Matomo vs Simple Analytics (2026): which should you pick?

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 Simple Analytics if

• Fits if you want a single page of traffic numbers with no cookie banner
• Works for someone leaving GA4 who wants to run both side by side

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to follow individual visitors, as it records pageviews with no visitor IDs
• Tight if you stay free: 1 month of history and a badge shown on your site
• Pricey if you add team members, at $20 a month each
• Watch out: bills from $500 paid by bank transfer carry an extra 10% in fees

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.

Simple Analytics

• The free plan keeps only the latest month of data and requires a Simple Analytics badge on the site.
• The price follows pageviews, and the paid plan includes one user; extra users are $20 a month each.
• Bills from $500 can be paid by bank transfer, with an extra 10% in banking and service fees.
• It records pageviews and events without visitor IDs, so it does not follow individual users across visits.

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.

Simple Analytics

No cookies, no personal data

The service says it sets no cookies, collects no personal data and creates no visitor IDs, so it does not need a consent banner.

One-page dashboard

Traffic is shown on a single dashboard that needs no configuration, with a public live dashboard available to view as an example.

Run beside GA4

Can run next to Google Analytics 4 to record pageviews and events from visitors who reject consent, so the two datasets can be compared.

API and BI access

A full API and exports let teams pull the data into their existing reporting tools. An MCP server and an AI assistant are also listed.

Google Analytics import

Historical Google Analytics data can be imported so reporting does not restart from zero after a switch.

EU hosting

Data is stored in the EU, with primary infrastructure in the Netherlands, and leaves it only when a customer opts into a feature such as the AI assistant.

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.

Simple Analytics

• Free$0

  For hobby sites: 1 user, 5 websites, the latest month of data and a required Simple Analytics badge.

• Self-serve$20

  per month for up to 100k pageviews

  Price follows pageviews, up to 2.5M on the slider. Includes 1 user; each extra user is $20 a month. Annual billing shows 2 months free.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Quoted for your traffic, sites, data access and support needs; tied to a 30-day proof of concept run alongside GA4.

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.

Simple Analytics

• Annual discount

  2 months free on annual billing

  The pricing page shows an annual payment option labelled 2 months free; the yearly total depends on the pageview limit you pick.