Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Plausible.io VS Cloudways

Compare Plausible.io VS Cloudways and see what are their differences

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Plausible.io logo Plausible.io

Plausible Analytics is a simple, open-source, lightweight (< 1 KB) and privacy-friendly web analytics alternative to Google Analytics. Made and hosted in the EU, powered by European-owned cloud infrastructure ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ

Cloudways logo Cloudways

Cloudways is a managed hosting platform for PHP based application including WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce or a custom-built site.Experience fast performance, reliability, security with 24/7 support.
  • Plausible.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2020-07-07

Plausible Analytics is not designed to be a clone of Google Analytics. It is meant as a simple-to-use replacement and a privacy-friendly alternative that can help many site owners.

  • It's quick, simple to use and understand with all the metrics displayed on one page. Doesn't track hundreds of metrics like Google Analytics does

  • Lightweight script of less than 1 KB so sites load fast. The script is 45 times smaller script than the Google Analytics one

  • Doesn't use cookies so there's no need to worry about cookie banners

  • Doesn't track personal data so it's compliant with GDPR out of the box and you don't need to worry about asking for data consent

  • It's open source with the code available on GitHub so you can even self host exactly the same product free as in beer

  • Unlike Google Analytics, the cloud product is not free as in beer because the business model is subscriptions rather than selling the data of your visitors. Plausible Analytics is bootstrapped without any external funding so the subscription fees help cover the costs and time spent on development.

  • Cloudways Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-23

Cloudways is built for speed, flexibility, and simplicity. Experience 65% faster performance with our new NGINX stack and let Cloudways Copilot save time on hosting maintenance. Host unlimited websites on a single plan with no visitor limits, and scale effortlessly with five leading cloud providers โ€” DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud. Enjoy pay-as-you-go pricing, 24/7 expert human support, and complete freedom to grow your business without the usual hosting restrictions.

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Plausible.io

$ Details
paid Free Trial $9.0 / Monthly (10,000 pageviews)
Platforms
Web Browser Google Chrome Firefox Safari Wordpress
Release Date
2019 April
Startup details
Country
Estonia

Cloudways

$ Details
Free Trial $10.0 / Monthly
Platforms
PHP Laravel Wordpress Magento Woocomerce More..
Release Date
2012 October

Plausible.io features and specs

  • Privacy-focused
    Plausible does not collect personal data about your visitors and is fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR.
  • Simple to Use
    The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it accessible for users without technical expertise.
  • Lightweight
    Plausible's script is under 1 KB in size, making it fast to load and reducing the impact on site speed.
  • Open-Source
    The platform is open-source, which allows for community contributions and transparency in how data is handled.
  • Real-Time Data
    Plausible provides real-time analytics, which can be useful for monitoring live events and activities on your site.
  • Affordable Pricing
    Offers competitive pricing models that can be more budget-friendly for small to medium-sized businesses compared to other analytics platforms.

Possible disadvantages of Plausible.io

  • Limited Features
    Lacks some advanced features found in more comprehensive analytics tools like Google Analytics, such as multi-channel funnels and detailed demographic information.
  • No Free Tier
    Plausible does not offer a free tier, which could be an obstacle for very small websites or individual users on a tight budget.
  • Basic Reporting
    The reporting may be too basic for larger enterprises that require more granular and customizable analytics.
  • No App Integration
    Currently, Plausible does not offer integrations with mobile app analytics, limiting its use to web applications.
  • Smaller User Base
    As a relatively new and smaller player in the market, it may not have the extensive user community or third-party support seen with more established platforms.

Cloudways features and specs

  • Scale of Resources
  • Staging Environment
  • Restore Server and Apps
  • Github deployment
  • 1-Click Free SSL Installation
  • Multiple PHP Versions
  • Pay as you go

Analysis of Plausible.io

Overall verdict

  • Plausible.io is generally considered to be a good web analytics tool, especially for those who prioritize privacy and simplicity.

Why this product is good

  • Plausible.io is designed with simplicity and privacy at its core, offering a clean and user-friendly interface without tracking personal data or using cookies. It provides essential analytics without overwhelming users with too much information. This focus on privacy can be particularly appealing in a landscape where data concerns are significant. It is also easy to integrate, offers real-time data, and is open source, allowing for more transparency compared to some competitors.

