Plausible Analytics

intermediate

Lightweight, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative

Overview

Plausible Analytics is a lightweight, open-source web analytics platform that serves as a privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics. Developed with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliance in mind, Plausible delivers essential website metrics without using cookies or collecting personal data. The platform provides a clean, intuitive dashboard that displays visitor counts, page views, traffic sources, and device information while maintaining user privacy through data anonymization and aggregation. This stack combines Plausible with PostgreSQL and ClickHouse to create a powerful dual-database architecture optimized for both operational and analytical workloads. PostgreSQL handles user accounts, site configurations, and application metadata with its robust ACID compliance and relational integrity. ClickHouse manages the high-volume event data from website visitors, leveraging its columnar storage and real-time query capabilities to process millions of pageviews efficiently. This separation allows Plausible to maintain fast dashboard performance even with large traffic volumes. This configuration is ideal for privacy-conscious organizations, European businesses requiring GDPR compliance, and anyone seeking full control over their analytics data. The self-hosted approach eliminates third-party data sharing while providing enterprise-grade analytics capabilities. Startups can avoid Google Analytics' data sampling limitations, while larger organizations benefit from unlimited data retention and custom reporting without per-seat licensing costs.

Key Features

Cookie-free tracking with <1KB JavaScript snippet that doesn't impact site performance
Real-time visitor analytics with ClickHouse-powered sub-second query responses
PostgreSQL-backed user management supporting multiple team members and site ownership
GDPR-compliant data collection with automatic IP anonymization and EU data residency
Custom event tracking and goal conversion measurement without personal data collection
ClickHouse columnar compression reducing storage requirements by 80% compared to traditional databases
Built-in referrer spam filtering and bot detection using PostgreSQL pattern matching
Open-source transparency allowing full audit of data collection and processing methods

Common Use Cases

1European businesses needing GDPR-compliant analytics without consent banners or cookie notices
2Privacy-focused websites wanting visitor insights without compromising user anonymity
3High-traffic sites requiring real-time analytics with ClickHouse's billion-row processing capabilities
4Organizations avoiding Google's data collection while maintaining comprehensive traffic analysis
5SaaS companies tracking product usage and conversion funnels with custom event goals
6News and content sites monitoring article performance and reader engagement patterns
7E-commerce platforms analyzing visitor behavior without storing personal shopping data

Prerequisites

Minimum 4GB RAM to support ClickHouse's in-memory operations and PostgreSQL concurrency
Docker Engine 20.10+ with docker-compose for multi-container orchestration
Available ports 8000 (Plausible), 5432 (PostgreSQL), and 8123 (ClickHouse) or custom port mapping
Generate secure SECRET_KEY_BASE using openssl rand -base64 64 for session encryption
Domain name or reverse proxy setup for production BASE_URL configuration
Understanding of basic SQL for custom ClickHouse queries and PostgreSQL user management

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  plausible: 
3    image: plausible/analytics:latest
4    container_name: plausible
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    command: sh -c "sleep 10 && /entrypoint.sh db createdb && /entrypoint.sh db migrate && /entrypoint.sh run"
7    ports: 
8      - "${PLAUSIBLE_PORT:-8000}:8000"
9    environment: 
10      - BASE_URL=${BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8000}
11      - SECRET_KEY_BASE=${SECRET_KEY_BASE}
12      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@plausible_db:5432/plausible_db
13      - CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE_URL=http://plausible_events_db:8123/plausible_events_db
14    depends_on: 
15      - plausible_db
16      - plausible_events_db
17
18  plausible_db: 
19    image: postgres:16-alpine
20    container_name: plausible_db
21    restart: unless-stopped
22    environment: 
23      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
24      - POSTGRES_DB=plausible_db
25    volumes: 
26      - plausible_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
27
28  plausible_events_db: 
29    image: clickhouse/clickhouse-server:latest
30    container_name: plausible_events_db
31    restart: unless-stopped
32    volumes: 
33      - plausible_events_data:/var/lib/clickhouse
34    ulimits: 
35      nofile: 
36        soft: 262144
37        hard: 262144
38
39volumes: 
40  plausible_db_data: 
41  plausible_events_data:

