Matomo
Full featured web analytics you host, with the data kept on your server
Alternative toGoogle Analytics
Matomo tracks visits, pages, referrers, goals and ecommerce on your websites and keeps the data in your own database. It is GPL-3.0 licensed, written in PHP, and covers most of what Google Analytics offers, with a paid cloud and paid premium plugins on the side.
Best for when
- you need goals, funnels and ecommerce reports, not only page views
- you want analytics data stored on your own server
- you are moving away from Google Analytics and want similar reports
Watch out for
- it is heavier to run than minimal analytics tools, and the database grows with traffic
- several popular features are paid plugins
- the tracking endpoint is public, so updates and hardening are ongoing work
Analytics depth without handing over the data
Lighter analytics tools show visitors, pages and sources and stop there. Matomo goes further: goals and funnels, ecommerce tracking, campaigns, segments, custom dimensions, a tag manager, and an option to import historical Google Analytics data. Reports look familiar to anyone who has used Google Analytics.
It suits sites that need that depth and want visitor data on their own infrastructure, for example for privacy rules. It can run without cookies and anonymise IPs, which can reduce the need for a consent banner, depending on your configuration and local law.
What running it involves
It needs PHP, a web server and MySQL or MariaDB. A small site runs fine on a modest server, but the database grows with traffic, and busier sites need the archiving cron job instead of browser triggered reports. Back up the database regularly.
The tracking endpoint must be public, because visitors' browsers send data to it, while the dashboard should be protected with a strong login and two factor authentication. Keep PHP and Matomo updated, since it is a public web application. Some features, such as heatmaps and session recordings, are paid plugins.
