Deployment Guide

Plausible Analytics

Self-hosted, privacy-friendly web analytics. No cookies, no personal data, full GDPR compliance by design.

20–30 minutes

2GB+ RAM recommended

VPS

2GB RAM minimum / 4GB recommended

Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 LTS

Also Needed

Domain name with DNS access

Introduction

Plausible Analytics is a lightweight, open-source, privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. It provides essential website traffic insights without using cookies, collecting personal data, or requiring complex configuration. The tracking script is approximately 75 times smaller than Google Analytics, resulting in faster page loads and reduced bandwidth.

Plausible Community Edition (CE) is the self-hosted, AGPL-licensed version that gives you complete control over your analytics data. By deploying on a RamNode VPS, you get full data ownership, GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliance by design, and significant cost savings compared to managed services.

Plausible CE requires at least 2 GB of RAM due to the ClickHouse database engine. RamNode VPS plans start at just $4/month, making self-hosted Plausible significantly more affordable than managed analytics services.

Part 1: Server Preparation

1Connect to Your VPS

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

2Update the System

apt update && apt upgrade -y

3Install Docker and Docker Compose

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version

Docker Compose v2 is included with modern Docker installations. If docker compose version fails, install the plugin separately: apt install docker-compose-plugin

4Configure the Firewall

ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

5Configure DNS

Point a subdomain to your VPS by creating an A record:

Type	Name	Value	TTL
A	analytics	YOUR_SERVER_IP	300

DNS propagation can take up to 24 hours (typically minutes). Verify with: dig analytics.yourdomain.com

Part 2: Deploying Plausible CE

1Clone the Community Edition Repository

mkdir -p /opt/plausible && cd /opt/plausible

git clone -b v3.2.0 --single-branch \
  https://github.com/plausible/community-edition.git .

2Create the Environment File

touch .env

# Set your domain (replace with your actual domain)
echo "BASE_URL=https://analytics.yourdomain.com" >> .env

# Generate and set a secure secret key
echo "SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -base64 48)" >> .env

# Disable public registration after creating your account
echo "DISABLE_REGISTRATION=invite_only" >> .env

The BASE_URL must match the exact domain where Plausible will be accessible, including https://. No trailing slash or path.

3Configure HTTPS with Automatic TLS

# Add port configuration to .env
echo "HTTP_PORT=80" >> .env
echo "HTTPS_PORT=443" >> .env

Create a compose override to expose ports:

compose.override.yml

services:
  plausible:
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"

Plausible handles TLS certificate provisioning and renewal automatically. No separate reverse proxy or Certbot setup required.

4(Optional) Configure Email / SMTP

For traffic reports, password resets, and team invitations:

echo "MAILER_EMAIL=plausible@yourdomain.com" >> .env
echo "SMTP_HOST_ADDR=smtp.yourmailprovider.com" >> .env
echo "SMTP_HOST_PORT=587" >> .env
echo "SMTP_USER_NAME=your_smtp_username" >> .env
echo "SMTP_USER_PWD=your_smtp_password" >> .env
echo "SMTP_HOST_SSL_ENABLED=true" >> .env

Popular SMTP providers: SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Postmark. Most offer a free tier sufficient for Plausible notifications.

5Launch Plausible

cd /opt/plausible
docker compose up -d

# Monitor startup
docker compose logs -f

Wait until you see log output indicating the web server is listening (typically 1–2 minutes on first launch).

6Create Your Admin Account

Navigate to your Plausible URL (e.g., https://analytics.yourdomain.com). Fill in the registration form to create your admin account.

With DISABLE_REGISTRATION=invite_only, no one else can register unless you explicitly invite them from the dashboard.

7Verify the Deployment

HTTPS is active (lock icon in browser address bar)
Dashboard loads without errors
All containers are healthy:

docker compose ps

Part 3: Adding & Tracking Sites

Add a Website

From your dashboard, click "+ Add a website". Enter your domain exactly as visitors see it (e.g., yourdomain.com without https://). Select your timezone and click "Add snippet."

Install the Tracking Script

Add this snippet to the <head> section of every page:

HTML tracking snippet

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com"
  src="https://analytics.yourdomain.com/js/script.js">
</script>

Platform-Specific Installation

Platform	Where to Add
WordPress	Insert Headers and Footers plugin, or edit header.php
Static HTML	Paste into the <head> tag of every page
Next.js	Add to Head component in _app.js or app/layout.tsx
Ghost	Settings → Code injection → Site Header
Hugo / Jekyll	Base template or partials/head.html
Gatsby	gatsby-plugin-plausible or gatsby-ssr.js

Additional Measurement Options

Enable extra tracking by changing the script filename:

Feature	Script Filename
Outbound Link Clicks	script.outbound-links.js
File Downloads	script.file-downloads.js
Custom Events (CSS)	script.tagged-events.js
Hash-Based Routing	script.hash.js
All Combined	script.outbound-links.file-downloads.tagged-events.js

You can track as many websites as you want from a single Plausible instance. Each site gets its own dashboard and tracking snippet.