.env Template

.env

1# Plausible Configuration
2PLAUSIBLE_PORT=8000
3
4# Your site URL
5BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000
6
7# Secret key (generate with: openssl rand -base64 64)
8SECRET_KEY_BASE=your-64-char-secret-key
9
10# Database password
11POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
12
13# Optional: Email (for registration)
14# MAILER_EMAIL=hello@plausible.local
15# SMTP_HOST_ADDR=mail.example.com

Usage Notes

1Dashboard at http://localhost:8000
2First visit creates admin account
3Add tracking script to your sites
4GDPR compliant - no cookies by default
5Lightweight ~1KB tracking script
6Self-hosted = you own your data

Individual Services(3 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

plausible

plausible:
  image: plausible/analytics:latest
  container_name: plausible
  restart: unless-stopped
  command: sh -c "sleep 10 && /entrypoint.sh db createdb && /entrypoint.sh db migrate && /entrypoint.sh run"
  ports:
    - ${PLAUSIBLE_PORT:-8000}:8000
  environment:
    - BASE_URL=${BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8000}
    - SECRET_KEY_BASE=${SECRET_KEY_BASE}
    - DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@plausible_db:5432/plausible_db
    - CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE_URL=http://plausible_events_db:8123/plausible_events_db
  depends_on:
    - plausible_db
    - plausible_events_db

plausible_db

plausible_db:
  image: postgres:16-alpine
  container_name: plausible_db
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    - POSTGRES_DB=plausible_db
  volumes:
    - plausible_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

plausible_events_db

plausible_events_db:
  image: clickhouse/clickhouse-server:latest
  container_name: plausible_events_db
  restart: unless-stopped
  volumes:
    - plausible_events_data:/var/lib/clickhouse
  ulimits:
    nofile:
      soft: 262144
      hard: 262144

Quick Start

terminal

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  plausible:
5    image: plausible/analytics:latest
6    container_name: plausible
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    command: sh -c "sleep 10 && /entrypoint.sh db createdb && /entrypoint.sh db migrate && /entrypoint.sh run"
9    ports:
10      - "${PLAUSIBLE_PORT:-8000}:8000"
11    environment:
12      - BASE_URL=${BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8000}
13      - SECRET_KEY_BASE=${SECRET_KEY_BASE}
14      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@plausible_db:5432/plausible_db
15      - CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE_URL=http://plausible_events_db:8123/plausible_events_db
16    depends_on:
17      - plausible_db
18      - plausible_events_db
19
20  plausible_db:
21    image: postgres:16-alpine
22    container_name: plausible_db
23    restart: unless-stopped
24    environment:
25      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
26      - POSTGRES_DB=plausible_db
27    volumes:
28      - plausible_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
29
30  plausible_events_db:
31    image: clickhouse/clickhouse-server:latest
32    container_name: plausible_events_db
33    restart: unless-stopped
34    volumes:
35      - plausible_events_data:/var/lib/clickhouse
36    ulimits:
37      nofile:
38        soft: 262144
39        hard: 262144
40
41volumes:
42  plausible_db_data:
43  plausible_events_data:
44EOF
45
46# 2. Create the .env file
47cat > .env << 'EOF'
48# Plausible Configuration
49PLAUSIBLE_PORT=8000
50
51# Your site URL
52BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000
53
54# Secret key (generate with: openssl rand -base64 64)
55SECRET_KEY_BASE=your-64-char-secret-key
56
57# Database password
58POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
59
60# Optional: Email (for registration)
61# MAILER_EMAIL=hello@plausible.local
62# SMTP_HOST_ADDR=mail.example.com
63EOF
64
65# 3. Start the services
66docker compose up -d
67
68# 4. View logs
69docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/plausible/run | bash

Troubleshooting

ClickHouse 'Cannot allocate memory' errors: Increase Docker memory limits to 4GB+ and set ClickHouse max_memory_usage
Plausible 'Database migration failed' on startup: Ensure PostgreSQL is fully ready before Plausible starts, increase sleep time in command
Missing SECRET_KEY_BASE causes 'KeyError' on first access: Generate 64-character base64 key and restart all services
ClickHouse connection refused: Verify port 8123 accessibility and check ClickHouse container logs for initialization errors
PostgreSQL 'password authentication failed': Confirm POSTGRES_PASSWORD matches in both DATABASE_URL and PostgreSQL environment
High memory usage from ClickHouse: Configure max_memory_usage and max_bytes_before_external_group_by in ClickHouse settings

Community Notes

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