The best free Google Analytics alternative for website visitor tracking

Comparison

How to pick a free website visitor tracking tool

Three questions filter the list fast:

• Do you want to self-host or use a cloud tier?Self-host is genuinely free (you pay for the VPS) — Umami and Plausible both support this. Cloud is faster to set up but most tools charge after a small free tier; Gizmo's free cloud tier is the most generous (10k events / mo, unlimited sites, no card).
• How many sites do you track?If it's 1, any tool works. If it's 5+, you want unlimited sites in one workspace and a fleet view across them — Gizmo and Umami both deliver this; Plausible and Fathom charge per-site at higher volumes.
• Do you use AI coding agents? Gizmo is the only tool in this comparison with a native MCP server — Cursor / Claude / Codex can install Gizmo, query your traffic, and set up goals in one prompt. With the others you write the API integration yourself.

When NOT to use Gizmo (honest take)

If you rely on paid acquisition with multi-touch attribution windows of weeks/months, GA4 remains the better fit — you need cross-session identity, which requires cookies. If you want a self-hosted tool you control end-to-end, Umami or Plausible are the right picks. If you only have one site and brand consistency matters more than features, Fathom's polish is hard to beat (and the team behind it has been at this for years).

Gizmo's sweet spot: indie operators running multiple sites who want cookieless analytics in the cloud, native AI assistant integration, and a free tier generous enough to not box you in.

FAQ

Which free Google Analytics alternative is actually free?

GA4 itself is free up to 10M events/month — the cost is the cookie banner, the consent management platform, and the data lost to declined consent (30–60% in the EU). For genuinely free + no-banner: Gizmo's cloud tier is free forever for 10k events / month with unlimited sites. Umami is free if you self-host (you provide the server). Plausible and Fathom charge after a trial — they don't have a long-term free cloud tier.

Do I need a cookie banner with these alternatives?

Not with Gizmo, Plausible, Umami, or Fathom — they're all cookieless and don't trigger the EU ePrivacy Directive's consent requirement. You do need a banner with GA4 (or any tool that sets cookies, fingerprints, or uses localStorage). The cookie-banner-free path is the whole point of cookieless analytics.

What's the catch with the free tiers?

Gizmo Free caps at 10k events / month with 30-day data retention; if your site does more traffic or you need older data, you upgrade ($9/mo Starter, $19/mo Growth, $39/mo Scale). Umami's cloud free tier has lower limits; serious users self-host. Plausible and Fathom don't really have free cloud tiers — both are paid after a trial. GA4 is 'free' but the cost shows up in your CMP bill and your missing data.

Will I lose features by switching to a free / cookieless tool?

You lose what cookies enable: cross-day and cross-device user identity, multi-touch attribution windows, remarketing audiences, Google Ads integration. You keep what most operators actually look at: pageviews, sources (including AI assistants), top pages, geography, devices, custom events, conversion funnels, real-time visitor count. If your site's revenue is driven by paid acquisition with long attribution windows, keep GA4 (or run both). For everyone else — content sites, indie SaaS, agencies, portfolios — cookieless covers the workflows.

Which tool is best for tracking multiple sites in one account?

Gizmo and Umami both support unlimited sites in one workspace. Plausible charges per-site above their first tier. Fathom is similar. GA4 supports unlimited properties but lacks a useful fleet view across them — you'd be switching between properties one at a time. For agencies and operators running 5+ sites, Gizmo's fleet view (color-coded by activity, sort by growth, identify dead sites) is the differentiator.

What's the visitor tracking tool that works with AI assistants?

Gizmo is MCP-first — every dashboard operation is also an MCP tool, so Cursor, Claude Desktop, Codex, Windsurf, and other MCP-aware AI coding agents can install Gizmo on a new site in one prompt, query traffic, set up goals and funnels, and investigate anomalies. None of the other tools listed have this. Plausible and Umami have REST APIs but require you to write the AI integration yourself.

Is website visitor tracking legal without consent?

Yes if it's done without cookies or persistent device identifiers. The EU ePrivacy Directive covers storing or accessing information on the user's device — cookieless tools don't do that. The CNIL (France) and EDPB (EU-wide) have published guidance explicitly stating that cookieless analytics tools using salted-hash visitor IDs are consent-exempt. The same applies under UK PECR. In the US, CCPA / CPRA don't require consent for analytics at all in most configurations.