Counterscale vs Plausible
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Plausible
Lightweight, privacy-friendly website analytics
| Feature | Counterscale | Plausible |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | one-click, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,148 | ★ 29,197 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Counterscale and Plausible?
Counterscale
Counterscale is a simple, privacy-friendly web analytics tool designed to be easy to deploy and maintain on Cloudflare Workers. It tracks page views and visitors with minimal infrastructure.
- Runs on Cloudflare Workers
- Privacy-friendly tracking
- Minimal infrastructure
- Cheap to operate
Plausible
Plausible is a lightweight, open-source, privacy-friendly web analytics tool that needs no cookies and is GDPR compliant. It targets site owners who want simple, ethical analytics. It is deployed via Docker.
- Cookie-free and GDPR compliant
- Tiny tracking script
- Clean single-page dashboard
- Goal and funnel tracking
Counterscale vs Plausible: key differences
Counterscale is written in TypeScript, while Plausible is built with Elixir. Licensing differs — MIT for Counterscale versus AGPL-3.0 for Plausible. Counterscale is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Plausible. Plausible is the more established project (first released 2019), while Counterscale arrived in 2024. Plausible has the considerably larger community, at 29,197 GitHub stars versus 2,148. Plausible lists first-class Docker deployment; Counterscale does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Counterscale if…
- Almost free to run
- Very easy deployment
Watch out for
- Cloudflare dependency
- Basic feature set
Choose Plausible if…
- Privacy-friendly by design
- Simple and fast
- Lightweight script
Watch out for
- Self-host needs Postgres and ClickHouse
- Fewer deep reports than Matomo
Frequently asked questions
Is Counterscale or Plausible better?
Neither is universally better. Plausible has the larger community, while Counterscale is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Counterscale and Plausible free and open-source?
Yes. Counterscale is licensed under MIT and Plausible under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Counterscale and Plausible with Docker?
Counterscale: check the project docs for container support. Plausible: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Counterscale or Plausible?
Counterscale has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Plausible. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.