Choose Your Installation Method
Plausible Analytics offers two deployment options to fit your needs:Plausible Cloud
Managed hosting - We handle everything: infrastructure, updates, backups, security, and scaling
Community Edition
Self-hosted - Complete control over your data and infrastructure, but you manage it all
Plausible Cloud (Recommended)
Our managed cloud service is the fastest way to get started with Plausible Analytics.Why Choose Plausible Cloud?
2-Minute Setup
Start tracking in minutes with zero infrastructure management
Worldwide CDN
Fast script loading from edge locations around the world
High Availability
99.9% uptime with automated backups and disaster recovery
Always Updated
Get new features multiple times per week, automatically
Advanced Bot Filtering
Excludes ~32K data center IP ranges and sophisticated bot detection
Premium Support
Real support from the people who build Plausible
Cloud Installation Steps
Create Your Account
Visit plausible.io/register and sign up for a free 30-day trial.No credit card required to start.
Install the Tracking Script
Choose your installation method:For standard websites:For NPM/JavaScript apps:
Cloud-Only Premium Features
The following features are exclusive to Plausible Cloud:- Marketing Funnels - Visualize conversion paths and optimize your funnel
- Ecommerce Revenue Goals - Track monetary value and ROI
- SSO (Single Sign-On) - Enterprise authentication integration
- Sites API - Programmatically manage multiple sites
- Priority Support - Direct support from the Plausible team
Pricing
Plausible Cloud uses volume-based pricing:- Free trial: 30 days, no credit card required
- Starting at: $9/month for up to 10K monthly pageviews
- Scales with you: Pay only for what you use
EU Data Residency - All visitor data is exclusively processed on EU-owned cloud infrastructure in Germany, ensuring GDPR compliance. Your data never leaves the EU.
Self-Hosted Community Edition
Plausible Community Edition (CE) is our free, open-source, self-hosted version.Why Self-Host?
Full Control
Host on your own infrastructure, anywhere in the world
No Subscription
Free to use - only pay for your server costs
Direct Database Access
Query ClickHouse directly for raw analytics data
Open Source
AGPLv3 licensed - inspect, modify, and contribute to the code
Community Edition Differences
| Feature | Cloud | Community Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Release Schedule | Multiple updates per week | Twice per year (LTS releases) |
| Bot Filtering | Advanced (32K+ IP ranges) | Basic (User-Agent only) |
| Premium Features | ✅ All included | ❌ Not available |
| Support | Premium support team | Community forum only |
| Infrastructure | Fully managed | You manage everything |
Self-Hosting Requirements
Self-hosting requires technical expertise in Docker, databases, and server administration.
- CPU: 2+ cores recommended
- RAM: 4GB minimum (8GB+ recommended for production)
- Disk: 20GB+ (grows with data retention)
- Docker: Version 20.10 or newer
- Docker Compose: Version 2.0 or newer
- Elixir/Phoenix application
- PostgreSQL database (general data)
- ClickHouse database (analytics data)
- Node.js (for asset compilation)
Self-Hosted Installation
Configure Environment Variables
Copy the example configuration and customize it:Edit
plausible-conf.env and set required variables:Start the Services
Use Docker Compose to start all services:This will start:
- Plausible application server
- PostgreSQL database
- ClickHouse analytics database
- Mail server (for notifications)
Create Your Admin Account
Visit your Plausible instance (e.g.,
http://localhost:8000 or your configured domain).Register your admin account and add your first website.Configure Reverse Proxy (Production)
For production deployments, configure a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, Traefik) with SSL:Example nginx configuration:
Updating Community Edition
Self-Hosting Troubleshooting
Services won't start or keep crashing
Services won't start or keep crashing
Check the logs for specific errors:Common issues:
- Insufficient memory (increase Docker memory limit)
- Port conflicts (change ports in docker-compose.yml)
- Invalid SECRET_KEY_BASE (regenerate it)
ClickHouse database errors
ClickHouse database errors
ClickHouse requires significant memory. Ensure your host has at least 4GB RAM.If ClickHouse won’t start:
Email notifications not working
Email notifications not working
Configure SMTP settings in
plausible-conf.env:How do I import Google Analytics data?
How do I import Google Analytics data?
Google Analytics import is a Cloud-only feature. For CE, you’ll need to:
- Export your GA data
- Manually transform it to Plausible’s schema
- Import into ClickHouse directly
Installation Methods Comparison
Script Installation (All Platforms)
Best for: Static sites, traditional CMS, simple integrations Pros:- Simplest setup
- Works everywhere
- Automatic pageview tracking
- May be blocked by ad blockers
- Limited customization
NPM Package Installation
Best for: React, Vue, Next.js, modern JavaScript frameworks Installation:- Full TypeScript support
- Programmatic control
- Works with SSR frameworks
- Custom event tracking built-in
- Requires build step
- Manual initialization needed
WordPress Plugin
Best for: WordPress sites (obviously!) Installation:- Install “Plausible Analytics” plugin from WordPress.org
- Activate and configure with your domain
- Done!
- Zero code required
- Automatic integration
- WP-specific features
- WordPress only
Google Tag Manager
Best for: Sites already using GTM, enterprise setups Installation:- Get your Script ID from Plausible
- Install the Plausible GTM template
- Configure with your Script ID
- Integrate with existing GTM setup
- No code changes needed
- Conditional loading possible
- Requires GTM knowledge
- Extra dependency
Next Steps
Quick Start
Follow our quick start guide to see your first pageview
Track Custom Events
Set up goals and custom event tracking
API Documentation
Integrate Plausible with your applications
Community Forum
Get help from the Plausible community
Need Help Choosing? - For most users, Plausible Cloud is the best choice. It’s hassle-free, always updated, and supports the project’s development. Self-hosting is recommended only if you have specific compliance requirements or technical expertise.