Part 4: Google Search Console Integration

Display the search keywords visitors use to find your site directly in your Plausible dashboard — no Google code on your website required.

1Set Up Google Search Console

Navigate to search.google.com/search-console and sign in.
Click "Add a property" and choose Domain or URL prefix verification.
Follow Google's instructions to verify ownership (DNS TXT record or HTML file).

2Create Google Cloud OAuth Application

Go to console.cloud.google.com and create a new project.
Navigate to APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen. Select "External" and create.
On the Scopes page, add the Google Search Console API with read-only access.
Add your Gmail as a test user.

3Generate OAuth Client Credentials

Click Credentials → + Create Credentials → OAuth client ID.
Set type to "Web application".
Under Authorized redirect URIs, add: https://analytics.yourdomain.com/auth/google/callback
Copy the Client ID and Client Secret.

The redirect URI must exactly match your BASE_URL followed by /auth/google/callback.

4Enable the API & Add Credentials

In Google Cloud Console, search for and enable the "Google Search Console API". Then add credentials to Plausible:

cd /opt/plausible

echo "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here" >> .env
echo "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_here" >> .env

docker compose down && docker compose up -d

5Connect in Plausible Dashboard

Go to your site settings → Integrations / Search Console.
Click "Continue with Google" and authenticate.
Select your Search Console property and save.

Google Search Console data is updated every 24–48 hours. If your OAuth app is in "Testing" status, tokens may expire after 7 days — publish to Production to avoid this.

Part 5: Setting Up Goals

Goals track specific visitor actions beyond pageviews. The Goal Conversions section appears at the bottom of your dashboard once configured.

Pageview Goals

Track visits to specific pages (thank-you pages, pricing, etc.):

Site settings → Goals → + Add goal
Select "Pageview" and enter the page path (e.g., /thank-you)

Use wildcards to match multiple pages:

Goal Path	What It Tracks
/blog*	All pages under /blog
/docs/*	All documentation pages
/products/*/reviews	Review pages for any product

Custom Event Goals — CSS Class Method

Use the tagged-events script extension and add CSS classes:

HTML examples

<!-- Track a button click -->
<button class="plausible-event-name=Signup+Click">
  Sign Up Now
</button>

<!-- Track a CTA link -->
<a href="/demo" class="plausible-event-name=Demo+Request">
  Request a Demo
</a>

Custom Event Goals — JavaScript API

JavaScript API

<script>
window.plausible = window.plausible || function() {
  (window.plausible.q = window.plausible.q || []).push(arguments)
}
</script>

// Track a form submission
document.getElementById('signup-form')
  .addEventListener('submit', function() {
    plausible('Form Submission');
  });

// Track with custom properties
plausible('Purchase', {
  props: { plan: 'Pro', price: '49' }
});

Automated Tracking Goals

Outbound Link Clicks — Tracks all external link clicks
File Downloads — Tracks PDF, ZIP, DOCX, etc.
404 Error Pages — Monitors broken pages
Form Submissions — Tracks form submissions site-wide

Part 6: Maintenance & Administration

Updating Plausible CE

cd /opt/plausible

git fetch --tags
git checkout v3.x.x  # Replace with latest version

docker compose pull
docker compose down && docker compose up -d

Always check the Plausible release notes on GitHub before upgrading. Some releases may require database migrations or configuration changes.

Backing Up Your Data

# Backup PostgreSQL
docker compose exec plausible_db \
  pg_dump -U postgres plausible > backup_pg_$(date +%F).sql

# Backup ClickHouse (data directory)
docker compose stop plausible_events_db
tar czf backup_ch_$(date +%F).tar.gz \
  /var/lib/docker/volumes/*event*
docker compose start plausible_events_db

Schedule automated backups using cron. For production, consider offsite backup storage.

Monitoring Container Health

docker compose ps
docker compose logs --tail=50
docker stats --no-stream

Environment Variables Reference

Variable	Description
BASE_URL	Full URL where Plausible is hosted
SECRET_KEY_BASE	Secret key (64+ bytes, base64)
DISABLE_REGISTRATION	Control who can register (invite_only)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID	OAuth client ID for Search Console
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	OAuth client secret for Search Console
MAILER_EMAIL	FROM address for notifications
SMTP_HOST_ADDR	SMTP server hostname
SMTP_HOST_PORT	SMTP server port
HTTP_PORT / HTTPS_PORT	Ports for built-in server & auto TLS

Additional Resources

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