TL;DR: Google Analytics 4 and Cloudflare Web Analytics remain $0 public options. Plausible publishes cloud plans from about $9/month at the 10k pageview step with a 30-day trial. Fathom publishes plans from $15/month. Matomo publishes Cloud from about $29/month plus a free On-Premise Community edition. Order follows public $0 / published price first, quote-led last.
Web analytics software measures site traffic, sources, pages, and conversions. In 2026 buyers split between free ad-supported or CDN-bundled tools and privacy-first paid analytics that avoid cookies where possible.
Every entry uses the same fields: published pricing, free plan or trial, core focus, and the main limitation. The order below is not a quality ranking. Public $0 / published price first, quote-led last.
Web analytics software compared at a glance
| Provider | Published pricing | Privacy / cookies | Best for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 | Standard GA4 is $0. Google Analytics 360 is sales-assisted. | Cookie / consent model; not a cookieless default | Teams already in Google ads and Search Console | Visit → |
| Cloudflare Web Analytics | $0 as part of Cloudflare; no separate analytics SKU on the public marketing page | Privacy-first edge measurement | Sites already on Cloudflare that want a free privacy-oriented snapshot | Visit → |
| Plausible | Cloud from $9/mo at the 10k pageview Starter step (checked against vendor docs and 2026 plan tables). 30-day trial, no credit card. Self-host option exists. | Cookieless by design on the standard script | Privacy-conscious sites that will pay a traffic-tier subscription | Visit → |
| Fathom | Official pricing page titled plans from $15/month. No free plan. Pageviews + custom events share the allowance. Extra sites in packs of 50 for $10/mo. | No cookie banner required per vendor copy | Teams that want a simple paid privacy dashboard with long history | Visit → |
| Matomo | On-Premise Community Free forever. Cloud Business from $29/mo excl. tax on the public calculator (traffic-tiered). On-Premise plugin bundles from 275€ (Team). | Self-host or EU-hosted cloud; GDPR tooling included | Organizations that need data ownership or on-prem analytics | Visit → |
GA4, Cloudflare, Plausible docs, Fathom, and Matomo pricing pages were reviewed on 30 September 2026. Confirm current pageview tiers and annual discounts on the live vendor pages.
Free tools are complete products; paid privacy tools charge for traffic volume and features such as funnels or APIs — not for “analytics” as an idea.
How web analytics is bought in 2026
Cookie consent, ad-platform joining, and data ownership now decide the shortlist as much as report design. Model cost at expected pageviews plus custom events. Self-hosting Matomo or Plausible shifts spend from SaaS to servers and maintenance.
The 5 providers in detail
1. Google Analytics 4
Best for: Marketing teams that need free, deep reporting tied to Google Ads and Search Console.
| Published pricing | GA4 standard property $0. Analytics 360 is quote-led for large enterprises. |
| Free plan / trial | Permanent free standard product |
| Core focus | Event-based web and app analytics, audiences, ads joining |
| Main limitation | Privacy and cookie-consent overhead; not a lightweight cookieless script |
- Still the default when paid-media teams live in Google.
- 360 is a different commercial product — do not treat standard GA4 limits as 360.
- Export to BigQuery is part of how serious teams keep raw events.
2. Cloudflare Web Analytics
Best for: Sites already on Cloudflare that want a $0 privacy-oriented traffic view without a second vendor script if the edge product is enough.
| Published pricing | $0 public analytics product; Cloudflare paid plans are for the broader platform, not a required analytics add-on |
| Free plan / trial | Yes — the analytics product is offered at $0 |
| Core focus | Edge-collected page and referrer metrics |
| Main limitation | Shallower product analytics and marketing attribution than GA4 or Matomo |
- Useful as a no-cookie snapshot when the site already terminates TLS on Cloudflare.
- Not a replacement for product analytics or full funnel tools.
- Confirm current feature list on cloudflare.com/web-analytics/ before treating it as the only meter.
View Cloudflare Web Analytics →
3. Plausible
Best for: Privacy-first sites that will pay a traffic-tier cloud fee or self-host.
| Published pricing | Starter commonly $9/mo at 10k monthly pageviews; Growth and Business step up by features and team size at the same traffic rung. 30-day trial, no card. Yearly billing saves two months per vendor docs. |
| Free plan / trial | No permanent cloud free plan; 30-day trial; self-host is a separate path |
| Core focus | Lightweight cookieless analytics, goals, optional funnels on higher plans |
| Main limitation | Funnels, Stats API, and multi-site team features are plan-gated |
- Usage is pageviews plus custom events across sites in a team.
- Enterprise (SSO, Sites API, managed proxy) is contact-led.
- Confirm the live plausible.io pricing grid; docs describe plan intent rather than every dollar cell.
4. Fathom
Best for: Teams that want a simple paid privacy dashboard with history included while subscribed and no free-tier compromise.
| Published pricing | Official page: plans from $15/month. No free plan. 50 sites included on plans; extra 50-site packs $10/mo. Pageviews and custom events share one allowance. |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan (vendor states this explicitly). Trial offered at signup. |
| Core focus | Simple privacy analytics, events, revenue, API, shared dashboards |
| Main limitation | No $0 production tier; cost follows traffic |
- Independently owned positioning is part of the buyer story, not a price.
- Vendor says it will not hard-cut occasional spikes; persistent overage leads to an upgrade conversation.
- EU data isolation is documented separately for European traffic.
5. Matomo
Best for: Organizations that need ownership of raw analytics data, on-prem options, or EU-hosted cloud with a full feature set.
| Published pricing | On-Premise Community: Free forever. Cloud Business from $29/mo excl. tax on the public calculator. On-Premise Team bundle 275€; Business 1,450€; Enterprise 3,400€ on the shop page checked 30 September 2026. |
| Free plan / trial | Free self-host Community; Cloud trial available |
| Core focus | Full-featured analytics, tag manager, optional heatmaps/session recording, GDPR manager |
| Main limitation | Cloud price rises with hits; On-Premise advanced plugins are paid bundles |
- Cloud data is hosted in Frankfurt per vendor FAQ.
- Do not mix Cloud monthly dollars with On-Premise euro plugin bundles in one cell.
- Contact sales above 10 million Cloud hits/month.
Kurums Match: which web analytics tool fits?
Need $0 and ads joining — GA4 standard.
Already on Cloudflare, want a light privacy view — Cloudflare Web Analytics.
Pay for cookieless simplicity — Plausible or Fathom; pick by traffic tier and whether you need funnels/API on the entry row.
Data ownership / on-prem — Matomo Community or Cloud.
Buying tip: Count custom events in the same bucket as pageviews when the vendor says they share a quota. A “$9 plan” becomes a higher tier the month you instrument every CTA.
How this comparison was put together
We used official product and pricing pages on 30 September 2026. Order prioritizes $0 public products, then published cloud list prices. No quality ranking badges are applied.
FAQ
Is Google Analytics still free?
Standard GA4 is $0. Google Analytics 360 is a paid, sales-assisted product for large organizations.
Do privacy analytics tools need a cookie banner?
Vendors such as Fathom and Plausible design the default script to avoid cookies; your counsel should still review consent law for your sites and any extra identifiers you add.
Can I self-host instead of paying SaaS?
Yes for Matomo Community and Plausible’s self-host path. You then pay servers, backups, and upgrade labor instead of a pageview subscription.
Related: Best Session Replay Software 2026 · Best A/B Testing Software 2026 · Best Product Analytics Software 2026
Last updated: 30 September 2026. Packaging changes; always verify with the vendor before purchase.
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