What is the difference between Plausible and Fathom?

Plausible is best for Privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics, while Fathom is best for Businesses that want simple analytics without privacy headaches. Plausible starts at $9/mo and Fathom starts at $14/mo.

Plausible vs Fathom

Plausible is privacy-friendly, lightweight web analytics. No cookies, GDPR-compliant out of the box, while Fathom is simple, privacy-focused website analytics. GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant. Plausible comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Plausible is built for privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics, whereas Fathom targets businesses that want simple analytics without privacy headaches.

At a glance

	Plausible	Fathom
Best for	Privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics	Businesses that want simple analytics without privacy headaches
Starting price	$9/mo	$14/mo
Free tier	—	—
Open source	✓	—
Free tier available	—	—
Open source	✓	—
Cookieless	✓	✓
EU Isolation	—	✓
Event Tracking	—	✓
Goal Tracking	✓	—
Lightweight Script	✓	—
Privacy First	✓	✓
Self-Hosted	✓	—
Uptime Monitoring	—	✓

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

Fathom

Strengths

Privacy-compliant out of the box
Simple, one-page dashboard
EU isolation option for data residency
Reliable uptime and fast loading

Weaknesses

More expensive than Plausible
Not open source
Limited advanced analytics
No self-hosting option

Try Fathom → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Plausible starts at $9/mo. Fathom starts at $14/mo. Plausible is the more affordable option.

Feature gaps: Plausible offers Goal Tracking, Lightweight Script and Self-Hosted that Fathom lacks. Fathom brings EU Isolation, Event Tracking and Uptime Monitoring that Plausible does not have. Both share Cookieless and Privacy First.

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

Open source: Plausible is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Fathom is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Plausible's biggest strengths are: privacy-first — no cookies, no consent banners needed. lightweight script under 1kb. Fathom's biggest strengths are: privacy-compliant out of the box. simple, one-page dashboard.

Watch out for: With Plausible, users commonly note that much less feature-rich than google analytics. With Fathom, the main complaint is that more expensive than plausible.

Choose Plausible if...

You need a tool built for privacy-conscious sites that want simple, clean analytics
You want to save on per-user costs — Plausible is $5.00/user/mo cheaper
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Goal Tracking and Lightweight Script
You care about lightweight script under 1kb

Choose Fathom if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: businesses that want simple analytics without privacy headaches
You specifically need EU Isolation and Event Tracking
You care about simple, one-page dashboard
Your team size fits the individuals profile Fathom is designed for