Plausible vs Umami
Both are open source, cookieless and light. Both can run on your own server. The difference is mostly money and who looks after it: Plausible is a paid, EU-hosted product first, and Umami is free to run yourself with a free hosted plan for small sites.
Written by the people who make Moxel, which is neither of these.
SHORT ANSWER
Which one?
Pick Plausible if you want a hosted product in the EU and will pay for it. Pick Umami if you want free, either on your own server or on its free hosted plan.
PLAUSIBLE
Pick Plausible if
- You want someone else to run it, in the EU, and you are happy to pay.
- You want Google Search Console queries inside your analytics.
- You want email and Slack reports without setting anything up yourself.
- You want revenue tracking and e-commerce attribution, on its Business plan.
UMAMI
Pick Umami if
- You want free. Umami's hosted Hobby plan costs nothing, and self-hosting costs only your server.
- You want funnels without a higher plan. Umami lists funnels on its free plan.
- You already run servers and like owning the whole stack.
- You want the smallest bill for several small projects.
SIDE BY SIDE
The same questions, both answers.
| Question | Plausible | Umami |
|---|---|---|
| Price | PlausiblePaid, by monthly page views. Free to self-host. | UmamiFree to self-host. The hosted version has a free plan. |
| Cookies | PlausibleNone | UmamiNone |
| Hosting | PlausibleThe EU, or your own server | UmamiYour own server, or Umami's hosted Cloud |
| Open source | PlausibleYes | UmamiYes |
| Host it yourself | PlausibleYes, with the free Community Edition | UmamiYes |
| Forms | PlausibleCounted as a goal when a form is sent | UmamiThrough events you send yourself |
| Funnels | PlausibleOn the Business plan | UmamiYes |
| Setup | PlausibleOne script tag | UmamiOne script tag, plus a server and database if you host it |
| Script size | PlausibleAbout 1.3 KB compressed | UmamiAbout 2.3 KB compressed |
Checked against each tool's own site in October 2026. Tools change, so see Plausible and Umami for today's details and prices.
Work at Plausible or Umami and see something wrong or out of date here? Email moxelmail@gmail.com and we will fix it. Every page that mentions your tool updates at once.
NEITHER
If you need to know why the form fails.
Plausible counts a form when it is sent, and Umami counts the events you send it. Neither shows which field people stop on without work from you. Moxel does that out of the box, and lists what to change. It is paid and hosted only.
VISITOR
1 of 5
- Waiting for the first event.
Five visitors, three different fields. That is the pattern you would never see in a conversion rate.
QUESTIONS
Asked a lot.
- Is Umami really free?
- Self-hosted Umami is free, and you pay for the server and look after updates. Umami's hosted Cloud also has a free Hobby plan with limits. Larger plans are paid.
- Which is easier to self-host?
- Both need a server and a database, and both publish install guides. Plausible's self-hosted version is its Community Edition. If you do not want to run a server at all, Plausible's hosted plans or Umami's Cloud do it for you.