plausible-vs-cloudflare-web-analytics.html

Plausible Analytics vs Cloudflare Web Analytics — which analytics tool wins for your brief, in 2026

Two analytics platforms, side by side. Plausible Analytics is privacy-first, cookieless web analytics. the honest ga4 alternative — 1kb script, eu-hosted. Cloudflare Web Analytics is free, server-side analytics from cloudflare. cookieless, no js option, generous limits. The verdict, the criteria, and the honest take below.

ALL ANALYTICS COMPARISONS →

Verdict in one paragraph

Paid privacy-first vs free Cloudflare-bundled. Cloudflare wins on price (free) and the no-JS server-side option. Plausible wins on dashboard polish, custom events, and being independent of Cloudflare. For Cloudflare-fronted sites that just need pageviews, Cloudflare. For anyone who wants better dashboards or custom events, Plausible.

Score: Plausible Analytics 3 · Cloudflare Web Analytics 3

Side by side

Plausible Analytics
Cloudflare Web Analytics
Category
Privacy-first web
Platform-bundled
Pricing
Freemium
Free
Starts at
$9/mo
Free
License
AGPL-3.0
Proprietary
Created
2018
2020
Script size
<1KB
0KB (server-side)
Cookieless
Yes
Yes
Self-host
Yes
No

Decision criteria

  • Which is cheaper?

    Cloudflare Web Analytics

    Cloudflare Web Analytics is free at any volume. Plausible starts at $9/mo.

  • Which has the better dashboard?

    Plausible Analytics

    Plausible dashboard is more polished and has more views. Cloudflare is intentionally minimal.

  • Which supports custom events?

    Plausible Analytics

    Plausible has clean custom-events support. Cloudflare is pageviews-only.

  • Which has zero client JS option?

    Cloudflare Web Analytics

    Cloudflare server-side mode requires no client JS at all. Lighthouse-relevant.

  • Which is independent of Cloudflare?

    Plausible Analytics

    Plausible runs anywhere. Cloudflare Analytics requires you to be on Cloudflare.

  • Which is the right pick for a Lighthouse-obsessed team?

    Cloudflare Web Analytics

    Server-side mode means literally zero client JS. Hard to beat.

What Plausible Analytics is best for

  • Marketing sites, blogs, SaaS landers — anyone who needs Lighthouse-friendly analytics
  • Teams that want to drop GA4 entirely without a cookie banner
  • Sites in EU jurisdictions where GDPR scrutiny is real

Read the full Plausible Analytics entry: /analytics/plausible/

What Cloudflare Web Analytics is best for

  • Sites already behind Cloudflare who want zero-overhead analytics
  • Lighthouse-obsessed teams who want no analytics JS at all (server-side mode)
  • Cost-sensitive projects where free + good-enough beats paid + great

Read the full Cloudflare Web Analytics entry: /analytics/cloudflare-web-analytics/

The tool choice is the easy half — the tracking plan is the hard one

The hard half is what events you track, who reads the dashboard, and how the privacy story holds up. The 30-min call is where you describe your product and your goals.