Plausible Analytics vs Simple Analytics

Compare Plausible Analytics and Simple Analytics on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Cloudflare, Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics, Matomo

Plausible Analytics

Estonia· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you need cookieless website analytics with EU-owned visitor hosting, a lightweight script, AGPL transparency, and either managed Cloud or self-hosted CE. Skip when you need heatmaps/session replay, multi-day user-level product analytics, HIPAA/BAA, free forever hosted analytics, or zero non-EU SaaS anywhere in vendor ops—consider Matomo-class (e.g. Friendly Analytics / Piwik PRO), Pirsch, or Simple Analytics depending on depth vs simplicity.

Cookieless by designEU-owned visitor hostsAGPLv3 open sourceSelf-host CEDPA automaticLightweight script

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Simple Analytics

Netherlands· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you need EU-operated, cookieless web metrics without visitor IDs or stored IPs—especially as a visibility layer beside GA4. Skip when you need self-host/open-source control, session replay, or identity-rich marketing analytics; consider Plausible Analytics or Matomo/Piwik PRO instead.

Cookieless analyticsNo stored IPs / visitor IDsEU-hosted (NL focus)Dutch B.V.Works beside GA4API & BI export

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Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

Plausible Analytics vs Simple Analytics: Snapshot
Feature	Plausible Analytics	Simple Analytics
Country of origin	Estonia	Netherlands
Category	Web Analytics	Web Analytics
Open source	Yes	No
Self-hosted	Yes	No
Headquarters	Estonia	Netherlands
Legal entity	Plausible Insights OÜ, Västriku tn 2, 50403 Tartu, Estonia	Simple Analytics B.V., Amsterdam (KVK 88269922, VAT NL864560011B01)
Governing law	Estonian / EU law context for the OÜ; confirm contract terms for governing law clauses	Netherlands / EU
US parent / control	No known US parent	No known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Medium	Low
Hosting / residency	Visitor analytics: Hetzner (Falkenstein, Germany), UpCloud (Finland, DB/exports), Bunny (Slovenia, CDN/DNS/DDoS)—European-owned; vendor states visitor data never leaves the EU. Customer-account subprocessors include Paddle (payments), Postmark (email), Gravatar, optional Google (GA import), Help Scout, Nolt; site tools may include hCaptcha, Algolia, Mailchimp. SCCs claimed for non-EU processors.	Analytics data claimed processed in the Netherlands/EU. Public subprocessors (May 2026): Worldstream + Leaseweb (NL hosting), Hetzner (DE hosting), Bunny (SI CDN/DNS), Hyperping (FR uptime), Intention (NL domains). Vendor states this list covers website visitor-data subprocessors only—not payments/internal ops.
Summary	Estonian open-source, cookieless web analytics (AGPLv3): lightweight script, EU-owned hosting on Hetzner/UpCloud/Bunny, managed Cloud plus self-hosted Community Edition.	Dutch privacy-first web analytics SaaS: cookieless pageviews and campaigns without visitor IDs or stored IPs, EU-hosted by Simple Analytics B.V. in Amsterdam.
Tags	analytics web-analytics privacy cookieless gdpr saas open-source self-hosted estonia google-analytics-alternative	analytics web-analytics privacy cookieless gdpr saas api eu-hosted

At a glance: Plausible Analytics vs Simple Analytics
At a glance	Plausible Analytics	Simple Analytics
HQ	Tartu, Estonia	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Legal entity	Plausible Insights OÜ (reg. 14709274)	Simple Analytics B.V. (KVK 88269922)
Visitor hosts	Hetzner DE; UpCloud FI; Bunny SI	Not listed
License	AGPLv3; Cloud + Community Edition	Not listed
Commercial model	Pageview-based Cloud SaaS; free CE self-host	Free hobby tier + usage-based paid + enterprise
Tracking model	Cookieless; daily rotating hash; no PII stored	Not listed
Founded	Not listed	2018
Product type	Not listed	Hosted web analytics SaaS (not self-hosted)
Open source	Not listed	No (proprietary)
Data focus	Not listed	Cookieless, non-identifying aggregate metrics
Primary hosting	Not listed	Netherlands (EU); see subprocessors

