Plausible

This is best used for simple, privacy-compliant web analytics without cookie banners or GDPR complexity. Built for teams prioritizing user privacy and simplicity over comprehensive feature sets—script is 45x smaller than GA4, improving page load speeds.

Key tactical use cases: Privacy-compliant traffic tracking for EU audiences, real-time visitor monitoring, goal conversion tracking, UTM campaign performance, and lightweight analytics for content sites.

Strong integration pairings: Works standalone without complex integrations. Can export to Google Data Studio, Slack notifications for goal completions.

Pricing: Free trial for 30 days. Growth starts at $9/month (10k pageviews). Scales to $69/month (1M pageviews). Business tier for multiple sites.

Plausible vs GA4: Choose Plausible for privacy-first approach and simplicity. Choose GA4 for comprehensive data and Google Ads optimization. Many teams run both—Plausible for public dashboards, GA4 for deep analysis.