Matomo vs MonsterInsights (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Matomo grades higher than MonsterInsights: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Matomo grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. MonsterInsights grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Matomo
Open-source web analytics you can host yourself or in Matomo's cloud
MonsterInsights
Google Analytics reports inside the WordPress dashboard
Which one is for you
Pick Matomo if
- Fits if your analytics data has to stay on your own servers
- Works for public bodies, EU sites and teams leaving Google Analytics
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to run a server and can't pay for the cloud
- Pricey if you self-host and want heatmaps, with the Team bundle at €230 a month billed yearly for 4 users
- Tight if you have more than 30 sites or 30 people on Cloud Business, or need over 24 months of raw data
- Watch out: self-hosted bundles are priced in euros only, and the free edition gets forum support only
- Watch out: the cloud trial's length isn't stated, and the cloud rises to $204 a month at 1M hits
Pick MonsterInsights if
- Fits if your site is on WordPress and you already use Google Analytics
- Works for a store on WooCommerce that wants sales numbers in the WordPress admin
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't WordPress, as it runs only inside it
- Not for you if you want a free plan or trial, as there isn't one
- Pricey if you renew: the advertised prices are introductory and every renewal is at full price
- Watch out: Plus covers 1 site; you need Pro or Elite for 5
- Watch out: it needs a Google Analytics account, so you're still tied to Google
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAMatomoFair | 1.8GPAMonsterInsightsWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C100,000 pageviews puts Cloud Business at $42 a month billed monthly ($26 covers 50,000 hits), rising to $204 at 1M. Yearly billing takes off two months. That's mid-category. The free edition only counts if you host it. | B$199 a year for 1 site at renewal, about $16.58 a month, which is where the cheaper quarter of analytics tools ends. The first year is half that, at $99.50. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe self-hosted Community edition is free forever with unlimited users and hits, but you need your own server and get forum support only. The cloud has a free trial with no card, length not stated. | FNo free plan and no trial. A 14-day money-back guarantee is the only way to try it, and that isn't a trial. |
| Features | BTraffic, campaigns, ecommerce, goals and visitor profiles without sampling, plus heatmaps, recordings, A/B tests, funnels and a tag manager on Cloud Business. That covers the whole job. On your own server those extras are paid plugins. | CReports in WordPress, custom dashboards, ecommerce and form tracking, AI question credits. But it reads Google Analytics and collects nothing itself. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. The cloud is a snippet, but the reports run as deep as Google Analytics', so there's learning to do. Self-hosting means running the server, updates and backups yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You install a plugin and then connect a Google Analytics account. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, no desktop or phone app. It has HTTP analytics and tracking APIs, log file analytics, a Google Analytics importer and plugins for WordPress and WooCommerce. The integrations list is short; the APIs are how you connect anything else. | CRuns inside WordPress only. It links to WooCommerce, WPForms, MemberPress, Yoast SEO and similar plugins. |
| Best for | owning your analytics data outright | Google Analytics inside WordPress |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Matomo and MonsterInsights. How we grade
Price against what you get
Matomo starts at $26 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. MonsterInsights starts at $16.58 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Matomo scores higher, and starts $9.42 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, none scores higher than Matomo for less, and 9 score higher than MonsterInsights for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Matomo is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Matomo also covers session replay and a/B testing.
- MonsterInsights also covers surveys, reports and dashboards.
At a glance
| Matomo | MonsterInsights | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $26 per month for up to 50,000 hits, billed monthly (Cloud Business) | $199 per year for 1 site at renewal, after a first-year price of $99.50 |
| Free plan | Matomo On-Premise Community: free forever and open source, hosted on your own server, with unlimited users and hits, all base features and forum support. | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of Matomo Cloud with all core features, no credit card; length not stated | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Matomo | MonsterInsights |
| Price read from | matomo.org | monsterinsights.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Matomo
- Self-hosted premium bundles are priced in euros only; Cloud shows dollar prices to US visitors.
- On your own server, heatmaps, session recordings, funnels and A/B testing are paid plugins or bundles, not part of the free edition.
- Cloud Business caps you at 30 websites, 30 team members and 24 months of raw data; more needs Cloud Enterprise.
- Self-hosting means you run the server, updates and backups yourself, with forum support only on the free edition.
MonsterInsights
- It runs only inside WordPress and reads data from Google Analytics.
- The advertised prices are introductory; all renewals are at full price.
