Self-Hosted Analytics: Privacy-Respecting Google Analytics Alternatives

The Problem with Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks your visitors across the entire internet, building detailed profiles that are used for advertising. It's banned in several EU countries for GDPR violations. Self-hosted analytics respect your visitors' privacy while still giving you useful insights.

Top Self-Hosted Options

Umami (Recommended)

Lightweight, fast, and beautiful. Perfect for most websites.

version: "3.8"
services:
  umami:
    image: ghcr.io/umami-software/umami:postgresql-latest
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://umami:password@db:5432/umami
      - DATABASE_TYPE=postgresql
      - HASH_SALT=your_random_salt
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=umami
      - POSTGRES_USER=umami
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
    volumes:
      - umami_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  umami_db:

Plausible Analytics

Simple, lightweight (under 1KB script), GDPR compliant out of the box.

# Clone Plausible
git clone https://github.com/plausible/hosting plausible
cd plausible

# Configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your settings

# Start
docker compose up -d

Comparison Table

• Umami: Lightest, simplest, great UI - Best for blogs
• Plausible: Privacy-first, no cookies - Best for compliance
• Matomo: Full-featured, GA replacement - Best for enterprises
• GoAccess: Real-time log analysis - Best for terminals

Benefits Over Google Analytics

• No cookie consent banners needed
• GDPR/CCPA compliant by design
• Your data stays on your server
• No ad-blockers blocking your analytics
• Faster page loads (smaller scripts)