Why I Use Umami Instead of Google Analytics (And Don't Have a Cookie Banner)

#analytics #selfhosted #privacy #webdev

When I was setting up analytics for my blog, Google Analytics seemed like the obvious choice. But once I looked at what it actually requires — a tracking script, a cookie consent banner, a cookie policy page, conditional script loading — it felt like way too much for a personal site that doesn't run ads or retargeting.

So I went with Umami instead. It's open-source, self-hosted, and doesn't use cookies at all. No consent banner needed, and my data stays on my own server.

What's Actually Wrong With Google Analytics

Cookies and consent overhead. GA sets first-party tracking cookies (_ga, _ga_<container-id>). Under GDPR, that means you need a proper cookie consent banner with category-by-category opt-in. And users who reject cookies simply won't be tracked — so your data is incomplete from day one.

Your data lives on Google's servers. They process it for their own purposes too. You get a "free" analytics tool, and Google gets visibility into your traffic patterns.

It's heavy and overcomplicated. The GA4 snippet loads around 90–135KB of JavaScript. The dashboard is built for enterprise use cases — overkill if you just want pageviews, referrers, and device stats.

Why Umami

Umami is an open-source, self-hosted analytics platform that gives you the metrics you need without the privacy baggage.

No cookies — sessions are identified using a hash of IP + user agent + website ID. Nothing personal is stored, no consent banner required
Your data, your server — self-hosting on a VPS means no third party ever sees your analytics
Lightweight — the tracking script is under 2KB (vs GA's 90KB+)
Clean dashboard — one page with pageviews, unique visitors, bounce rate, session duration, referrers, browsers, OS, devices, and geo data
Easy to deploy — Docker + PostgreSQL, that's it

How I Set It Up

Here's the Docker Compose config I use:

umami:
  image: ghcr.io/umami-software/umami:latest
  container_name: umami
  environment:
    DATABASE_URL: postgresql://umami:${UMAMI_DB_PASSWORD}@umami-db:5432/umami
    APP_SECRET: ${UMAMI_APP_SECRET}
    TWO_FACTOR_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${UMAMI_2FA_KEY}
  depends_on:
    umami-db:
      condition: service_healthy
  init: true
  restart: always
  healthcheck:
    test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:3000/api/heartbeat"]
    interval: 5s
    timeout: 5s
    retries: 5

umami-db:
  image: postgres:16-alpine
  container_name: umami-db
  environment:
    POSTGRES_DB: umami
    POSTGRES_USER: umami
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${UMAMI_DB_PASSWORD}
  volumes:
    - umami-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  healthcheck:
    test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U umami"]
    interval: 5s
    timeout: 5s
    retries: 5
  restart: always

After docker compose up -d:

Log in at port 3000 with admin / umami, change the password immediately
Go to Settings → Websites → Add website
Copy the tracking script into your site's <head>

In Next.js I use the Script component:

import Script from 'next/script';

<Script
  defer
  src="https://your-umami-instance.com/script.js"
  data-website-id="your-website-id"
  strategy="afterInteractive"
/>

No Cookie Banner, By Design

With Google Analytics I would have needed to build consent UI that loads before tracking, implement granular consent categories, write a cookie policy, and add conditional script loading. All of that for a personal blog.

With Umami the script just loads. Every visitor gets tracked from the start, and nobody has to click through a consent popup. Cleaner UX, complete data.

What You Give Up

To be fair, there are trade-offs:

No cross-site tracking — you can't follow users across domains or build retargeting audiences
No Google Ads integration — if you run paid campaigns, you'll need GA for conversion attribution
Simpler event tracking — Umami's custom events don't have GA4-level granularity for complex funnels
Self-hosting maintenance — you're responsible for updates and database backups (minimal, but it's there)

For a blog or portfolio, none of these matter. You're not retargeting visitors or running ad funnels.

GA vs Umami at a Glance

Feature	Google Analytics	Umami
Cookies	Yes (`_ga`, `_ga_<id>`)	None
Cookie banner required	Yes (GDPR)	No
Data location	Google's servers	Your server
Script size	~90KB+	<2KB
Self-hostable	No	Yes
Price	Free (data as payment)	Free (open source)
Setup complexity	Moderate	Low (Docker)
Dashboard	Complex, enterprise-focused	Simple, one-page
Cross-site tracking	Yes	No
Ad integration	Yes	No

Bottom Line

If you're running a personal site, blog, or small project — think about whether you actually need Google Analytics. Umami gives you everything that matters (who visits, where they come from, what they read) without the privacy infrastructure overhead. Setup takes about fifteen minutes if you already have Docker running.

Umami on GitHub →

DEV Community