Is Plausible Analytics GDPR compliant?

What does Plausible Analytics do?

Cookieless analytics hosted in the EU and open source, so it can be self-hosted. It stores nothing on the device and creates no cross-site identifier, which is why it is generally accepted as needing no consent banner.

Does Plausible Analytics need consent?

No consent is needed for Plausible Analytics on its own, because it does not store or read anything on the device beyond what is strictly necessary. That is not a free pass: it must still be named in your privacy policy, and the request itself still reveals the visitor's IP address to the provider.

GDPR Art. 13(1)(e)

Does Plausible Analytics send data outside the EEA?

No. Plausible Analytics keeps processing inside the EEA, which removes the third-country question entirely. You still have to name it as a recipient in your privacy policy.

GDPR Art. 44 · GDPR Art. 46

How do we detect Plausible Analytics?

We load your page in a real browser as a first-time visitor who clicks nothing, then look at what it contacted. Plausible Analytics is recognised by requests to plausible.io, and we report whether it merely loaded or actually sent data, and whether it set a cookie before any choice was made.