Recommended for

  • Small to medium-sized website owners
  • Bloggers and content creators
  • Businesses and startups focused on privacy
  • Developers who value open source solutions
  • Users looking for an alternative to Google Analytics with a straightforward setup

Analysis of Cloudways

Overall verdict

  • Cloudways is considered a strong option for those seeking managed hosting solutions that are both powerful and adaptable. It stands out due to its competency in handling different cloud platforms and ease of use, making it a notable choice for small to medium-sized businesses that seek efficient and scalable web hosting services.

Why this product is good

  • Cloudways is often praised for its flexibility and managed hosting services, which cater to various needs, such as developers who prefer a platform that supports multiple cloud infrastructures. It offers features like automated backups, managed security, staging areas for testing changes, and reliable customer support. Users appreciate its performance optimization and scalability, which are crucial for websites with varying traffic demands.

Recommended for

    Cloudways is recommended for developers, digital agencies, small to medium-sized businesses, and anyone looking for a balance between control and management in cloud hosting. It's particularly suited for users who require the flexibility to choose their cloud provider without managing the underlying server infrastructure directly.

Plausible.io videos

Cardano Blackboard Series #5: What is plausible deniability?

More videos:

  • Review - How Plausible is the Balkanized America from Crimson Skies? (A Map Analysis)
  • Review - Movie Review - How Plausible is The Martian?

Cloudways videos

Cloudways Review 2 Years Later &amp; Cloudways Setup Tutorial - WordPress Cloud Hosting Provider

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Host a Laravel Project On Cloudways
  • Review - ๐Ÿ‘‰CloudWays Review 2023 | Watch This Before Buying!
  • Review - I Found my DREAM WordPress Host! | Cloudways Review
  • Review - Cloudways Review - Is Cloudways Worth It?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Plausible.io and Cloudways)
Analytics
100 100%
0% 0
Web Hosting
0 0%
100% 100
Web Analytics
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Hosting
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Plausible.io and Cloudways. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Plausible.io and Cloudways

Plausible.io Reviews

  1. Nikola
    ยท Founder at Hosted Status Page ยท
    Happy Paying User :)

    I've been using plausible since Sep 2019 and never had any doubts about it. It provides me with everything I need related to visitor stats while keeping privacy in first place.

    It doesn't slow down my website loading speed (it's amazing, it's less than 1KB in size!), is not blocked by adblockers since it's not really a tracker tracker, and owners are super cool and they actually respond to every inquiry you could possibly have.

    If you're looking for de-googling your stuff, you can start with Plausible :)

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Google Analytics, Matomo, Woopra
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Loading speed|Clean ui|Privacy concisous|Custom domain|Affordable prices|Easy integration|Super simple
  2. Makis
    ยท Senior Software Engineer ยท
    Plausibly simple analytics!

    I tried several analytics tools prior to Plausible, namely Google Analytics and later on Matomo. I found both to be fairly complicated for my usage which is a personal blog. Complicated in the way I had to install and use them. Plausible's simple to set up approach combined with a very clean and inviting user interface was a breath of fresh air. It's simple and clean enough that it actually makes me want to check and analyse my traffic which is a feeling I never thought I'd have having tried alternatives.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Google Analytics, Simple Analytics, Matomo
  3. Cesar Reyes
    ยท CEO at Reyes.Pro ยท
    Excellent alternative to google analytics

    It offers clear information about what I really need, without distractions, without advertising and does not slow my site.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Google Analytics

Top 5 Plausible Analytics Alternatives in 2024
Looking for an excellent Plausible Analytics alternative? Read on as in this blog we will be exploring the best Plausible alternatives in 2024.
Source: www.putler.com
Top 9 Plausible Analytics alternatives in 2024
Plausible is an analytics platform focused on delivering clear insights into website traffic. By offering essential metrics like page views and referral sources, Plausible aids businesses in making informed decisions to optimize their online presence.
Source: usermaven.com
Top 5 Self-Hosted, Open Source Alternatives to Google Analytics
Use Case Example: An educational blog opts for Plausible to track user engagement metrics without impacting site performance or user privacy.
Source: zeabur.com
Top 5 open source alternatives to Google Analytics
Plausible is a newer kid on the open source analytics tools block. Itโ€™s lean, itโ€™s fast, and only collects a small amount of information โ€” that includes numbers of unique visitors and the top pages they visited, the number of page views, the bounce rate, and referrers. Plausible is simple and very focused.
Source: opensource.com
Privacy-oriented alternatives to Google Analytics
I learned about Plausible just recently, but they deserve to be on top of this list for me. Their platform is completely Open Source on GitHub under the MIT license. I personally also like that itโ€™s written in Elixir.

