Self-host Plausible

updated Sep 2026deployed by usprices checked · Jul 2026Install verified on Ubuntu 26.04 · Sep 2026 · how we test

We earn commissions when you shop through the links below. Full disclosure →

Lightweight, privacy-friendly web analytics in a single dashboard — no cookies, no personal data, GDPR-friendly by default. The Google Analytics replacement you can actually read.

Key facts

CategoryWeb analytics

LicenseAGPL-3.0

StackElixir, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL

Min RAM2048 MB

Official imageyes

Measured idle RAM619 MB

Difficulty

Sourcegithub.com/plausible/community-edition

Websiteplausible.io

Our recommendation

Pick Plausible Community Edition when you want the dashboard you can read in ten seconds — cookieless, consent-free, one script tag — and you are fine with a three-container stack: Postgres, ClickHouse and the AGPL-3.0 app. The CE README asks for at least 2 GB of RAM "without fear of OOMs" and a CPU with SSE 4.2 or NEON for ClickHouse; that 2 GB floor is upstream's. Know what CE is before you standardise on it: it is the open-core edition of a cloud product, released twice a year and "community-supported only".

Follow the Plausible deploy guide →

What you need

Any VPS with at least 2048 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
About an afternoon — budget time for troubleshooting

Where to host itaffiliate disclosure

Hetzner Cloudrun it on

From $23.59/mo · 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB · EU + US

Get Hetzner Cloud

Kamaterafree trial

From $4/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 20 GB · US + EU + Asia

Start free on Kamatera →

DigitalOceanalso works on

From $6/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 25 GB · US + EU + Asia

Deploy on DigitalOcean →

Paid link — we earn a commission if you shop through it.

Install

Run these commands on your server:

# Plausible Community Edition — official quick start (README), pinned to the current release tag
git clone -b v3.2.1 --single-branch https://github.com/plausible/community-edition plausible-ce
cd plausible-ce
# BASE_URL must be the real domain you will serve Plausible on, with DNS already pointing at this server
echo "BASE_URL=https://plausible.example.com" >> .env
echo "SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -base64 48)" >> .env
# compose.yml publishes no ports — expose 80/443 with an override; 80 + 443 also enables automatic Let's Encrypt TLS
echo "HTTP_PORT=80" >> .env
echo "HTTPS_PORT=443" >> .env
cat > compose.override.yml << EOF
services:
    plausible:
        ports:
            - 80:80
            - 443:443
EOF
docker compose up -d  #  →  https://plausible.example.com (your BASE_URL) — create the first user

deploy guideHow to Deploy Plausible Analytics on a VPS deploy guideAdding AI-Powered Insights to Plausible Analytics vps picksBest VPS for self-hostingbenchmarked quarterly · re-priced monthly

What you take on

Plausible CE is simple to run once up; the surprises are in the licence model and the install repo:

non-negotiableIt is open core by design. The self-hosting page's current list is that "Marketing funnels, user journeys, ecommerce revenue goals, SSO and sites API are not available" in CE; the CE announcement explains that those features stay under a different licence to protect the hosted plan, and that external contributors sign a CLA. Custom properties did make it into CE; the release notes carry the current list.

non-negotiableTwo repos, two licences: the install repo you clone is MIT (a compose file and README); the application image is AGPL-3.0 from plausible/analytics. Releases are branches: as of September 2026 the repo's default branch is v3.2.1 and its compose pins ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.1, with upgrades done by editing that tag per the release notes — which can also bump the databases (3.0 moved ClickHouse from 24.3 to 24.12).

non-negotiableThe current compose publishes no host port. The README's step 3 adds a compose.override.yml mapping 80 and 443 plus HTTP_PORT=80 / HTTPS_PORT=443 in .env, which also turns on automatic Let's Encrypt; behind your own proxy you pick other values. Our snippet's :8000 comes from the retired plausible/hosting compose; the community-edition compose has never published a host port, so add the override or nothing answers.

non-negotiableBASE_URL must be "the actual domain where you plan to host the service" with DNS already pointing at the box, and SECRET_KEY_BASE must be at least 64 bytes (openssl rand -base64 48). The README's last step is to visit $BASE_URL and "create the first user"; review the registration variables the compose passes through (DISABLE_REGISTRATION, ENABLE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION) before the instance is public.

non-negotiableThe 2 GB floor is upstream's figure for ClickHouse and Plausible together; upstream ships a low-resources.xml ClickHouse override "useful for small setups" in the compose already.