- Plus covers 1 site; Pro and Elite cover 5.
- A 14-day money-back guarantee is stated on the pricing page.
Key features
Matomo
- Full web analytics without sampling
- Traffic, campaigns, ecommerce, events, site search, visitor maps and visitor profiles, with report data kept forever and no data sampling.
- Data ownership and privacy
- Data stays on your own servers or in Matomo Cloud in Frankfurt, with a GDPR manager and privacy options for what is collected.
- Heatmaps and session recordings
- Included in Cloud Business and, for self-hosters, in the Team bundle and above; also sold as a separate plugin.
- A/B testing, funnels and forms
- A/B tests, conversion funnels, user flows and form analytics come with Cloud Business; on your own server they are premium plugins or bundles.
- Google Analytics importer and APIs
- Imports historical Google Analytics data, and offers HTTP Analytics and Tracking APIs plus log file analytics.
- Tag manager
- A built-in tag manager (30 containers on Cloud Business) to add and manage tracking codes without editing the site.
MonsterInsights
- Reports in WordPress
- Visitors, pageviews, bounce rate, locations, referral sources and page insights are shown in the WordPress admin.
- Custom dashboards
- Dashboards built from more than 20 widgets, with date comparison and PDF export.
- eCommerce and form tracking
- On Pro and Elite: conversion rate, average order value and top products for stores, plus form conversion tracking.
- Plugin integrations
- Tracking for WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, WPForms, MemberPress and other WordPress plugins on the Pro plan.
- Surveys and heatmaps
- The Elite plan includes UserFeedback Elite, with surveys, NPS reporting and heatmaps.
- Credits for AI questions
- Plans include a yearly allowance of credits for asking questions about the data without reading reports.
Plans
Matomo
Community (On-Premise)$0
Free self-hosted edition you run yourself: unlimited users and hits, base features and community plugins, forum support.
Cloud Business$26
per month for up to 50,000 hits, billed monthly
Hosted in Germany: 30 sites, 30 users, 24 months of raw data, heatmaps, recordings, A/B tests, funnels. $42 a month at 100,000 hits, $204 at 1M.
Team (On-Premise)€230
per month, billed annually (€275 billed monthly)
Self-hosted plugin bundle for up to 4 users and 5M hits a month: heatmaps and recordings, funnels, custom reports, email support.
Business (On-Premise)€1,209
per month, billed annually (€1,450 billed monthly)
Up to 20 users and 30M hits a month. Adds cohorts, multi-channel attribution, roll-up reporting, activity log and white label.
Enterprise (On-Premise)€2,834
per month, billed annually (€3,400 billed monthly)
Up to 50 users and 100M hits a month, A/B testing, a customer success manager, onboarding and chat support.
Cloud EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales for larger sites: custom allowances and raw data retention, email support and a customer success manager.
MonsterInsights
Plus$199
per year for 1 site, at renewal
Standard reports, realtime dashboard, custom dashboards and an EU compliance addon, with 5,000 credits. First year $99.50 (50% off); renews at full price.
Pro$399
per year for 5 sites, at renewal
Adds eCommerce, form conversion and custom dimension reports, enhanced tracking, WooCommerce and PPC ad tracking, and 10,000 credits. First year $199.50; renews at full price.
Elite$599
per year for 5 sites, at renewal
Adds exception reports, site note automations, multisite support, client license management and UserFeedback Elite, with 15,000 credits. First year $299.50; renews at full price.
Ways to pay less
Matomo
- Annual discount
2 months free with annual billing
Matomo Cloud billed annually costs 10 times the monthly price, a 17% saving; the self-hosted bundles are also about 17% cheaper billed annually.
- Nonprofit
Discount for eligible nonprofits
Matomo says eligible nonprofit organizations and charities may receive a discount; they contact the team to learn more.
MonsterInsights
- Other savings
Introductory first-year pricing
The pricing page shows 50% off the first year on each plan, with renewals at full price: Plus $99.50, Pro $199.50, Elite $299.50.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Matomo or MonsterInsights?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MonsterInsights is cheaper to start with: $16.58 a month when paid by the year, against $26 a month for Matomo. Matomo starts at $26 per month for up to 50,000 hits, billed monthly (Cloud Business), and MonsterInsights starts at $199 per year for 1 site at renewal, after a first-year price of $99.50.
Which has a free plan, Matomo or MonsterInsights?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Matomo has a free plan. MonsterInsights does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.