What is the difference between Plausible and Countly?

Plausible is best for Privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics, while Countly is best for Mobile app teams wanting open-source analytics. Plausible starts at $9/mo and Countly starts at Free.

Is Plausible or Countly cheaper?

Plausible starts at $9/mo. Countly starts at Free and is free.

Is there a free alternative to Plausible?

Yes, Countly offers a free tier.

Plausible vs Countly

Plausible is privacy-friendly, lightweight web analytics. No cookies, GDPR-compliant out of the box, while Countly is open-source product analytics for mobile, web, and desktop with crash reporting. The biggest difference up front: Countly is free, while Plausible starts at $9/mo. Plausible is built for privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics, whereas Countly targets mobile app teams wanting open-source analytics.

At a glance

	Plausible	Countly
Best for	Privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics	Mobile app teams wanting open-source analytics
Starting price	$9/mo	Free
Free tier	—	✓
Open source	✓	✓
Free tier available	—	✓
Open source	✓	✓
Cookieless	✓	—
Crash Reports	—	✓
Goal Tracking	✓	—
Lightweight Script	✓	—
Mobile Analytics	—	✓
Privacy First	✓	—
Push Notifications	—	✓
Self-Hosted	✓	—
Surveys	—	✓

Plausible

Strengths

Privacy-first — no cookies, no consent banners needed
Lightweight script under 1KB
Beautiful, simple dashboard
Open source, self-hostable

Weaknesses

Much less feature-rich than Google Analytics
No free tier (except self-hosted)
Limited segmentation and funnel analysis
No built-in A/B testing

Try Plausible → Full review

Countly

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Includes Mobile Analytics as a core feature, purpose-built for analytics workflows
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Data accuracy depends on tracking setup — misconfigured events give misleading results

Try Countly → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Countly is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Plausible starts at $9/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Plausible offers Cookieless, Goal Tracking and Lightweight Script that Countly lacks. Countly brings Crash Reports, Mobile Analytics and Push Notifications that Plausible does not have.

Team fit: Plausible is geared toward small teams teams, while Countly is aimed at mid-size teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Open source: Both Plausible and Countly are open source, so self-hosting and code audits are on the table with either choice.

Where each tool shines: Plausible's biggest strengths are: privacy-first — no cookies, no consent banners needed. lightweight script under 1kb. Countly's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. includes mobile analytics as a core feature, purpose-built for analytics workflows.

Watch out for: With Plausible, users commonly note that much less feature-rich than google analytics. With Countly, the main complaint is that may lack some advanced features.

Choose Plausible if...

You need a tool built for privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics
You specifically need Cookieless and Goal Tracking
You care about lightweight script under 1kb
Your team size fits the small teams profile Plausible is designed for

Choose Countly if...

You need a tool built for mobile app teams wanting open-source analytics
Budget is a hard constraint — Countly is free, Plausible is not
You specifically need Crash Reports and Mobile Analytics
You care about includes mobile analytics as a core feature, purpose-built for analytics workflows
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile Countly is designed for