How to Migrate from Google Analytics to Umami

Umami is a free, open source Google Analytics alternative. Self-host it for $0, get a clean dashboard, and stop sending your users' data to Google. Here's how to switch.

Why Umami?

Completely free — self-hosted, no usage limits
No cookies — no consent banners needed
Simple dashboard — one page, everything you need
Multi-site — track multiple websites from one instance
Teams — share dashboards with your team
API — full REST API for custom integrations

Step 1: Deploy Umami

# Clone and deploy with Docker
git clone https://github.com/umami-software/umami.git
cd umami
cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env
# DATABASE_URL=postgresql://umami:password@db:5432/umami

docker compose up -d

Default login: admin / umami — change immediately.

Or use Umami Cloud (free tier available at cloud.umami.is).

Step 2: Add Your Website

Log in to Umami dashboard
Settings → Websites → Add website
Enter your domain name
Copy the tracking code

Step 3: Replace the GA Snippet

Remove Google Analytics and add Umami:

<!-- Remove GA4 -->
<!-- Add Umami -->
<script
  defer
  src="https://your-umami.com/script.js"
  data-website-id="your-website-id"
></script>

Next.js:

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

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html>
      <head>
        <Script
          defer
          src="https://your-umami.com/script.js"
          data-website-id="your-website-id"
        />
      </head>
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Step 4: Set Up Event Tracking

// Track custom events
umami.track('signup-click');

// Track with data
umami.track('purchase', { plan: 'pro', amount: 49 });

// Track via data attributes (no JS needed)
// <button data-umami-event="signup-click">Sign Up</button>

Data attributes are the easiest approach — just add data-umami-event to any HTML element.

Settings → Websites → click your site → Share URL
Enable sharing → copy the public link
Share with your team or embed in internal tools

Feature Mapping

GA4 Feature	Umami Equivalent
Pageviews	✅
Visitors	✅
Bounce rate	✅
Visit duration	✅
Traffic sources	✅ (referrers)
UTM parameters	✅
Countries	✅
Devices/Browsers	✅
Custom events	✅
Realtime	✅
API	✅
Multi-site	✅
Team access	✅
Data export	❌ (API access)
Funnels	❌
User tracking	❌ (privacy-first)

The Bottom Line

Umami is the simplest GA replacement — deploy, add a script tag, and you have privacy-friendly analytics. No cost, no cookies, no complexity. Self-host on a $5 VPS and track unlimited websites.

If you need more advanced features (funnels, revenue tracking, historical import), consider Plausible. If you want the simplest, free-est option, Umami is the way.

Compare analytics tools on OSSAlt — privacy, features, and self-hosting options side by side.