Umami vs Plausible
Both are excellent privacy-first, cookieless analytics tools - and both are open source. The difference is pricing model: Plausible Cloud starts at $9/mo for 10k pageviews and scales with your traffic, while Umami self-hosted on InstaPods is a flat $7/mo with unlimited pageviews, no matter how big you grow.
Umami vs Plausible: The Verdict
Plausible and Umami are close cousins: cookieless, lightweight, single-dashboard, GDPR-friendly. If you want a fully managed, zero-ops experience and do not mind traffic-based pricing, Plausible Cloud is a great product. If you would rather run it yourself and pay a flat rate, Umami self-hosted on InstaPods is $7/mo with unlimited pageviews and websites - it never gets more expensive as your traffic grows. Umami is MIT-licensed (Plausible is AGPL) and ships a full REST API. For cost-predictability and self-hosting simplicity, Umami wins; for hands-off convenience, Plausible Cloud does.
Last updated: 2026-07-14Quick Comparison
| Feature | Plausible | Umami |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $9/mo (Cloud, 10k pageviews) | $7/mo flat (self-hosted on InstaPods) |
| Pricing Model | Scales with monthly pageviews | Flat rate - unlimited pageviews |
| Business Tier | $19/mo (funnels, ecommerce, API) | All features included at $7/mo |
| Cookieless | Yes | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | Yes (AGPL, manual setup) | Yes - one-click on InstaPods |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT (more permissive) |
| REST API | Business plan / self-hosted | Full REST API included |
| Data Ownership | Plausible servers (Cloud) or your own | Postgres on your own pod |
| Setup | Cloud instant; self-host is DIY | One-click deploy, HTTPS included |
| Source Code | Open source (AGPL) | Open source (MIT) |
Where Plausible Gets Expensive
Trade-offs to weigh before committing.
Traffic-Based Pricing
Plausible Cloud is priced by monthly pageviews, starting at $9/mo for 10k. As your site grows, your bill grows - a successful month costs you more even though the product is the same.
Features Behind the Business Tier
Funnels, ecommerce revenue tracking, and the stats API require the $19/mo Business plan. The cheaper Starter plan leaves those out.
Self-Hosting Is DIY
Plausible is open source (AGPL) and self-hostable, but you assemble it yourself - Docker, Postgres, ClickHouse, a reverse proxy, and TLS - and maintain it going forward.
AGPL License
Plausible uses the AGPL-3.0 license, which carries copyleft obligations if you modify and network-serve it. Umami's MIT license is more permissive for embedding and customization.
Why Self-Host with Umami?
What you get when you pick this stack.
Flat Price, Unlimited Pageviews
Umami on InstaPods is $7/mo no matter how much traffic you get. Go viral without watching an analytics meter - your cost stays exactly the same.
One-Click Self-Hosting
Skip the Docker-and-ClickHouse assembly. InstaPods deploys Umami with a bundled Postgres database, HTTPS, and a rotated admin password in about 60 seconds.
All Features Included
No Starter-vs-Business tiers. Your Umami instance has the full dashboard and the complete REST API from the first minute, at one flat price.
MIT-Licensed and Yours
Umami is MIT-licensed with your data in a Postgres database on your own pod. Permissive to customize, simple to back up, and never subject to per-pageview pricing.
Real Cost Comparison
Running analytics on a site that grows from 10k to 500k monthly pageviews over a year.
- Plausible Cloud Starter: $9/mo at 10k pageviews
- Bill rises as pageviews grow
- Business features (API, funnels): $19/mo tier
- Cost scales with your success
- InstaPods Build plan: $7/mo
- Umami: free (open source, MIT)
- Unlimited pageviews - price never changes
- Postgres + daily backups included
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Umami better than Plausible?
They are very similar - both cookieless, lightweight, privacy-first, and open source. The practical differences: Umami is MIT-licensed (Plausible is AGPL), Umami on InstaPods is a flat $7/mo with unlimited pageviews while Plausible Cloud is priced by traffic starting at $9/mo, and InstaPods makes self-hosting Umami one click instead of a manual Docker/ClickHouse setup. Plausible Cloud is the better pick if you want zero-ops hosting and do not mind traffic-based pricing.
How much does Umami cost versus Plausible?
Umami on InstaPods is a flat $7/mo (Build plan) for unlimited pageviews and websites. Plausible Cloud starts at $9/mo for 10k pageviews and scales up with traffic; its Business tier (funnels, ecommerce, stats API) is $19/mo. Both are free to self-host if you run the infrastructure yourself.
Can I self-host both Umami and Plausible?
Yes - both are open source. The difference is effort: Plausible self-hosting means running Docker, Postgres, ClickHouse, a reverse proxy, and TLS yourself. On InstaPods, Umami deploys in one click with a bundled Postgres database, HTTPS, and an admin account already created.
Does Umami have an API like Plausible?
Yes. Self-hosted Umami includes a full REST API out of the box - authenticate for a bearer token, then query /api/websites/{id}/stats for pageviews, visitors, and more. With Plausible, the stats API is part of the Business tier or a self-hosted instance.
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