Pirsch 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 | Pirsch | Plausible |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,030 | ★ 29,197 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Pirsch and Plausible?
Pirsch
Pirsch is a Go library for server-side, cookie-free web analytics. The open-source repository provides the tracking and statistics code you embed in your own application; the hosted pirsch.io dashboard is a separate commercial product.
- Cookie-free tracking
- No personal data collected
- Lightweight tracking script
- Go analytics engine
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
Pirsch vs Plausible: key differences
Pirsch is written in Go, while Plausible is built with Elixir. Pirsch is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Plausible. Plausible has the considerably larger community, at 29,197 GitHub stars versus 1,030.
Why pick each one
Choose Pirsch if…
- GDPR-friendly by design
- Fast and efficient
Watch out for
- Self-hosting needs assembly
- Smaller ecosystem
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 Pirsch 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 Pirsch and Plausible free and open-source?
Yes. Pirsch is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Plausible under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pirsch and Plausible with Docker?
Pirsch: yes. Plausible: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Pirsch or Plausible?
Pirsch has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Plausible. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.