Key capabilities: Plausible Analytics vs Simple Analytics
Key capabilities	Plausible Analytics	Simple Analytics
Cookieless by design	Yes	Yes
EU-owned visitor hosts	Yes	Not listed
AGPLv3 open source	Yes	Not listed
Self-host CE	Yes	Not listed
DPA automatic	Yes	Not listed
Lightweight script	Yes	Not listed
No stored IPs / visitor IDs	Not listed	Yes
EU-hosted (NL focus)	Not listed	Yes
Dutch B.V.	Not listed	Yes
Works beside GA4	Not listed	Yes
API & BI export	Not listed	Yes

Plausible Analytics

Cookieless measurement with daily rotating visitor hash
No cookies, localStorage, or persistent IDs. Uniques use hash(daily_salt + domain + IP + UA); salt rotates every 24 hours and raw IP/UA are never stored—so analytics can often run without a consent banner, at the cost of no multi-day user stitching.
Lightweight script and single-page traffic dashboard
Vendor claims a script ~54× smaller than Google Analytics with real-time updates (~30s), sources, pages, devices, UTM channels, scroll-depth goals, and optional Google Search Console import—built for marketers who refuse GA4 report complexity.
Goals, custom events, funnels, and revenue on Cloud
Codeless page goals, file downloads, outbound clicks, custom events/properties, AI-referral traffic views, and (on higher Cloud plans) funnels, user journeys, and ecommerce revenue attribution—not session replay or in-app product analytics.
EU-owned visitor hosting (Hetzner, UpCloud, Bunny)
Cloud visitor data is processed on European-owned infrastructure: Hetzner (Germany), UpCloud (Finland), Bunny CDN (Slovenia). Plausible states visitor data never leaves the EU and is not stored on US hyperscalers.
AGPLv3 open source with Community Edition self-host
Full codebase on GitHub; free CE for self-host (long-term releases ~twice yearly). Cloud-only features include advanced bot filtering, funnels/journeys, ecommerce revenue, SSO, and Sites API—self-host ops, backups, and upgrades are yours.
Automatic DPA, Stats API, exports, and enterprise SSO
Public DPA applies to Cloud customers by use; CSV export and Stats API for BI; Business/Enterprise add higher API limits, raw event exports, managed proxy, and SAML SSO (Google Workspace, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID per docs).

Simple Analytics

Cookieless metrics without visitor IDs or stored IPs
Collects pageviews, referrers, UTMs, time-on-page, and scroll depth without cookies, localStorage, fingerprints, or stored IP addresses. Unique visits are inferred from referrer hostname matching, not device IDs. Built for sites that want analytics without a consent banner solely for this tool—and without building visitor profiles.
Country from time zone, not geo-IP
Country-level location is derived from the visitor’s IANA time zone rather than IP lookup, so IPs can be dropped end-to-end. City/region is not available; some border and multi-country zones can mis-tag. Useful when legal teams reject IP-based geolocation even when hashed.
Cookieless layer beside GA4 and BI stacks
Positioned to measure traffic lost when consent is denied in cookie-based tools. Import historical Google Analytics data; export via Stats/Export APIs and integrations toward Looker Studio, Power BI, and warehouse workflows so analysts can compare consented vs observed traffic without replacing every GA report.
Lightweight script, events, goals, and ad-blocker bypass
Vendor claims a single script under 5 KB. Supports events, automated events (e.g. downloads, outbound links), goals, filters, email reports, and robot/referrer-spam controls. Ad-blocker resilience is via first-party proxy or custom subdomain CNAME—not automatic immunity for every blocklist.
Team access, SSO, and EU-operated SaaS
Hosted product from Simple Analytics B.V. (Amsterdam) with role-oriented team features on higher tiers and documented SAML SSO for Okta and Microsoft Entra. No official self-host edition—operations and residency follow the vendor’s EU infrastructure and public subprocessor list.

