plausiblevsfathom
for: self-hosters and price-sensitive teams (Plausible) or teams wanting a polished B2B product with an iOS app (Fathom)
skip if: anyone who needs Google Analytics feature depth — both are deliberately simpler
Both are excellent privacy-respecting alternatives to Google Analytics, and both are so similar in core functionality that the decision mostly comes down to price sensitivity and whether self-hosting matters to you. If it does, Plausible. If you just want a set-it-and-forget-it analytics product that feels polished, Fathom.
Plausible and Fathom are so close in functionality that this comparison is mostly about values and price. Plausible is open source and cheaper. Fathom is slightly more polished and has a better mobile app. Either way, you're getting an ethical alternative to Google Analytics that respects user privacy and doesn't require a cookie banner in most jurisdictions.
what each one actually is
Plausible — an open-source, privacy-first analytics tool. Lightweight script (~1kb), no cookies, GDPR-compliant by default. You can self-host it on your own server or use their managed cloud version.
Fathom — a privacy-focused analytics SaaS. Not open source, but built with the same principles: no personal data, no cookies, cookieless tracking by default. Polished dashboard, iOS app, good customer support reputation.
pricing, honestly
Plausible's cloud starts at $9/month for up to 10,000 monthly pageviews. It scales linearly from there. The self-hosted version is free (you pay for your own infrastructure). Transparent, predictable pricing.
Fathom starts at $14/month for up to 100,000 pageviews — a higher floor but a much more generous ceiling for that base price. For high-traffic sites, Fathom can work out cheaper. For small sites, Plausible wins on cost.
edge: Plausible — cheaper at low volumes, free to self-host. Fathom wins at high traffic volumes.
what it's actually like to use them
Plausible's dashboard is clean and refreshingly simple. One page, all your key stats: unique visitors, pageviews, bounce rate, top sources, top pages. No configuration rabbit holes. The self-host setup takes about 20 minutes with Docker and is well-documented.
Fathom's dashboard is similar but slightly more polished — the typography is nicer, the spacing feels more considered, and the overall impression is of a product that cares about craft. The iOS app is a real differentiator: checking stats on your phone in a good native app is meaningfully better than a mobile browser dashboard.
Both have excellent goal tracking, custom event support, and email reports. The functional difference is small.
who Plausible is for
- Developers who want to self-host their analytics stack
- Price-sensitive indie developers and small SaaS teams
- Open source advocates who want their infrastructure to match their values
- Teams with high pageview counts where Fathom's pricing tiers get expensive
who Fathom is for
- Teams who want a polished B2B product without self-hosting complexity
- Anyone who checks analytics on their phone and wants a real iOS app
- Businesses that want to pay for something that feels like a supported product
- Teams that find Plausible's self-host setup more friction than they want
when to avoid each
skip Plausible if: you don't want to think about self-hosting infrastructure, you want a native mobile app, or you value a slightly more polished dashboard experience.
skip Fathom if: you have high traffic and the pageview-based pricing becomes significant, or you want to self-host for data sovereignty reasons.
stuff their landing pages won't tell you
- Both exclude bots and crawlers, but the filtering algorithms differ — you may see different absolute numbers for the same site between the two
- Plausible's self-hosted version doesn't include every cloud feature (email reports require additional setup)
- Fathom's "EU isolation" feature routes data through EU servers only — useful for GDPR peace of mind
- Neither tool gives you user-level analytics or session recording — that's a feature, not a bug, but make sure you're okay with that before you commit
- Migrating between them is painful — the goal/event schemas aren't compatible
the call
Small site, price-sensitive, want to self-host? Plausible. High-traffic site or you just want a polished hosted product? Fathom. Both are dramatically better than giving your data to Google. Pick one, set it up, and stop thinking about analytics tooling.
frequently asked
are plausible and fathom gdpr compliant without a cookie banner?
how much do they cost?
can i self-host plausible?
how do they compare to google analytics?
which has better dashboard ui?
do they work with single page apps?
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last updated: june 14, 2026
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