Outgrowing Plausible?
Plausible is lovely — private, light, trustworthy. It's also web analytics only: funnels sit on higher tiers, and there's no retention, no paths, no asking from your editor. smolanalytics keeps the privacy values and adds the product analytics — one binary, $9 for unlimited sites.
smolanalytics vs Plausible in one paragraph
smolanalytics and Plausible are both privacy-first, open-source, cookieless alternatives to Google Analytics; the difference is scope. Plausible is web analytics only — pageviews, sources, goals — with funnels, custom properties, and the Stats API reserved for higher tiers; as of mid-2026 its cloud starts around $9/month for 10,000 pageviews on one site, and it has no retention cohorts or user-path analysis. smolanalytics is web and product analytics in one MIT-licensed Go binary: funnels, retention, paths, and cohorts on every plan, a daily verdict that says what to fix, Google Search Console built in, and ask-in-editor via MCP with a CI test that keeps editor answers identical to the dashboard. Self-hosting is free with no database to run; cloud is $9/month (Solo) with unlimited sites and 250k events after a 14-day full trial. Pick Plausible for the most battle-tested privacy brand; pick smolanalytics when you also need product analytics.
where Plausible stops (as of mid-2026)
Funnels, custom properties, and the Stats API are reserved for higher tiers — the ~$9 Starter plan is web analytics on one site, capped at 10k pageviews.
— plausible.io pricing, as of mid-2026
No retention cohorts and no user paths: Plausible is deliberately web-only, so product questions need a second tool.
— Plausible feature set, as of mid-2026
There's no editor-native way to ask your numbers a question — reading the dashboard is the interface.
— Plausible feature set, as of mid-2026
Plausible vs smolanalytics
| Plausible | smolanalytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | web analytics only | web + product analytics |
| Funnels / retention / paths | funnels on higher tiers; no retention/paths | all included, every plan |
| Entry cloud price | ~$9 · 10k pageviews · 1 site | $9 · 250k events · unlimited sites |
| Self-host | Community Edition (multi-service) | one Go binary, no database |
| Ask in your editor | not offered | MCP — 43 tools, CI-checked answers |
| Tells you what to fix | dashboards you read | a verdict, every morning |
| Privacy | cookieless, no banner | cookieless mode, no banner |
when to pick Plausible instead
- You want the most battle-tested privacy-analytics brand. Plausible has carried the cookieless flag for years, and it's a genuinely lovely product with a long public track record.
- You only need web analytics — pageviews, sources, goals — and will never ask retention, funnel, or path questions. If that's the whole job, Plausible does it beautifully.
Swap in two minutes
<!-- remove the Plausible <script> tag, drop this in -->
<script src="https://YOUR-INSTANCE/sdk.js"></script>
<script>smolanalytics.init("YOUR_WRITE_KEY", { host: "https://YOUR-INSTANCE" });</script>
<!-- cookieless mode stays on. same privacy, plus funnels/retention/paths. -->Same privacy values, one snippet. You keep the no-banner setup and gain the product analytics Plausible doesn't do.
questions
Is smolanalytics a good Plausible alternative?
Yes, if you like Plausible's privacy values but need more than web analytics. smolanalytics is open source (MIT), cookieless, and self-hostable as a single Go binary — and it adds funnels, retention, paths, cohorts, a daily verdict, and ask-in-editor via MCP. Cloud is $9/month (Solo) with unlimited sites and 250k events after a 14-day full trial.
What does smolanalytics include that Plausible doesn't?
Product analytics depth on every plan: funnels, retention cohorts, and user paths (as of mid-2026, Plausible paywalls funnels to higher tiers and offers no retention or path analysis). Plus a daily verdict that tells you what to fix, and editor-native answers over MCP with a CI agreement test that keeps them equal to the dashboard.
When is Plausible the better choice?
When you want the most battle-tested privacy-analytics brand and only need web analytics. Plausible has been the reference cookieless tool for years; if pageviews, sources, and goals are the whole job, it's an excellent pick.
Get the verdict, not another dashboard.
Drop one snippet, ask in your editor, own your data. 14-day full trial, no credit card.