Open-Source Google Analytics Alternatives You Can Self-Host, With or Without a Cookie Banner
Google Analytics 4 is free, but you pay in other ways: your visitor data sits with Google, you usually need a cookie banner in Europe, and many founders find its reports hard to read. An open-source alternative lets you host the data yourself, often without cookies, and see your traffic on one simple screen. We checked every tool below on its official website and GitHub in October 2026: the exact licence, the latest release, whether it sets cookies, what the free self-hosted version includes and what the paid cloud version costs. Tools that are not web analytics, or no longer developed, are listed separately.
Quick answer: for a full Google Analytics 4 replacement with goals, ecommerce and a free Google Analytics importer, self-host Matomo; for simple cookie-free stats on one screen, use Plausible Community Edition or Umami; for product analytics with funnels, session replay and feature flags, use PostHog; and for a modern cookieless dashboard with session replay and error tracking, try Rybbit or Swetrix.
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What Google Analytics 4 Gives You for Free in 2027
To know what you are replacing: GA4 costs nothing for a standard property, and the paid version is Google Analytics 360. According to Google's data retention help page (checked October 2026), a standard property keeps user-level and event-level data for 2 or 14 months, while 26, 38 and 50 months are only available in Analytics 360. GA4 sets cookies, so in the EU and UK you normally need consent before it runs. The open-source tools below give you the data on your own server, keep it as long as you like and, in most cases, track without cookies.
Open-Source Google Analytics Alternatives Compared
Sources: each project's official website, pricing page and GitHub repository, checked 30 October 2026. Self-hosting is free, but you pay for the server and your own time.
The Best Open-Source Google Analytics Alternatives in 2027
1. Matomo: the full Google Analytics replacement
Matomo is the closest open-source match to Google Analytics: visits, goals, ecommerce, campaigns, segments and a tag manager in one GPL-3.0 PHP application. The On-Premise Community version is free with unlimited users and hits; Matomo Cloud is the paid hosted version, priced by monthly hits (from 50,000 to over 10 million) with a free trial and no credit card. Heatmaps, session recordings and some other features are paid plugins, while the Google Analytics Importer plugin is a free download for On-Premise. Matomo uses cookies by default. Its guide to national consent rules explains when you can run it without consent: in France the CNIL exemption conditions are cumulative, and features such as User ID, heatmaps, session recordings and ecommerce always need consent. Version 5.14.2 came out in October 2026.
2. Plausible Community Edition: simple, cookie-free stats
Plausible shows visitors, sources, pages, countries, devices and goals on one page, and its site says it uses no cookies and collects no personal data, so you need no cookie banner. The self-hosted Plausible Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 and free, but it is released only twice a year and leaves out marketing funnels, user journeys, ecommerce revenue goals, SSO and the sites API; its bot filtering is also more basic than the cloud's. Plausible's cloud starts at $9 a month for up to 10k monthly pageviews, with a 30-day free trial, and its docs describe how to import historical GA4 data. The latest Community Edition, v3.2.1, came out in June 2026.
3. Umami: free, MIT-licensed and easy to run
Umami is MIT-licensed, so it has the most permissive licence on this list, and its site says it uses no cookies and collects no personal data. Besides traffic sources and UTM campaigns, it covers events, user journeys, funnels, goals, retention cohorts and revenue, and an official MCP server lets AI assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT query your data (self-hosted v3.4 or later). Self-hosting is free. In the cloud, the Hobby plan is free for 100K events a month, one website and 6 months of data; Pro costs $20 a month for 1 million events, and session replays and heatmaps come with the $200 Business plan. Version 3.4.1 was released in October 2026.
4. PostHog: product analytics, session replay and feature flags
PostHog goes far beyond page views: product analytics, web analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, surveys and error tracking in one platform. Its code is MIT-licensed outside the ee folder. Be realistic about self-hosting: its self-host docs call self-hosted deployments officially unsupported, with no tagged releases, and offer a hobby deploy for small use. Most startups use the cloud instead, and its pricing page gives 1 million events and 5,000 session replays free every month, with no credit card. PostHog sets cookies by default, but it has a cookieless mode that you can switch on always or only when a visitor rejects cookies.