Cloudways Reviews

  1. Rahul sharma
    ยท Admin at Well cloud hosting ยท
    Cloudways has better uptime and speed

    Cloudways is amazing for non-techie, clean interface, better support & features are up to mark. who has good knowledge of coding, better would be to go directly and host your application on AWS or google cloud it saves a lot of money.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: A2Hosting, InMotion Hosting, Vultr
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Easy user interface|Easy to scale|Better uptime
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    No email hosting|No root access

9 Best SiteGround Alternatives 2024 {#1 is Most Voted}
Greengeeks, DomainRacer A2hosting and Cloudways are the hostings that are voted by making users as top 3 affordable siteground alternatives.
9 Best SSD Web Hosting Providers Of 2024
If you want to buy Cloud SSD hosting, you may use a special discount through the Cloudways Discount Code. You can use the basic DigitalOcean plan free for 3 months.
Top 5 Best Ubuntu VPS Providers for 2024
Overview and Unique Selling Points CloudWays stands out for its managed cloud hosting services, providing ease of use without sacrificing power or flexibility. The platform offers Ubuntu support along with a custom PHP stack optimized for performance. Partnering with five IaaS providers, including DigitalOcean and Google Cloud, CloudWays ensures a reliable and scalable...
7 High-Performance VM Hosting Companies To Get In 2024
Talking about the features, Cloudways only uses SSD hosting for reliable performance. Furthermore, you can enjoy a dedicated environment that will help you maximize server and app performance. Moreover, it uses PHP 7 servers, which are HTTP/2 enabled, to help increase the speed of communication between the web servers and clients.
Best European Web Hosting Companies โ€“ A Quick View
Cloudways has gained userโ€™s trust and support by offering optimum performance, security, reliability, and speed. You may check its exceptional characteristics through my detailed Cloudways review.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Plausible.io seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 216 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Plausible.io mentions (216)

  • Kill The Cookie Banner
    Side note: thereโ€™s plenty of Analytics tools that donโ€™t require cookies. Plausible (https://plausible.io) is one of them, there are many others. - Source: Hacker News / 6 days ago
  • Chris Banes' Skills Repo: Claude Code Meets Android Development
    Also a small tooling aside โ€” if you're tracking how often skills get used across your team (or just want analytics on your dev blog without the GDPR cookie banner dance), privacy-focused options like Umami or Plausible give you full data ownership and a much lighter footprint than Google Analytics. I migrated two side projects to Umami last year and haven't looked back. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Migrating Off Google Analytics: Umami vs Plausible vs Fathom
    So this post is about something I've been chewing on for months but finally moved on: ripping Google Analytics out of three side projects and picking a privacy-focused alternative. Specifically, I'll compare Umami, Plausible, and Fathom โ€” the three I actually evaluated โ€” and walk through the migration steps that worked for me. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Google Analytics Alternatives: Umami vs Plausible vs Fathom in 2026
    Plausible is what I recommend when someone wants to set it up and forget about it. It's an EU-based company, the data stays in the EU, and they're very transparent about their infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Migrating from Google Analytics to Privacy-Focused Alternatives
    Plausible is also open-source with a self-hosted option, but their cloud-hosted product is where most people land. It's polished, opinionated, and genuinely pleasant to use. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

Cloudways mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Cloudways yet. Tracking of Cloudways recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Plausible.io and Cloudways, you can also consider the following products

Google Analytics - Improve your website to increase conversions, improve the user experience, and make more money using Google Analytics. Measure, understand and quantify engagement on your site with customized and in-depth reports.

DigitalOcean - Simplifying cloud hosting. Deploy an SSD cloud server in 55 seconds.

Fathom Analytics - Simple, trustworthy website analytics (finally)

Kinsta - Fast, secure, and feature-rich managed hosting for WordPress on next-generation cloud infrastructure, secured by Cloudflare.

Matomo - Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform

A2Hosting - Need Fast, Reliable Web Hosting? A2 Hosting Is The Leader In Optimized Hosting For Any Need! Try Our Hosting Service Today!