Plausible’s self-hosted edition costs nothing. Fathom charges $14/month. But that’s the least interesting thing about these two privacy-focused analytics tools.
> Quick Verdict: Plausible is the clear winner for developers and privacy absolutists who want full data ownership and open-source code. Fathom is the better choice for marketers and small business owners who value a dead-simple dashboard and zero server maintenance.
Both strip away the surveillance machinery of Google Analytics. Both reject cookies. Both give you pageviews, referrers, and bounce rates without collecting personal data. The split happens in how they deliver that data—and who holds the server keys.
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Price Comparison
Plausible runs on a hybrid model: host it yourself for free, or pay for their managed cloud. Fathom is cloud-only, but includes way more pageviews at entry level.
| Plan | Plausible | Fathom |
|——|———–|——–|
| Free tier | Yes (self-hosted, open-source) | No |
| Cheapest cloud plan | €9/month | $14/month |
| Pageviews included (entry) | 10,000 | 100,000 |
| Extra pageview costs | €4 per 10k block | Not disclosed per block, higher plan tiers available |
| Team/agency features | €19/month for 100k views + email reports | $44/month for 200k views + uptime monitoring |
| Custom domain for analytics | Add-on (€4/month) | Included on all plans |
| Trial | 30-day free (no credit card) | 7-day free trial |
Plausible’s self-hosted path requires a server (Docker, DigitalOcean, VPS). That’s effort and a few bucks a month in hosting, but zero recurring SaaS cost. Fathom’s $14 plan covers 10× the pageviews of Plausible’s €9 plan, so for mid-traffic sites, Fathom often works out cheaper on cloud despite the higher headline price.
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Detailed Feature Comparison
Dashboard & UI
Fathom’s dashboard is aggressively simple. One screen shows visitors, pageviews, bounce rate, top pages, and referrers. No submenus. No report builder. You open it, you read it, you close it.
Plausible offers a similarly clean single-page view but includes more granular filters: by country, device, browser, and custom events. If you want to segment “desktop users from Germany who visited /pricing,” Plausible handles it natively. Fathom makes you export to CSV and filter outside the tool.
Privacy & Compliance
Both are GDPR-compliant out of the box. No cookies. No personal data stored. Both hash IP addresses (Plausible stores none; Fathom hashes and discards). Fathom’s isolation of data into EU-owned servers (if you choose) is simpler to explain to a compliance officer. Plausible’s advantage: you can host it in your own country, on your own metal, with encryption you control. No third party ever touches the raw log.
Self-Hosting & Open Source
Plausible is AGPL-licensed. You can fork it. Modify it. Integrate it with your internal monitoring stack. Fathom is proprietary; you cannot self-host the current version (Fathom Analytics v2 is cloud-only, though an older open-source version exists but isn’t maintained).
Script & Performance
Plausible’s script is under 1 KB. Fathom’s is 1.5 KB. Both load asynchronously. Both are widely allowed through ad-blockers, especially when using a custom domain. Plausible’s custom domain costs extra; Fathom includes it. Real-world page speed impact is essentially zero for both.
Email Reports & Goals
Plausible sends weekly/monthly email reports. You can set up goals (e.g., “clicked CTA button”) with simple CSS class tracking. Fathom offers goals tied to pageviews, not clicks, and its email reports are more limited—just a snapshot, no trend line.
API & Integrations
Plausible has a public API for pulling stats into dashboards or Slack bots. Fathom’s API exists but is less documented and more locked down. If you pipe analytics into Notion, Google Sheets, or your own internal tools, Plausible is the smoother path.
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User Sentiment
We combed through years of Reddit threads, Hacker News discussions, and independent blog reviews. The feedback converges on a few clear points.
Plausible
Pros from real users:
– Transparent development (roadmap is public, GitHub issues are answered)
– Self-hosting works reliably with a simple Docker compose
– Detailed metrics while staying cookieless
– Active community contributing to the open-source codebase
Common complaints:
– Pricing on the cloud tier jumps quickly for mid-size sites (150k views = €39/month)
– No built-in funnel analysis or conversion tracking beyond goals
– Custom domain costs extra—feels punitive to many
Fathom
Pros from real users:
– Setup takes under two minutes, literally
– Handles ad-blocker avoidance seamlessly with custom domain included
– Dashboard doesn’t overwhelm; stakeholders actually read the reports
– Support team responds fast (often same-day)
Common complaints:
– No self-hosting option limits data control
– Lack of advanced filtering frustrates power users
– Export functionality is basic (only CSV)
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Who Is Each Product For?
Plausible is built for:
– Developers and indie hackers who can run a Docker container
– European startups needing provable data sovereignty (own server, own country)
– Sites that want to track custom events (clicks, downloads) without leaving the privacy umbrella
– Anyone who refuses to hand analytics data to a third-party server
Fathom is built for:
– Freelancers and agencies managing client sites who need a quick dashboard link to share
– Marketing teams who want a no-training-required analytics tool
– Small e-commerce stores that need the essential metrics and zero cookie consent banners
– Anyone who finds the command line intimidating and prefers paying a flat fee for hosting
If you’ve typed docker-compose up and didn’t flinch, Plausible is the more powerful, more private long-term option. If you want analytics to just work and never think about a server, Fathom wins.
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FAQ
Does Plausible’s free self-hosted plan include all features?
Yes. The open-source version is functionally identical to the cloud version, minus the managed hosting and priority support. Events, goals, email reports—all there.
Can Fathom analytics be blocked by ad-blockers?
No, not if you use Fathom’s custom domain feature (included). The script loads from your own subdomain (e.g., stats.yoursite.com), so ad-block lists don’t flag it. Plausible offers this for an extra fee.
Which one is truly GDPR-compliant without a cookie banner?
Both. Neither stores personal data, neither uses cookies, so you can run them without a consent popup. Fathom’s data stays in the EU by default; Plausible’s EU cloud does the same.
Can I migrate from Google Analytics to either tool without losing historical data?
No. Neither imports historical GA data. You can run them side-by-side for a period, but your old Universal Analytics or GA4 data lives separately. Accept it, start fresh.
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Bottom-Line Recommendation
For the privacy-first freelancer or small team, Fathom delivers a polished, frictionless experience that just works. The $14 plan covers most small sites with room to grow. No server wrangling, no extra cost for a custom domain.
For the developer who wants full control, Plausible’s open-source model is unbeatable. Zero recurring cost on your own VPS, total data ownership, and a richer feature set for the same lightweight footprint. If you don’t mind five minutes of Docker setup, it’s the more powerful pick.
If price-per-pageview is everything, Fathom’s starting allowance is 10× larger. If data sovereignty is everything, Plausible’s self-hosted option has no competitor.
Check Plausible cloud plans: Plausible.io
Check Fathom pricing: usefathom.com
[IMAGE PROMPT: photorealistic top-down desk setup featuring a sleek laptop displaying the Plausible dashboard on the left screen and the Fathom dashboard on the right, on a clean modern desk with a coffee cup and notepad, natural window lighting, minimalist aesthetic, no text or logos visible on hardware]
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Last updated: June 11, 2025