5. Rybbit: a modern cookieless Google Analytics replacement
Rybbit calls itself the modern Google Analytics replacement and is open-source, cookieless analytics with no consent banner needed. Next to the usual traffic reports it has funnels, user journeys, session replay, Core Web Vitals from real visits and error tracking that links JavaScript failures to sessions. The Rybbit code is AGPL-3.0, so you can self-host it for free; its EU-hosted cloud starts at $13 a month billed annually for 100,000 pageviews, after a 7-day trial. Version 2.9.2 came out in October 2026.
6. Swetrix: web analytics plus error tracking and performance
Swetrix is an AGPL-3.0 analytics tool that says it does not use cookies for tracking and collects data anonymously. Besides traffic it offers funnels, bot detection, error tracking and performance monitoring, and on higher plans session replays, feature flags and A/B tests. There is no free cloud plan, but the self-hosted Community Edition is free. The cloud starts at €17 a month (plus VAT) for 100,000 events, after a 14-day trial.
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7. OpenPanel: Mixpanel-style event analytics without cookies
OpenPanel describes itself as an open-source alternative to Mixpanel that also replaces Google Analytics: web analytics, custom events, user flows, retention and a Google Search Console view, with cookie-less tracking. The OpenPanel repository is AGPL-3.0, and self-hosting is free with unlimited events. The cloud is priced only by events, from $2.50 a month for 5K events or $20 for 100K, with a 30-day free trial. Version 3.17.0 came out in October 2026.
8. GoatCounter: the lightest option for blogs and small sites
GoatCounter is a tiny, fast analytics tool licensed under a slightly modified EUPL-1.2. It counts unique visits without cookies or persistent personal data, and its site says that for this reason it does not need a GDPR notice. You can self-host it, and the hosted service is free for reasonable public use (not for millions of pageviews a day). Development is slower than the others: the latest release, v2.7.0, is from December 2025, with code changes still landing in 2026.
9. Countly Lite: open-source analytics for mobile and desktop apps
Countly Lite is the free, self-hosted edition of Countly, with SDKs for iOS, Android, desktop apps and the web, dashboards, ratings, push notifications and remote config. Its licence is AGPL-3.0 with a modified Section 7: you may not remove Countly's name or logo from the interface. Paid Flex starts at $175 a month and Enterprise is custom-priced. Countly moved from count.ly to countly.com; version 25.03.58 came out in October 2026.
10. OpenReplay: session replay you host yourself
OpenReplay is not a full Google Analytics replacement but shows what GA4 never will: recordings of real sessions with developer tools, product analytics and co-browsing. Its code is AGPL-3.0 by default, with a separately licensed ee folder. The open-source edition is free to self-host and is meant for low traffic with community support; the managed Dedicated plan starts at $199 a month after a 7-day trial. Session recordings capture what visitors do, so plan for consent. Version 1.28 came out in October 2026.
Smaller self-hosted options: Ackee (MIT, Node.js, v3.7.1 in October 2026), Liwan (Apache-2.0, a single binary, v1.8.2 in October 2026), Open Web Analytics (GPL-2.0, PHP with heatmaps and a WordPress plugin, 1.14.2 in October 2026) and Shynet (Apache-2.0, last release in March 2026).
Tools From the Old List That Changed or Do Not Fit
The 2025 version of this article included tools that do not replace Google Analytics:
- Metabase, Redash and Apache Superset: good open-source BI and dashboard tools, but they only chart data you already have; they do not track website visitors. Use them on top of Matomo, PostHog or your database, and see our open-source Metabase alternatives and free Looker alternatives.
- Open Web Analytics: still maintained, but development is small and it is moved to the short list above.
