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Self-Hosting Plausible Analytics: Privacy-First Web Analytics

Deep dive into Plausible Analytics. Setup, configuration, goals, and custom events — everything you need for privacy-first analytics.

plausibleanalyticsprivacyweb

Why Plausible?


Plausible is a lightweight, privacy-focused analytics tool. Under 1 KB script, no cookies, GDPR-compliant by default.


What Plausible Tracks


  • Page views and unique visitors
  • Bounce rate and visit duration
  • Traffic sources (referrers)
  • Countries and cities
  • Devices, browsers, and OS
  • UTM campaign parameters
  • Entry and exit pages

    • What Plausible Does NOT Track


  • Individual users
  • Cross-site tracking
  • Personal data
  • Cookies

    • Custom Events


    Track specific actions:

    javascript

    plausible('Signup', {props: {plan: 'pro'}})


    Use cases: signups, downloads, button clicks, form submissions.


    Goals


    Define goals and track conversion rates:

  • Pageview goals (visited /pricing)
  • Custom event goals (clicked signup)
  • Revenue tracking (amount per conversion)

    • Integration


    Add one line to your site:

    html

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


    Plausible vs Google Analytics 4


  • Plausible: Simple dashboard, privacy-first, no cookies
  • GA4: Complex, event-based, requires cookie consent
  • Plausible: 45-second overview. GA4: hours of configuration.

    • Deployment


    1. Deploy Plausible on TinyPod

    2. Add your site

    3. Add the script tag

    4. Data flows in immediately


    Resources: 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM with ClickHouse and PostgreSQL.


    Plausible gives you the metrics that matter without the privacy concerns or complexity of Google Analytics.