Matomo vs Medama
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Matomo
Powerful, privacy-respecting web analytics platform
VS
Medama
Privacy-focused website analytics with no cookies
| Feature | Matomo | Medama |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 74 · Good |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,893 | ★ 645 |
| First released | 2007 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Matomo and Medama?
Matomo
Matomo is a powerful, open-source web analytics platform that gives full ownership of data as a privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. It targets organizations that need detailed analytics with data control. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Full-featured analytics suite
- 100% data ownership
- Heatmaps and funnels via plugins
- GDPR-friendly configuration
Medama
Medama is a lightweight, privacy-focused website analytics tool that operates without cookies and complies with privacy regulations. It is designed to be fast and simple to self-host.
- Cookieless tracking
- SQLite storage
- Lightweight script
- Privacy compliant
Matomo vs Medama: key differences
Matomo is written in PHP, while Medama is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Matomo versus MIT for Medama. Medama is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Matomo. Matomo is the more established project (first released 2007), while Medama arrived in 2024. Matomo has the considerably larger community, at 21,893 GitHub stars versus 645.
Why pick each one
Choose Matomo if…
- Comprehensive analytics
- Privacy-respecting
- Mature and extensible
Watch out for
- Heavier to self-host
- Some features in paid plugins
Choose Medama if…
- Easy single-binary deploy
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- Newer project
- Smaller feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Matomo or Medama better?
Neither is universally better. Matomo has the larger community, while Medama is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Matomo and Medama free and open-source?
Yes. Matomo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Medama under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Matomo and Medama with Docker?
Matomo: yes. Medama: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Matomo or Medama?
Medama has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Matomo. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.