Matomo vs Umami Comparison 2026
Matomo and Umami are both open source and self-hostable free, but Umami also offers a free hosted Hobby tier with six months of retention, something Matomo Cloud does not have at any price, since Matomo Cloud starts at $26 a month for 50,000 hits. Umami's Pro plan is $20 a month for a million events, cheaper and covering more volume than Matomo Cloud's entry tier. Matomo is the older, heavier tool with heatmaps and session recording as paid add-ons. Umami is newer and deliberately minimal, tracking visits without cookies and without that extra depth.
Web analytics you can host yourself and keep
Open source site analytics with no cookie banner
At a glance
- Umami starts cheaper, at $20.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Matomo | Umami | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $26 | From $20 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| API | Yes |
Matomo
Web analytics you can host yourself and keep
Matomo answers the same questions as the analytics everybody already runs, with the difference stated on the page: the data belongs to whoever installs it. Two ways to run it sit side by side, a cloud subscription priced on monthly hits and an on-premise build that costs nothing to license. Heatmaps and session recordings are sold as additions rather than bundled. Self-hosting means owning a server and the upgrades that come with it, which is the real price of the free option.
Our note
Take the cloud plan unless somebody on the team already runs servers, because the free version's cost is measured in maintenance rather than money. Compare against Plausible and Fathom on hits rather than features, since all three answer the same questions and only the pricing shape differs.
Umami
Open source site analytics with no cookie banner
Umami counts visits without cookies or personal data, which is what keeps a consent banner off the front of a site nobody came to for a consent banner. The whole thing is open source, so it can be self-hosted for nothing on hardware you already pay for, and the cloud plan exists for people who would rather not. Events are the billing unit above the free tier. The dashboard is deliberately one screen.
Why people weigh these two
- Umami instead of Matomo
- Umami is open source site analytics with no cookie banner, from $20 with a free tier, and self hosts the same way Matomo does.
- Matomo instead of Umami
- Matomo self hosts too, from $26 with a free tier, and keeps far more detail at the cost of more to maintain.
Which one should you pick
Pick Matomo if you want heatmaps and session recording available as add-ons alongside deeper, more configurable reporting, and are willing to either self-host for free or pay $26 a month upward on Matomo Cloud, which has no free hosted tier at all.
Pick Umami if a free hosted option matters and you do not need heatmaps or session recording. Hobby is free with six months of retention, and Pro at $20 a month covers a million events, cheaper than Matomo Cloud's entry tier while covering considerably more volume, all without using cookies.
Common questions
- Can both Matomo and Umami be self-hosted for free?
- Yes, both are open source and can be run on your own server at no licence cost. Umami additionally offers a free hosted Hobby tier with six months of retention, which Matomo does not, since Matomo Cloud has no free tier at all.
- Which is cheaper at the first paid cloud tier?
- Umami, at $20 a month for a million events against Matomo Cloud's $26 a month for 50,000 hits. Events and hits are not identical units, but Umami's entry price is both lower and covers considerably more volume by the numbers each vendor states.
- Does Umami offer heatmaps or session recording like Matomo?
- No, Umami's listing does not describe either feature. Matomo offers both as paid add-ons from $5 a month for a small allowance, which is a real advantage for anybody who wants that depth beyond plain visit counts.
- Which one avoids cookies and a consent banner?
- Umami does, tracking visits without cookies or personal data by design. Matomo's cookie behaviour depends on how it is configured, so check your specific setup if avoiding a consent banner entirely is the deciding factor.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.