The Matomo Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Matomo in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Matomo
The Insider’s Guide
Open-source web analytics you can host yourself or in Matomo's cloud
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among website and product analytics tools, read from Matomo’s own pages.
Made by Matomo · checked Oct 18, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Matomo’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Matomo’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.4
GPA, above 2 of the 13 other website and product analytics tools we grade
Matomo, originally called Piwik, is an open-source web analytics platform that gives the site owner full ownership of the data, either on its own servers or in Matomo Cloud, hosted in Frankfurt. It covers traffic, ecommerce, goals, campaigns and visitor profiles without data sampling, and adds heatmaps, session recordings, A/B tests and funnels as premium features. The self-hosted Community edition is free; Cloud is priced by monthly hits.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Matomo, taken from its own pages and our grades.
Self-hosting is free, but you're the one running it, and those extras cost more there.
- 1
Best for owning your analytics data outright
The cloud plan adds heatmaps, recordings, A/B tests and funnels.
- 2
Paid plans start at $26 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $26 per month for up to 50,000 hits, billed monthly (Cloud Business).
- 3
There is a 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.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
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.
- 6
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.
- 7
Heatmaps and session recordings
Included in Cloud Business and, for self-hosters, in the Team bundle and above; also sold as a separate plugin.
- 8
A 2.4 GPA, above 2 of 13
That is against the other website and product analytics tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
Nothing Matomo does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 5 things listed below take a company.
Matomo at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $26 per month for up to 50,000 hits, billed monthly (Cloud Business)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Free trial of Matomo Cloud with all core features, no credit card; length not stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Matomo, since 2007
- Category
- Website & Product Analytics
- Our grade
- 2.4 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for owning your analytics data outright
Matomo is the open-source answer to Google Analytics: traffic, campaigns, ecommerce and visitor profiles with no sampling, on your own server or in its Frankfurt cloud. The cloud plan adds heatmaps, recordings, A/B tests and funnels. Self-hosting is free, but you're the one running it, and those extras cost more there.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | 100,000 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. |
| Free plan and trial | C | The 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. |
| Features | B | Traffic, campaigns, ecommerce, goals and visitor profiles without sampling, plus heatmaps, recordings, A/B tests, funnels and a tag manager on Cloud Business. That's the whole job in one. On your own server those extras are paid plugins. |
| Ease of use | C | No 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. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web 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. A short list of integrations, but the APIs fill the gap. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Matomo is for
- Great if your analytics data has to stay on your own servers
- Handy when you're a public body or EU site with strict privacy rules
- Good for teams leaving Google Analytics that want the same depth
Who it is not for
- 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
- Tight if you have more than 30 sites or 30 people on Cloud Business
Good to know
Good for
- Organizations that must keep analytics data on their own servers
- Public sector and EU sites with strict privacy rules
- Teams leaving Google Analytics that want similar depth
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$26
A month to start. There is a free plan too
Matomo has a free plan. Paid plans start at $26 per month for up to 50,000 hits, billed monthly (Cloud Business).
The free edition only counts if you host it.
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 Enterprise
Custom
Sold through sales for larger sites: custom allowances and raw data retention, email support and a customer success manager.
The 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.
Trying it first
Free trial of Matomo Cloud with all core features, no credit card; length not stated
Read from matomo.org on Oct 18, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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.
Stated on matomo.orgNonprofit
Discount for eligible nonprofits
Matomo says eligible nonprofit organizations and charities may receive a discount; they contact the team to learn more.
Stated on matomo.org
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Open-source web analytics you can host yourself or in Matomo's cloud. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, public API, web analytics, session replay, a/B testing.
