SHSelfHostIndex

Open Web Analytics vs Plausible

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
OP Open Web Analytics Self-hosted web analytics with click and heatmap tracking VS PL Plausible Lightweight, privacy-friendly website analytics
FeatureOpen Web AnalyticsPlausible
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPElixir
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 2,682★ 28,416
First released20082019
ReplacesGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics

Why pick each one

Choose Open Web Analytics if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in PHP
Open Web Analytics details

Choose Plausible if…

  • Privacy-friendly by design
  • Simple and fast
  • Lightweight script
Plausible details

Frequently asked questions

Is Open Web Analytics or Plausible better?

Neither is universally better. Plausible has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Open Web Analytics and Plausible free and open-source?

Yes. Open Web Analytics is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Plausible under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Open Web Analytics and Plausible with Docker?

Open Web Analytics: yes. Plausible: yes.

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