Assurance & compliance: Plausible Analytics vs Simple Analytics
Assurance & compliance	Plausible Analytics	Simple Analytics
Independent security / no-logs audit	Not found Open-source code and security overview published; no public independent pen-test or no-logs audit PDF found on compliance/security pages.	Not found Searched security/trust pages; no public independent audit PDF found.
ISO 27001	Not found No ISO 27001 claim located on security or compliance hub pages reviewed.	Not found No ISO 27001 certificate claimed on primary security pages.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found No SOC 2/3 claim located on security or compliance hub pages reviewed.	Partial Vendor states SOC 2 Type II is in progress / coming soon—not completed certification at research time.
GDPR / EU data protection	Vendor claimed EU entity; cookieless non-PII design; public data policy, DPA, and vendor-published legal assessment on GDPR/ePrivacy positioning.	Vendor claimed Dutch EU entity; vendor claims no personal data collection (no cookies/IPs/visitor IDs) and GDPR-friendly design. Not legal advice—confirm for your processing facts.
US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Partial Estonian OÜ, no known US parent; visitor data on EU-owned Hetzner/UpCloud/Bunny. Partial/medium because customer-account subprocessors include US-oriented SaaS (e.g. Postmark, Help Scout, Gravatar, optional Google). Indicative only—not legal advice.	Partial EU entity, no known US parent, public analytics subprocessors are EU-based (Worldstream, Leaseweb, Hetzner, Bunny, Hyperping). Residual risk remains; reconcile Cloudflare mention on GDPR page vs Bunny on subprocessors. Assessment by EuropeanStack—not a vendor 'safe' claim. Not legal advice.
Data processing agreement (B2B)	Vendor claimed Public DPA applies automatically to Cloud customers by use of the service; lists processor duties and 48-hour breach notification target.	Partial Vendor says DPA usually not required (no personal data) but will review/sign customer-provided DPAs aligned with architecture.
EU AI Act	Not applicable Website analytics product; not marketed as an AI system under the AI Act.	Not applicable Web analytics product; not marketed as an AI system subject to AI Act high-risk regimes.

Considerations & known limitations: Plausible Analytics vs Simple Analytics
Considerations & known limitations	Plausible Analytics	Simple Analytics
US-linked customer-account subprocessors	Medium Visitor metrics stay on EU-owned hosts, but billing, email, support, and optional integrations use providers such as Postmark, Paddle, Help Scout, Gravatar, and Google—material for zero-US-processor policies.	Not listed
No public ISO 27001 / SOC 2	Medium Compliance hub emphasizes product design and EU hosting rather than ISO/SOC certificates; orgs with mandatory cert checklists must request evidence or accept open-source + DPA packaging.	Not listed
Self-host CE feature and release lag	Low CE is free but long-term releases (~twice yearly) and omits Cloud-only funnels, journeys, ecommerce revenue, SSO, and advanced bot filtering—ops burden sits with you.	Not listed
No multi-day user identity or replay	Low Daily hash resets prevent cross-day visitor stitching by design; heatmaps/session replay are out of scope—teams needing those must add other tools.	Not listed
Misconfiguration can reintroduce personal data	Medium Passing emails, patient IDs, or other identifiers in URLs or custom properties undermines the non-PII model; vendor also states no HIPAA/BAA.	Not listed
Hosted SaaS only—no self-host	Not listed	Medium No official self-host edition. Orgs with air-gap or on-prem telemetry mandates need Plausible self-host, Matomo, or similar instead.
SOC 2 not yet complete	Not listed	Medium SOC 2 Type II is publicly 'in progress'. Enterprise security reviews may block until a report is available or accept compensating controls (minimal data + EU hosts).
Referrer-based uniques and timezone country	Not listed	Low Uniques are not durable visitor IDs; country is timezone-based with known mis-tag edge cases. Totals will differ from GA client-ID models—set stakeholder expectations.
CDN/DDoS vendor documentation inconsistency	Not listed	Low Subprocessors list Bunny (EU) for CDN/DNS; GDPR page still references Cloudflare for CDN/DDoS. Ask for current edge path before asserting zero US-group infrastructure touch.
Small independent operator	Not listed	Low Public About page describes a three-person self-funded team. Fine for many sites; large enterprises should assess continuity, support SLAs, and roadmap capacity explicitly.

