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.