Plausible is the pick for creators who want to know how their site is doing in ten seconds, without cookies and without learning GA4. It covers traffic, sources, top pages and goals cleanly, and its Business plan adds funnels and revenue tracking. It costs money from the first month unless you host it yourself.
We assessed Plausible Analytics alongside the rest of our analytics reviews, including 1of10, ViewStats and Iconosquare, so the score below is relative to that field.
What it does well
The dashboard fits on one screen: visitors, top sources, top pages, locations and devices, each filterable with a click. A creator can answer "where did last week's readers come from" without building a report.
Privacy is part of the design. Plausible says it uses no cookies and doesn't track people across sites or days. Its data policy says raw IP addresses and user-agent strings are never stored and that the data used to count unique visitors is deleted every 24 hours. Plausible says that means no cookie banner for its analytics; check with your own legal advice if you run other tracking on the same page. The tracking script is small, which helps page speed compared with heavier tag setups.
Ownership is the other strength. The code is open source and the self-hosted Community Edition is free, so you can run it on your own server. On the hosted product, Plausible's data policy says you keep full ownership of your site data, it isn't sold or used for advertising, and visitor data is processed and stored in the EU. Starter includes Google Analytics import, so switching doesn't mean losing your history.
Plausible publishes integration guides for WordPress, Ghost, Webflow, Shopify, Squarespace and Next.js, which covers most creator sites.
Where it falls short
Depth has a ceiling. Funnels, ecommerce revenue attribution, custom properties and the Stats API sit on the Business plan. Even there, saved segments are simple next to GA4's audiences, and there's no multi-touch attribution or user-level analysis.
Event tracking takes manual work. Goals for clicks, form submissions or downloads need setting up, and some need changes to your site.
Third-party integrations are fewer than Google's, and there's no free hosted plan, only a 30-day trial with no credit card required.
Pricing in practice
Every plan is priced by monthly pageviews, and the same pageview slider applies to all three. Prices are USD billed monthly; yearly billing costs 10 times the monthly price.
| Plan | 10k pageviews | 100k | 1M | Key extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $9/mo | $19/mo | $69/mo | 1 site, 3 years of retention, goals and custom events, GA import |
| Growth | $14/mo | $29/mo | $104/mo | up to 3 sites and 3 team members, shared links, embedded dashboards |
| Business | $19/mo | $39/mo | $139/mo | up to 10 sites and 10 members, 5 years of retention, funnels, revenue attribution, custom properties, Stats API |
Enterprise is custom pricing for 10+ sites, with SSO, a managed proxy and scheduled raw data exports.
Example (assumptions: one blog at about 80k monthly pageviews, billed yearly): Starter at the 100k tier is $190 a year, about $15.83 a month.
A newsletter writer with one site rarely needs more than Starter. Creators selling courses or products who want revenue by traffic source should price Business.
Restrictions to check before you pick
Plausible's pricing page (read Nov 7, 2026) lists Stats API access at 600 requests per hour on Business, and Sites API access only under Enterprise. If you want to create or manage sites by API, a Business plan will not cover it.
Who should pick it (and who shouldn't)
Pick Plausible if you want fast, readable traffic numbers, care about not tracking readers, or want the option to self-host. Skip it if you rely on deep segmentation, multi-touch attribution or ad-platform reporting, or you need a free hosted plan.
Alternatives worth comparing
- Fathom Analytics: a similar privacy stance, one plan with at least 50 sites, and event and revenue tracking on every tier, but no free self-hosted option.
- Google Analytics: free and much deeper, with more setup and consent work.
- See the analytics category for YouTube research tools.
What changed (Oct 8, 2026)
- Plan names, prices and limits now match Plausible Analytics's official pricing page as checked on Oct 8, 2026.
- We corrected statements in the review text that no longer matched the product or its documentation.
- We revised the pros and cons to match current features and pricing.
- We corrected the integrations and platforms listed.
SOURCES (CHECKED OCT 19, 2026)
| Claim | Source URL | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Plans, prices and plan limits in the pricing table | https://plausible.io/#pricing | 2026-10-19 |
| Plausible CE is free to self-host | https://plausible.io/self-hosted-web-analytics | 2026-10-19 |
| Official product site | https://plausible.io | 2026-10-19 |
| Stats API 600 requests per hour on Business; Sites API access listed only under Enterprise | https://plausible.io/pricing (curl and Chrome) | 2026-11-07 |
| PLAN | PRICE | WHAT YOU GET |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $9/mo billed monthly or $90/yr billed yearly at 10k monthly pageviews ($19/mo at 100k, $69/mo at 1M) | 1 site, 3 years of data retention, goals and custom events, Google Analytics import |
| Growth | $14/mo billed monthly or $140/yr at 10k pageviews ($29/mo at 100k, $104/mo at 1M) | up to 3 sites and 3 team members, shared links, embedded dashboards |
| Business | $19/mo billed monthly or $190/yr at 10k pageviews ($39/mo at 100k, $139/mo at 1M) | up to 10 sites and 10 team members, 5 years of retention, funnels, ecommerce revenue attribution, custom properties, Stats API |
| Enterprise | Custom | 10+ sites, SSO, managed proxy, scheduled raw data exports |
| Free trial | $0 for 30 days | no credit card required; the self-hosted Community Edition is free if you run your own server |
Privacy-conscious creators wanting a simple, fast dashboard.
You need deep behavioral segmentation and multi-touch attribution. — if that's a dealbreaker, see every analytics tool we've reviewed.
- Is Plausible Analytics worth it in 2026?
Lightweight, privacy-first analytics for creators who want the essentials without the cookie banner headache. We rate it 8.1/10, and it's the strongest pick for Privacy-conscious creators wanting a simple, fast dashboard.
- How much does Plausible Analytics cost?
Plausible prices every plan by monthly pageviews. At 10k pageviews, Starter is $9/mo, Growth $14/mo and Business $19/mo billed monthly; yearly billing gives two months free. At 100k pageviews the same plans cost $19, $29 and $39 a month. Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial with no card required. List prices change often, so confirm with the vendor before you buy.
- What are the downsides of Plausible Analytics?
Lacks the deep segmentation of Google Analytics. No free hosted plan, only a 30-day trial (the self-hosted Community Edition is free if you run your own server). Fewer third-party integrations. Event tracking setup is more manual.
- How did BestCreates review Plausible Analytics?
Editorially reviewed: An editorial evaluation of verified product information, official documentation, pricing and features, informed by Carlos Gil's professional experience. Available demos and screenshots may inform the review; documented product use is required for a hands-on label. The score is relative to the other tools we cover in this category.
Lightweight, privacy-first analytics for creators who want the essentials without the cookie banner headache.
Editorially reviewed. An editorial evaluation of verified product information, official documentation, pricing and features, informed by Carlos Gil's professional experience. Available demos and screenshots may inform the review; documented product use is required for a hands-on label. Read our review standards.
BestCreates is written and edited by Carlos Gil. Every tool is assessed against the same documented framework — the jobs creators hire it for, ease of use, pricing accuracy, support and integrations — and each review states in the open how it was assessed.
LAST UPDATED OCT 9, 2026
SIGNED BY CARLOS GIL · FOUNDER & EDITOR, THE BEST NETWORK · OUR DISCLOSURE POLICY