud Hobby tier ($0/mo for 100k events) exists if you'd rather not operate it.

  8. EU data residency is a feature, not a checkbox
    Pirsch

    If your audience is EU-heavy and your buyers ask 'where does my data live,' Pirsch's German hosting and GDPR-by-default posture is a meaningful answer. Slightly cheaper than Plausible/Fathom; less brand recognition.

honest mentions / runners-up

Honest mentions

Tools that show up in adjacent searches but didn’t make the editorial five. Listed for context — not a recommendation, not a takedown.

  • Google Analytics 4

    Free, ubiquitous, and the reason this category exists. Cookies, complex UI, privacy-policy-heavy. Listed for context — privacy-first analytics are the alternative.

  • Mixpanel

    Product analytics established player. Free tier exists; pricing scales aggressively. Picked when PostHog's bundle is overkill but you need event-level analytics.

  • Amplitude

    Product analytics enterprise-tier. More polished than PostHog but more expensive. Right for funded startups, overkill for indie.

  • Cloudflare Web Analytics

    Free, basic, runs without a snippet (uses Cloudflare's CDN insights). No bells and whistles. Pick when you only need traffic counts and you're already on Cloudflare.

faq / common questions

Frequently asked

What's the best privacy-first Google Analytics alternative?
Plausible if you want the most popular cookieless analytics with self-host option (AGPL, $9/mo Starter). Fathom if dashboard polish for non-technical stakeholders matters and self-host isn't needed ($15/mo Starter). PostHog if you need product analytics beyond pageviews (1M events/mo free). Umami if you want the cheapest option via MIT self-host. Pirsch if EU-resident hosting is the deciding factor ($6/mo Standard).
Are these analytics tools cookieless and GDPR-compliant?
Plausible, Fathom, Umami, and Pirsch are cookieless by default — you remove the cookie banner the moment you switch off Google Analytics. PostHog defaults to cookies for full product analytics but offers a cookieless mode (server-generated hashed visitor IDs with daily-rotated salt). All five are GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliant by default.
Can I self-host a privacy-first analytics tool?
Yes. Plausible Community Edition (AGPL) runs on a $5 VPS via Docker Compose. Umami (MIT) runs on your Postgres plus a small Node server. PostHog has a self-host Helm chart for Kubernetes deployments. Fathom and Pirsch are cloud-only. Most teams that self-host use Plausible (easier ops) or Umami (lighter footprint).
How accurate are these tools compared to Google Analytics?
Privacy-first analytics typically show 10-30% lower pageview counts than GA4. The difference is GA4 inflates numbers by counting bots, prefetch requests, and double-counting events that privacy-first analytics correctly exclude. The lower numbers are MORE accurate, not less. Pre-warn stakeholders before the cutover — 'we now have correct numbers, GA4 was inflated' is the honest message.
How long does it take to migrate from Google Analytics?
Most teams complete the migration in a weekend. Install the new tracking script alongside GA4, run both for 2-4 weeks to validate counts, then remove GA4. Historical GA4 data stays read-only in your Google account. For sites already deep in GA4 reports or custom dashboards, plan additional time to recreate equivalent reports — most privacy-first tools have simpler dashboards by design.
What's the cheapest paid privacy analytics tool?
Pirsch Standard at $6/mo is the cheapest paid hosted tier across this set, covering 10k pageviews on a single site (50 sites at scale). Plausible Starter at $9/mo is next, covering 10k pageviews base with usage-based scaling. Both are dramatically cheaper than Fathom Starter ($15/mo, 100k pv) or Umami Cloud Pro ($20/mo, 1M events). Free options exist via self-host (Plausible CE, Umami) or generous free tiers (PostHog 1M events, Umami Cloud Hobby 100k events).
Do these tools support custom events and conversion tracking?
Yes, all five support custom event tracking. Plausible has goals + custom properties. Fathom has goals with monetary values (great for revenue per source). PostHog has full event-based analytics with funnels, retention, cohorts. Umami has events with custom properties. Pirsch has events + funnels. For pure pageview-based analytics, Plausible/Fathom/Pirsch are simpler; for funnel/cohort/retention analysis, PostHog is the deeper tool.