Fit

Plausible Analytics

Best fit when

Teams replacing GA4 who want aggregate marketing metrics without cookies or user profiles
EU orgs that require visitor analytics on European-owned infrastructure (Hetzner/UpCloud/Bunny)
Sites that prioritize script weight, Core Web Vitals, and a one-page dashboard
Buyers who want AGPL auditability and optional Community Edition self-host exit
Agencies and multi-site operators needing shared links, team seats, and pageview-tiered Cloud plans
Procurement paths that value a public DPA, data policy, and subprocessor list over ISO/SOC certificates

Poor fit when

Product analytics needs: multi-day user identity, cohorts, retention, feature experiments
UX research that requires heatmaps, session replay, or rage-click recording
Healthcare or other programs that require HIPAA and a BAA (explicitly not offered)
Buyers who need free forever hosted analytics with no subscription
Orgs that forbid any US-linked SaaS in vendor account tooling (Postmark, Help Scout, etc. are listed)

Consider instead when

When: You need Matomo-depth features (heatmaps, session recording, heavy on-prem packaging)
Consider: Friendly Analytics, Piwik PRO, or self-hosted Matomo
Trade Plausible’s minimalism for plugin breadth and different operators.
When: You want a lean EU privacy analytics peer with a different stack or license posture
Consider: Pirsch Analytics or Simple Analytics
Compare hosting ownership, funnels/ecommerce gates, and self-host options side by side.
When: You only need edge-level basic counts and already run Cloudflare
Consider: Cloudflare Web Analytics
Simpler install path; US company and thinner marketing analytics surface.
When: You need free hosted analytics and accept Google’s data practices
Consider: Google Analytics
Different legal and commercial model—not an EU privacy substitute.

Simple Analytics

Best fit when

Teams measuring traffic lost when consent is denied in cookie-based analytics (GA4/Adobe)
Public-sector and regulated sites that need no cookies/IPs/visitor profiles for web stats
EU procurement that requires Dutch legal entity + published EU subprocessors for visitor data
Agencies/multi-site operators wanting a simple hosted dashboard, reports, and API/BI egress
Sites that want essential pageview/referrer/UTM metrics without an analytics-only consent banner

Poor fit when

Product analytics needing session replay, heatmaps, or person-level funnels
Organizations that must self-host analytics or prefer open-source governance (see Plausible/Matomo)
Buyers requiring city/region geolocation accuracy (country is timezone-derived)
Teams whose primary need is identity-rich attribution, audiences, and marketing automation inside the analytics suite

Consider instead when

When: You need open-source and/or official self-hosting of privacy-first analytics
Consider: Plausible Analytics (catalog: plausible_analytics) or Matomo
Simple Analytics is hosted SaaS only; Plausible and Matomo cover self-host paths many security policies require.
When: You need a deeper EU enterprise analytics platform with configurable processing and on-prem options
Consider: Piwik PRO (catalog: piwik_pro)
Heavier suite and procurement surface than Simple Analytics’ minimal cookieless product.
When: You need identity graphs, remarketing audiences, and full marketing analytics depth
Consider: Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics
Keep those for consented deep analysis; Simple Analytics is the opposite design tradeoff.
When: You want another lightweight EU cookieless tracker and are comparing peers
Consider: Pirsch Analytics (pirsch_analytics) or Friendly Analytics (friendly_analytics)
Compare retention, multi-site, SSO, and API maturity rather than GDPR slogans alone.

Open questions for due diligence

Plausible Analytics

Which exact customer personal data categories does each account subprocessor (Postmark, Paddle, Help Scout, etc.) receive in production?
Can Enterprise contracts exclude optional integrations (Google, Help Scout) or pin subprocessor lists for regulated buyers?
Are independent pen-test reports or ISO/SOC roadmaps available under NDA?
What are contracted RPO/RTO and backup locations beyond the high-level Hetzner/UpCloud description?
For CE self-host: which Cloud-only features remain permanently out of CE versus merely delayed on the long-term release train?

Simple Analytics

Is Cloudflare still used for any CDN/DDoS path, or has Bunny fully replaced it for edge services?
When will SOC 2 Type II complete, and will the report be available under NDA?
What exact data-retention windows apply per plan for your expected traffic volume?
Will the vendor sign your standard DPA/SCC pack as-is for public-sector procurement?
Are any non-EU subprocessors used for account email, payments, or support that could affect broader vendor risk (visitor analytics list excludes these)?