On your own server those extras are paid plugins.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
- Google Analytics
Matomo is made by Matomo, and has been around since 2007.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
2/13
Other website and product analytics tools it is graded above
Matomo's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 2 of the 13 other website and product analytics tools we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on features (B, above 4 of 13) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $26 a month, against a middle price of $39 for the category: 2 of the 6 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 14 website and product analytics tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Matomo’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 1 of 13
- CFree plan and trialAbove 1 of 13
- BFeaturesAbove 4 of 13
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 13
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 13
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 8 website and product analytics tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Matomo is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
Nothing Matomo does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 5 things listed below take a company.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 7 of the 13 other website and product analytics tools grade higher. It costs $312 a year. Matomo is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- A tracking script and a database that counts every visit.
- Recordings of what each visitor did on your pages.
- Splitting visitors between versions and telling you which won.
- It plugs into other products, WordPress, WooCommerce and Google Analytics among them, and has an API.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Matomo’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom Analytics, PostHog and Contentsquare
The 5 tools Matomo is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.4GPA
Google Analytics
Free plan
Google's free website and app analytics, with a paid 360 tier.
- Only Google Analytics lists iOS and Android apps.
- Matomo is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Matomo also covers session replay and a/B testing.
- 2.4GPA
Plausible
Free plan · from $7.50/mo
Cookie-free, privacy-first website analytics made and hosted in the EU.
- Matomo also covers session replay and a/B testing.
- 2.4GPA
Fathom Analytics
Free trial · from $12.50/mo
Cookie-free, privacy-first website analytics priced by pageviews.
- Matomo has a free plan. Fathom Analytics does not, though it has a free trial.
- Matomo is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Matomo also covers session replay and a/B testing.
- 3.2GPA
PostHog
Free plan · from $0.00005
Open-source product analytics with replays, flags and surveys.
- PostHog also covers surveys.
- 2.8GPA
Contentsquare
Free plan · from $39/mo
Heatmaps, session replays and surveys, formerly sold as Hotjar.
- Matomo is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Matomo also covers a/B testing.
- Contentsquare also covers surveys.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
15
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Matomo free?
Matomo has a 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.
How much does Matomo cost?
Matomo lists 6 plans. Community (On-Premise): $0.
What platforms does Matomo work on?
Matomo is available on Web.
Does Matomo offer any discounts?
Matomo publicly lists the following: 2 months free with annual billing; Discount for eligible nonprofits.
Does Matomo have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Matomo is listed for Web.
Does Matomo have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Matomo is listed for Web.
Is Matomo open source?
Yes. Matomo is open source, according to its own site.
Does Matomo have an API?
Yes. Matomo offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Matomo integrate with?
Matomo's listing names WordPress, WooCommerce and Google Analytics. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Does Matomo have a free trial?
Yes. Free trial of Matomo Cloud with all core features, no credit card; length not stated.
Who makes Matomo?
Matomo is made by Matomo. It dates from 2007.
What are the alternatives to Matomo?
The closest alternatives to Matomo in our directory are Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom Analytics, PostHog and Contentsquare.
How does Matomo compare with other website and product analytics tools?
Matomo's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 2 of the 13 other website and product analytics tools we grade, and level with 4.
Is Matomo good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Matomo C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $26 a month, against a middle price of $39 for the category: 2 of the 6 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Matomo?
Nothing Matomo does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 5 things listed below take a company.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Matomo’s own pages on Oct 18, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 18, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Matomo's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Matomo. Prices change, so check matomo.org before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
2,281
Tools graded, in 73 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
2,281
tools graded
73
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Matomo, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/matomo
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Matomo: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 18, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/matomo
Know someone choosing between website and product analytics tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/matomo/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded website and product analytics tools after Matomo, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Website & Product Analytics Insider's GuideEvery one of the 14 website and product analytics tools we grade, compared
- Google Analytics Insider's GuideGoogle's free website and app analytics, with a paid 360 tier3.4 GPA
- Microsoft Clarity Insider's GuideFree session recordings and heatmaps from Microsoft, no traffic cap3.2 GPA
- PostHog Insider's GuideOpen-source product analytics with replays, flags and surveys3.2 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Matomo’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. Matomo is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Matomo. Prices and plans change: check matomo.org before you buy.