Plausible Analytics
Plausible Analytics is a lightweight, open-source, cookieless web analytics tool built in Estonia and hosted in Germany. It provides simple, actionable website metrics (page views, visitors, traffic sources, top pages) without cookies, without tracking individuals, and without sending data outside the EU. Plausible is the simplest path to GDPR-compliant analytics: no consent banner needed, no DPA required, no US transfers, and a script 45x smaller than Google Analytics.
What does Plausible Analytics do?
What is Plausible Analytics?
Plausible Analytics is a lightweight, cookieless, privacy-first web analytics tool built by Uku Tähm and Marko Saric in Estonia. It provides simple, useful website metrics: unique visitors, page views, bounce rate, visit duration, top pages, traffic sources, and countries, without any cookies, without tracking individuals across sessions or sites, and without sending any data outside the EU. The entire Plausible script is 45x smaller than Google Analytics and loads faster.
Why Plausible requires no consent banner
Plausible is cookieless by design. It does not store any identifiers in the browser: no cookies, no localStorage, no fingerprinting. Without persistent identifiers, Plausible cannot track individual users across sessions or pages. Each page view is processed independently. The aggregate statistics it produces do not constitute personal data under GDPR. European DPAs including the CNIL have confirmed that cookieless, non-identifying analytics do not require consent.
EU infrastructure and data ownership
All Plausible infrastructure runs on Hetzner servers in Germany. No data leaves the EU. No Standard Contractual Clauses are needed. Plausible is open-source and can also be self-hosted on your own EU infrastructure for maximum data control. For Plausible Cloud, no DPA is technically required as the data is not personal data under their processing model, though Plausible provides one on request.
Practical compliance steps
Install the Plausible script: no CMP integration needed, no consent banner required. Mention Plausible in your privacy policy as an EU-hosted analytics tool using no personal data. Remove Google Analytics and its consent mechanisms to simplify your compliance posture. Consider self-hosting Plausible for full data sovereignty.
Plausible Analytics and the GDPR
- Legal basis
- No consent required. Plausible is cookieless, does not track individuals across sessions or sites, and provides only aggregate statistics. It meets the criteria for analytics tools exempt from consent requirements under multiple European DPA guidelines including the CNIL exemption for audience measurement.
- Risk level
- low
- Applicable regulations
- GDPR compliant by design. No ePrivacy consent required. No SCCs needed. No DPA required for standard Plausible Cloud deployments.
Impact assessment (DPIA)
A DPIA is not required for Plausible Analytics. The platform has no individual tracking, no cross-site tracking, no cookies, and no third-country data transfers.
Sample text for your banner
This website uses Plausible Analytics, a privacy-friendly analytics tool that uses no cookies and collects no personal data. No consent is required. See our privacy policy for details.
What Plausible Analytics sets and contacts
- Tracking method
- Lightweight JavaScript snippet, cookieless tracking, IP anonymisation, aggregate-only analytics, no cross-site tracking
- Server location
- European Union (Germany). Plausible is an Estonian company with EU infrastructure
- Cookieless mode available
- Yes
Cookies set (1)
| Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| plausible_none | session | Session | Plausible sets no cookies: fully cookieless analytics with no persistent browser storage |
Third-party domains contacted (2)
plausible.iostats.plausible.io
Frequently asked questions about Plausible Analytics
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Does Plausible require cookie consent?
No. Plausible does not use cookies, does not store identifiers on user devices, and does not track individuals. No consent banner is required. This is Plausible's defining advantage over Google Analytics.
Where is Plausible data stored?
Plausible Cloud stores all data on Hetzner servers in Germany (EU). No data leaves the EU. Self-hosted Plausible stores data on your own infrastructure. No Standard Contractual Clauses are needed.
What data does Plausible collect?
Plausible collects page URL, referrer, browser type, OS, device type, country (from IP), and screen size. IP addresses are used only for geolocation and then immediately discarded, never stored. No persistent visitor IDs are created. The data is aggregate, not individual.
Is Plausible open-source?
Yes. Plausible Analytics is fully open-source (AGPL-3.0 license) and can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure for full data sovereignty. Community support is available, and self-hosted instances receive the same updates as Plausible Cloud.
How accurate is Plausible compared to Google Analytics?
Plausible's cookieless approach means it counts visitors that ad blockers and browser privacy settings would hide from Google Analytics. In practice, Plausible often shows higher visitor numbers than Google Analytics because it is not blocked by most ad blockers. The data is aggregate-only, so individual user journeys are not available.
Do I need a DPA with Plausible?
Not technically. Plausible argues it processes no personal data under its model. However, Plausible provides a DPA on request for organisations that want one for their own compliance records. For Plausible Cloud, mention Plausible in your privacy policy as an EU-hosted analytics tool.
Can Plausible track custom events and conversions?
Yes. Plausible supports custom event tracking via a script extension. This enables conversion tracking, outbound link clicks, file downloads, and custom business events, all without cookies and without individual tracking.
What are alternatives to Plausible for cookieless analytics?
Fathom Analytics (Canada, EU-hosted option), Simple Analytics (Netherlands), and self-hosted Matomo in cookieless mode are the main alternatives. All provide cookieless analytics without consent requirements. Plausible has the largest community and most active development among these options.
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