Conduct analytics on your own servers, without any cookies. Deploy Plausible with just one click using Postgres and ClickHouse databases.
Why Plausible over Google Analytics
Plausible is the top privacy-focused analytics solution: the script size is less than 1 KB (compared to the GA4 tag of about 50 times larger); no cookies; no cross-site tracking; and a one-page dashboard that even a human could understand without special training. The compliance story under GDPR regulations is much easier since Plausible gathers no personal information at all.
The monthly plan starts from €9 with limitations on the number of visitors. Self-hosted Community Edition (AGPL license) will allow you to get rid of those limitations and payment in return.
The stack and deployment
A viable configuration of CE would consist of three services: the Phoenix app, Postgres database for user accounts and site configuration, and the ClickHouse database for the actual events. As a one-button deployment from Peon, the stack comes with all the right configuration, generated secrets, service connections and volumes; just give it a custom domain such as analytics.example.com and an SSL certificate will be generated automatically.
Two parameters need to be set during deployment: BASE_URL should correspond to the final URL (including scheme), and the first registered user will be treated as an admin; register right after deploying, then turn off open registration.
Sizing and resource reality
ClickHouse is the hungry piece: budget for 2 GB of RAM for the full stack to have some buffer
CPU is minimal at small scale; event collection is low
Disk increases with events; 1 GB per a few million pageviews is the cost-effective way to go
A shared 4 GB VPS can host Plausible along with two or three applications on websites reaching millions of monthly views
Connect your sites
Put the code block into each website; a single Plausible setup monitors limitless domains.
Ad blockers block third- party analytics domains less frequently when serving from your own domain, representing one of self-hosting's quieter accuracy victories.
Optional: run the script via the site's native origin to achieve superior capture metrics
Operations
Back up Postgres every night since it holds site configs, users, and goals; ClickHouse event logs are larger and potentially recoverable again, so back them up weekly or knowingly accept that compromise. System upgrades involve changing image tags then redeploying; Plausible updates database structures when starting up. Overall operating expense on a current machine: basically nothing compared to nine euros or higher per month if hosted, making data control a benefit instead of a cost.
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