- Countly: its website moved from count.ly to countly.com, and the free edition is now called Countly Lite.
- Fathom Lite: the old open-source version of Fathom gets bug fixes but no new features, and its README says it uses cookies. Today's Fathom Analytics is a paid hosted product, not open source.
Which Open-Source Google Analytics Alternative Should You Choose?
- You want everything GA4 does, on your own server: Matomo, and import your old Google Analytics data with its free importer.
- You want simple stats without a cookie banner: Plausible CE, Umami or GoatCounter.
- You are building a SaaS or app and need funnels, replay and feature flags: PostHog Cloud on the free tier, or OpenPanel if you want to self-host.
- You want session replay and web vitals with cookieless stats: Rybbit, or Swetrix if you also want error tracking.
- You have a mobile app: Countly Lite, keeping its branding in place.
- You want to watch where users get stuck: OpenReplay next to your main analytics tool.
Remember that cookieless does not always mean consent-free: the rules differ by country, so read your data protection authority's guidance and keep features such as session replay behind consent. Our article on privacy lessons for startups covers the basics.
How Founders Use Open-Source Analytics
At the start, analytics should answer three questions: where visitors come from, which page convinces them, and where they drop off. Set one goal per key action (sign-up, demo request, purchase) and check it every week; our guide to Google Analytics for startups explains which reports matter, and the same logic works in Matomo or Umami. Fix your landing page with a free landing page analyzer, and track the metrics investors ask about from day one. More and more visitors arrive from ChatGPT and other AI tools, so also look at AI visibility tracking tools.
Open source can replace much more of a startup's paid stack. We have also checked open-source Ahrefs alternatives for SEO, open-source Zapier alternatives for automation and open-source Intercom alternatives for live chat. Before you build anything, validate your startup idea with real customers, and turn what your analytics shows into articles with the F/MS AI SEO Tool so people find you in Google and AI assistants.
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FAQ About Open-Source Google Analytics Alternatives
What is the best open-source alternative to Google Analytics 4?
Matomo is the most complete: goals, ecommerce, segments, a tag manager and a free Google Analytics importer, under GPL-3.0 and free to self-host with unlimited hits. For simpler stats without cookies, Plausible Community Edition and Umami are the most popular choices.
Which Google Analytics alternative does not need a cookie banner?
Plausible, Umami, Rybbit, Swetrix, OpenPanel and GoatCounter all say they track without cookies, so they say no cookie banner is needed. Rules differ by country, and features like session replay usually still need consent.
Is Matomo GDPR compliant without consent?
It can be, in some countries and only with a strict configuration. Matomo's own guide says the French CNIL exemption conditions are cumulative and that User ID, heatmaps, session recordings and ecommerce tracking need prior consent.
Is Plausible free if I self-host it?
Yes. Plausible Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 and free, but it is released twice a year and does not include marketing funnels, user journeys, ecommerce revenue goals, SSO or the sites API. The cloud starts at $9 a month.
Is Umami really free?
Self-hosting Umami is free under the MIT licence, and Umami Cloud's Hobby plan is free for 100K events a month on one website with 6 months of data. Pro costs $20 a month.
Can I self-host PostHog?
Yes, with a hobby deploy, but PostHog's docs say self-hosted deployments are officially unsupported and have no tagged releases. Most startups use PostHog Cloud, which is free for 1 million events and 5,000 session replays a month.
Can I import my Google Analytics data into an open-source tool?
Yes. Matomo has a free Google Analytics Importer plugin for On-Premise, and Plausible's docs describe importing historical GA4 data, up to 5 properties into one dashboard.
How long does Google Analytics 4 keep my data?
According to Google's help page, a standard GA4 property keeps user-level and event-level data for 2 or 14 months; longer periods of 26, 38 and 50 months are only for Analytics 360.
Are Metabase and Apache Superset Google Analytics alternatives?
No. They are business intelligence tools that chart data you already have and do not track website visitors. Use them on top of an analytics tool or your database.
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About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
