Video tutorial coming soon.
📊 Setup Plausible Analytics — Privacy-First Web Analytics
Deploy Plausible Analytics on Ubuntu with Docker — a lightweight, open-source alternative to Google Analytics that respects your visitors' privacy. No cookies, no personal data collection, GDPR-compliant by design.
📦 Resources & Setup Scripts
Grab the automated bash script from GitHub to follow along with the video.
Quick Install:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhmdali94/Docker/main/analytics/plausible/plausible-ubuntu.sh
chmod +x plausible-ubuntu.sh
sudo bash plausible-ubuntu.shTutorial Steps
1 Download & Run the Script
The script installs Docker, starts the full Plausible stack (app + PostgreSQL + ClickHouse + email service), and generates a secure secret key automatically.
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhmdali94/Docker/main/analytics/plausible/plausible-ubuntu.sh
chmod +x plausible-ubuntu.sh
sudo bash plausible-ubuntu.sh2 Create Your Admin Account
Open your browser and navigate to Plausible. On first visit, register your admin account:
http://<your-server-ip>:81003 Add Your Website
After login, click "Add a website" and enter your domain name (e.g. example.com). Plausible will generate a lightweight tracking snippet for you to embed on your site.
4 Embed the Tracking Script
Copy the generated <script> tag and paste it into the <head> section of your website. Within minutes, live visitor data will appear in your Plausible dashboard — no cookies, no consent banners needed.
Ports Used
| Port | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 8100 | Plausible Web UI |
Overview
Plausible Analytics is an open-source, privacy-friendly web analytics platform. It tracks page views, unique visitors, referrers, and user behavior without cookies and without collecting personally identifiable information. It is fully GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant by design, making it a legal alternative to Google Analytics in all jurisdictions.
Why Use It
Plausible Analytics replaces Google Analytics without the privacy cost. It loads a 1 KB script with no cookies, no fingerprinting, and no cross-site tracking, meaning you need no cookie consent banner in GDPR-regulated markets. All visitor data is processed on your own server, so you own it entirely. For businesses operating in the EU or targeting privacy-conscious users, Plausible turns compliance from a burden into a selling point.
When You Need It
Who Should Use It
Real Use Cases
Main Features
How to Use After Installation
Security Best Practices
Ports and Firewall Notes
Plausible listens on port 8000 inside the Docker network. Expose only port 443 (HTTPS) externally via a reverse proxy. Keep port 8000, ClickHouse port 8123, and PostgreSQL port 5432 firewalled from the public internet — they should be accessible only within the Docker network. Your reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy) should handle SSL termination and forward requests to port 8000.
Backup and Maintenance
Common Mistakes
Troubleshooting
Alternatives
Umami is the lighter alternative — single PostgreSQL or MySQL database, simpler setup, less RAM, ideal for small sites. Matomo is the heavier self-hosted option with full session recording, heatmaps, and e-commerce funnels, but requires 4+ GB RAM and is more complex to operate. Fathom Analytics and Simple Analytics are polished cloud alternatives with similar privacy promises but monthly fees. Google Analytics is free and feature-rich but collects personal data, requires cookie consent, and sends your visitors' data to Google.
When Not to Use It
Skip Plausible if your server has less than 2 GB of available RAM — ClickHouse alone can consume 1–2 GB and will OOM-kill on constrained hosts; use Umami instead. Also reconsider if you need advanced features like session recordings, heatmaps, or A/B testing — Plausible intentionally omits these. If your site is entirely internal (no public users) and you only need server metrics rather than visitor behavior, a monitoring stack like Netdata or Beszel is more appropriate.
Need Help Setting Up Plausible?
PrismaTechWork provides end-to-end infrastructure services — from initial deployment and security hardening to ongoing monitoring, automated backups, and dedicated support. Whether you need a single-server setup or a multi-site network, our team ensures your infrastructure is built right, secured properly, and maintained reliably.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a cookie consent banner when using Plausible?
No. Plausible does not use cookies and does not collect personally identifiable information. It is fully GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant by design. You can remove your cookie consent banner entirely for the analytics portion of your site when using Plausible as your only analytics tool.
How is Plausible different from Google Analytics?
Plausible collects far less data — no cookies, no fingerprinting, no cross-site tracking — and stores everything on your own server. Google Analytics sends your visitors' data to Google's servers, requires cookie consent in the EU, and uses a 45 KB script. Plausible uses a 1 KB script, needs no consent banner, and gives you full data ownership.
Why does Plausible require both PostgreSQL and ClickHouse?
PostgreSQL stores application data: user accounts, site configurations, and goals. ClickHouse is a columnar analytics database optimized for high-volume event data — it is what makes Plausible's aggregation fast even with millions of pageviews. ClickHouse is the reason Plausible needs 2+ GB RAM; without it, analytics queries would be too slow.
Can I track multiple websites with one Plausible instance?
Yes. Plausible Community Edition (self-hosted) has no artificial limit on the number of websites you can add to a single instance. Each site gets its own tracking script snippet and separate dashboard. You can grant team members access to individual sites without sharing access to all sites.
Ad blockers block my Plausible script — how do I fix this?
Proxy the script through your own domain. In your reverse proxy (Nginx or Caddy), add a location block that forwards requests to your Plausible server. Then change the script src to use your domain instead of the Plausible domain. Since the script appears to come from your own domain, most ad blockers and tracking protection tools will not block it.
Can I make my Plausible dashboard public?
Yes. In the site settings, toggle Public dashboard on. Plausible generates a shareable URL that anyone can view without logging in. You can embed it in a page or share the link with clients. The public dashboard shows all the same stats as your private one but requires no authentication.
How do I track goals and conversions in Plausible?
Go to Site Settings > Goals and click Add Goal. Choose between Pageview goals (triggered when a visitor hits a specific URL pattern) or Custom Event goals (triggered by JavaScript calls like plausible('Signup')). For outbound link clicks and file downloads, Plausible provides automatic tracking via script extensions — add the data-api attribute to enable these.
What happens to my data if I stop self-hosting and switch to Plausible Cloud?
Plausible provides an export feature that lets you download your stats as CSV files. You can then import these into Plausible Cloud. Alternatively, if you are migrating away from Plausible entirely, you can export the raw data from ClickHouse. There is no vendor lock-in — your data is always accessible because it lives on your own server.