Quick facts
- CategoryPrivacy-first web
- PricingFreemium
- Starts at$6/mo
- LicenseProprietary
- Created2020
- GitHub starsclosed
- Script size<1KB
- CookielessYes
- Self-hostNo
What it is
Pirsch is a Plausible-style privacy-first analytics tool out of Germany. Server-side tracking option (zero client JS), cookieless, EU-hosted, GDPR-friendly. Written in Go. Smaller team than Plausible; pricing is competitive. Less brand recognition but technically excellent.
Best for
- EU teams (especially Germany) who want a German-hosted privacy-first option
- Cost-sensitive teams — Pirsch tiers undercut Plausible at small volume
- Teams who want server-side tracking (Plausible is client-side only)
When not to pick it
Skip Pirsch if you specifically need the Plausible / Fathom brand recognition for stakeholder reporting. Skip if you need self-hosting; Pirsch is cloud-only.
My take
Pirsch is the under-the-radar pick. Server-side tracking is a real differentiator over Plausible. The brand is smaller — for EU dev teams comfortable picking a less-known vendor, the technical story is excellent.
Links
Similar tools you should also consider
Plausible Analytics
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Read the take →Fathom Analytics
Privacy-first analytics from a tiny independent team. Plausible's closest US-hosted competitor.
Read the take →Simple Analytics
EU-hosted, no-cookies analytics. Even simpler than Plausible — pageviews and referrers only.
Read the take →If Pirsch is your pick — the next conversation is short
The 30-min call is where your analytics choice becomes a real implementation, an event-tracking plan that fits your product, and a privacy story that does not need a 4-screen cookie banner.