How to Migrate from Google Analytics to Plausible

Google Analytics collects massive amounts of user data, requires cookie consent banners, and the GA4 interface frustrates everyone. Plausible is a privacy-first alternative — no cookies, GDPR-compliant by default, and a dashboard you can actually read. Here's how to switch.

Why Switch?

No cookie consent banners needed — Plausible doesn't use cookies
GDPR/CCPA compliant by default — no personal data collection
1-line script vs GA4's complex setup
Real-time dashboard that loads instantly
< 1 KB script vs GA4's 45+ KB
Self-hostable for full data ownership

Step 1: Set Up Plausible

Option A: Plausible Cloud ($9/month for 10K pageviews)

Sign up at plausible.io
Add your domain
Get your tracking snippet

Option B: Self-hosted (free)

git clone https://github.com/plausible/community-edition.git
cd community-edition
cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env
# BASE_URL=https://analytics.yourdomain.com
# SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -base64 48)

docker compose up -d

Step 2: Add the Tracking Script

Replace the Google Analytics snippet with Plausible's single line:

Remove Google Analytics:

<!-- DELETE THIS -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXX"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());
  gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXX');
</script>

Add Plausible:

<!-- ADD THIS (< 1 KB, no cookies) -->
<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>

For self-hosted:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://analytics.yourdomain.com/js/script.js"></script>

Framework-specific:

// Next.js — app/layout.tsx
import Script from 'next/script';

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html>
      <head>
        <Script
          defer
          data-domain="yourdomain.com"
          src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"
        />
      </head>
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Step 3: Import Historical Data (Optional)

Plausible supports importing your Google Analytics history:

Go to Plausible → Site Settings → Import Data
Click Google Analytics
Authorize the Google connection
Select the GA property to import
Import completes (may take hours for large datasets)

What imports: Pageviews, visitors, sources, countries, devices, pages. What doesn't: Events, user demographics, behavior flow.

Step 4: Set Up Goals and Events

GA4 events → Plausible goals:

<!-- Custom event tracking -->
<script>
  // Track button click
  document.getElementById('signup-btn').addEventListener('click', () => {
    plausible('Signup');
  });

  // Track with properties
  plausible('Purchase', { props: { plan: 'pro', value: '49' } });
</script>

Common goals to set up:

Plausible → Site Settings → Goals → Add Goal
Create goals for: signups, purchases, downloads, outbound links
Enable outbound link tracking by adding script.outbound-links.js
Enable file download tracking by adding script.file-downloads.js

Since Plausible doesn't use cookies, you can remove your cookie consent banner if analytics was the only reason for it. Check if other tools still require it (marketing pixels, etc.).

Feature Mapping

GA4 Feature	Plausible Equivalent
Realtime view	✅ Real-time dashboard
Pageviews	✅
Unique visitors	✅
Bounce rate	✅
Session duration	✅ (visit duration)
Traffic sources	✅
UTM tracking	✅
Country/city	✅ (country, region, city)
Device/browser	✅
Goals/Conversions	✅ (goals with properties)
Funnels	✅
Custom events	✅
Ecommerce tracking	✅ (revenue goals)
Cohort analysis	❌
User ID tracking	❌ (by design — privacy)
Segments	✅ (filters)
Data export	✅ (CSV, API)

What You'll Lose

User-level tracking — Plausible tracks visits, not users (privacy by design)
Demographic data — no age, gender, interests
Behavior flow — no user journey visualization
Integration with Google Ads — no conversion tracking for ad campaigns
Free tier — Plausible is $9/month or self-hosted

What You'll Gain

No cookie banners — cleaner UX
Faster page loads — < 1 KB vs 45+ KB script
Dashboard you'll actually use — everything on one page
GDPR compliance — no DPA needed, no consent required
Full data ownership (self-hosted)
Shared dashboards — public or private links

Run Both Temporarily

During migration, run both analytics for 2-4 weeks to compare data:

<!-- Keep GA4 temporarily -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXX"></script>
<!-- Add Plausible -->
<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>

Compare: pageviews, visitors, and top pages should be within 5-15% of each other (adblockers block GA more than Plausible).

Compare analytics tools on OSSAlt — privacy features, data ownership, and ease of use side by side.