Pirsch vs Umami
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Umami
Simple, fast, privacy-focused web analytics
| Feature | Pirsch | Umami |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,030 | ★ 38,981 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Pirsch and Umami?
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
Umami
Umami is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics that collects no personal data and uses no cookies. It targets developers and site owners wanting easy, ethical analytics. It is deployed via Docker.
- Cookie-free privacy analytics
- Clean modern dashboard
- Multi-site and multi-user
- Tiny tracking script
Pirsch vs Umami: key differences
Pirsch is written in Go, while Umami is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Pirsch versus MIT for Umami. Pirsch is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Umami. Umami has the considerably larger community, at 38,981 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 Umami if…
- Very easy to self-host
- Privacy-friendly
- Clean interface
Watch out for
- Fewer features than Matomo
- Requires a database
Frequently asked questions
Is Pirsch or Umami better?
Umami is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pirsch if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pirsch and Umami free and open-source?
Yes. Pirsch is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Umami under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pirsch and Umami with Docker?
Pirsch: yes. Umami: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Pirsch or Umami?
Pirsch has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Umami. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.