UmamiPrivacy-first, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host in one Postgres container, MIT-licensed so the data stays entirely yours.
Repo
Umami
Privacy-first, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host in one Postgres container, MIT-licensed so the data stays entirely yours.
The lightest way off Google Analytics: a clean, cookie-free dashboard on your own box, under a plain MIT license with no copyleft or network-use strings. The catches: self-hosting is real Node-and-Postgres work with upgrades and backups on you, and v3 quietly dropped MySQL, so it is Postgres or nothing now.
Great for
Teams leaving Google Analytics who want a clean, cookie-free dashboard they own on their own infrastructure, with no consent banner and no data leaving their servers.
The catch
Self-hosting is a genuine Node 18.18+ and PostgreSQL 12.14+ project with upgrades and backups on you, and v3 is Postgres-only, so v2 users still on MySQL are stranded on the old line.
Bottom line
Backed by a company shipping steadily, v3.3.1 landed in August 2026, MIT-licensed with no seat or event caps when self-hosted, and a free 100k-events cloud tier if you would rather skip hosting entirely.
Self-hostYes (Node.js 18.18+, PostgreSQL 12.14+)
Managed cloudYes (cloud.umami.is, free Hobby 100k events/mo, Pro $20/mo)
LicenseMIT (permissive, no copyleft or network-use obligations)
LanguageTypeScript
Maintained byUmami Software, Inc. (company, actively shipping)
Watch out forv3 dropped MySQL support; self-host means real ops and backups
Cookie-free trackingYes
GDPR / CCPA compliant (no consent banner)Yes
Lightweight script (<2KB)Yes
Real-time dashboardYes
Custom events & event dataYes
Goals, funnels & retentionYes
UTM campaign & revenue trackingYes
Multi-site & teamsYes
Public shareable dashboardsYes
Session replayAdded in v3.1 via rrweb; opt-in and fiddly to enable on self-host
Real-user Web VitalsLCP, INP, CLS from real visitors; opt-in via a data-performance script flag
MySQL supportDropped in v3; Postgres-only now
Feature flags / A/B experimentsNot a product-analytics suite; no experimentation layer
What it does
- Tracks pageviews, referrers, devices, browsers, and countries in a clean real-time dashboard, with a tracking script under 2KB that barely touches page load
- Counts visits without cookies and without collecting personal data, so GDPR, CCPA, and PECR do not force a consent banner on your site
- Records custom events and event properties, then reports goals, funnels, retention, and user journeys on top of them
- Ties traffic to UTM campaigns, conversions, and revenue, so marketing spend maps to outcomes in one view
- Runs many websites and multiple teams from one install, with public shareable dashboards for clients and stakeholders
- Keeps every byte of raw data on your own Postgres, exportable and queryable, so nothing is locked inside a vendor cloud
What it can’t do
- Install and maintain itself; self-hosting is a real Node.js and PostgreSQL deployment with upgrades, backups, and patching that land on you
- Run on MySQL any more; v3 is Postgres-only, so teams who built on the v2 MySQL path are stuck on the old release line until they migrate
- Replace a full product-analytics suite; there are no feature flags, no A/B experiments, and no deep cohort modeling the way PostHog does them
- Keep long history on the free cloud tier; Hobby retains six months of data, so multi-year trend analysis needs the Pro plan or a self-host
- Hand you session replay with zero friction on self-host; it is opt-in, needs the right script flag, and early adopters have hit setup gotchas
Pros & cons
Pros
- Cookie-free by design, so most sites drop the consent banner and the GDPR paperwork that comes with Google Analytics
- Genuinely light stack, one Node app and a single Postgres database, comfortable on a $5 VPS or a side-deploy on Vercel or Railway
- Plain MIT license with no copyleft or network-use clauses, so commercial and hosted use carries no legal strings
- Self-hosted build has no seat, site, or event caps, and every byte of data stays on your own infrastructure
- Backed by a company shipping on a steady cadence, with v3.1 through v3.3 adding session replay, custom boards, and real-user Web Vitals through 2026
Cons
- Self-hosting is real ops work, and the upgrades, database, backups, and security patching are the free that is not actually free
- v3 dropped MySQL, a breaking change that left v2 MySQL users unable to move to the new line without a database migration
- Depth stops at web traffic, so teams that grow into feature flags, experiments, and heavy cohort analysis outgrow it
- Newer features land rough first; session replay is fiddly to enable on self-host and board editing shipped broken on Firefox
- The free cloud tier keeps only six months of data, so longer retention pushes you to the Pro plan
2 positive1 mixed1 critical
What the community says
I like Umami because it uses Postgres. I started off using Plausible which worked great, but Clickhouse is a resource hog and was constantly bogging down my small VPS.
Yesterday I was finally ready to integrate an analytics tool and just went straight with Umami, after liking the UI. Two hours later, configuring events and stuff, I see: oh wow, this release is like 5 hours old. Early adopter vibes.
Been running Umami behind Traefik for a while. Noped out of Google Analytics years ago and haven't looked back. v3.1 has actual new stuff: session replay, custom boards, real-user Web Vitals. Two gotchas cost me stupid amounts of time though: Web Vitals is opt-in and you need the data-performance flag, and board editing is broken on Firefox.
Still on v2 cuz they dropped mysql support.
7 sourcesWhere this page’s facts came from. Open the receipts.
- 1GitHub - umami-software/umami repo
- 2GitHub API - repo metadata (stars, language, activity)
- 3Umami LICENSE (MIT)
- 4Umami README - install requirements (Node 18.18+, Postgres 12.14+)
- 5Umami Cloud pricing (Hobby free 100k events, Pro $20/mo)
- 6Reddit r/selfhosted - Umami v3.1.0 release thread + feedback
- 7Reddit r/selfhosted - Best OSS Google Analytics alternative
Watch it work
Real tutorials and reviews from YouTube, not ours.