Matomo
Open-source self-hosted analytics, formerly Piwik
- HQ🇳🇿 New Zealand
- Founded2007
- LicenseGPL-3.0-or-later
- ReferenceRead full review
Two privacy-first web analytics tools, compared side-by-side on the same axes. Data is descriptive — no rankings, no editorial winners.
Open-source self-hosted analytics, formerly Piwik
Enterprise GDPR-strict analytics suite — ISO 27001 + SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA BAA, multi-region SaaS, Polish closed-source (forked from Matomo 2016)
Three concrete frames to decide. Not a winner — a fit check.
You want open-source code you can fork. Matomo is AGPL-3.0 — you self-host, you fork, you ship.
You're a small or mid-market team and don't need enterprise compliance frameworks. Matomo Cloud Business at $39/mo covers most non-regulated cases.
You can self-host. Matomo on-prem is free for unlimited sites; Piwik PRO has no free self-host.
You're regulated and need ISO 27001 + SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA BAA on the same vendor. Piwik PRO ships all three; Matomo Cloud Business has GDPR but not SOC 2.
You want a real EU GmbH on the DPA, not a Delaware LLC. Piwik PRO is Polish-incorporated with EU-only data residency commitment.
You need GA360-class consent management + Tag Manager + CDP in one vendor. Matomo's Tag Manager is fine; Piwik PRO's is enterprise.
You're a solo founder or small team and just need cookieless analytics. This pair is overkill — see Plausible or Fathom.
You're tracking app events. See App Analytics.
Both are full-stack analytics platforms. Piwik PRO's pricing is enterprise-tier; Matomo has a SMB lane.
| Line item | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Base plan (100k pv) | +$39/mo Matomo Cloud Business | +$350/mo Piwik PRO Core (typical custom) |
| Goals + funnels | Included Included | Included Included |
| Heatmaps & recordings | +$25/mo Premium plugin | Included Included in Core |
| Tag Manager + CDP | Included Tag Manager included; CDP not available | Included Both included |
| All-in monthly | $64/mo Matomo Cloud + heatmaps | $350/mo Piwik PRO Core typical |
Matomo on-prem free if self-hosted. Piwik PRO does not publish public pricing — $350/mo is a typical Core-tier figure for 100k pv; enterprise tiers go significantly higher.
Limits the marketing pages won't list. Each tool has them — knowing which kills the deal saves a migration.
SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA on Cloud. Matomo Cloud has GDPR + ISO 27001 but not SOC 2 audited. Self-hosted you can layer your own; Cloud customers can't.
A managed CDP. Matomo doesn't ship a customer-data-platform layer. Piwik PRO does.
Skip a Saturday plugin upgrade. Premium plugin matrix on self-host occasionally bites.
Be cheap. Pricing is enterprise-tier; expect $350+/mo entry, custom contract.
Be open-source. Closed-source fork of Matomo from 2016. Source is not public; you trust the vendor.
Skip a sales call. No self-serve sign-up; everything goes through enterprise sales.
Five facts that most often qualify or disqualify a tool early.
| Matomo | Piwik PRO | |
|---|---|---|
| Price floor | $29/mo | $38/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Hosting model | SaaS + self-host | Saas+onprem |
| Data residency | EU | EU / US / APAC |
| Cookieless | No | Yes |
Frameworks claimed and sub-processors disclosed under DPA.
| Framework | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| GDPR | Held | Held |
| CCPA | Held | Held |
| UK PECR | Held | Held |
| SOC 2 Type II | Not held | Held |
| ISO 27001 | Held | Held |
| HIPAA | Not held | Held |
Cheapest published plan from each vendor that covers the listed pageview volume. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
| Traffic | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| 10k pv/mo | $29/moEntry | $38/moEntry |
| 100k pv/mo | $39/mo100k | $38/mo100k |
| 500k pv/mo | Custom — contact sales | Custom — contact sales |
| 1M pv/mo | Custom — contact sales | Custom — contact sales |
Volumes between tiers follow each vendor's published pricing model. "Custom" indicates the vendor does not publish a price for that volume on their pricing page.
All 38 verified checks across 4 categories.
| Feature | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Pageviews & visitors | Yes Pageviews + visits + visitors |
Yes |
| Live visitor count | Yes Visitors in real-time widget |
Yes Real-time dashboard, lookback 2-24h depending on tier |
| Top pages report | Yes Pages report (drillable) |
Yes |
| Top referrers | Yes Channels report (drillable) |
Yes |
| UTM campaign tracking | Yes Full attribution model |
Yes Full UTM + campaign attribution |
| Country & city breakdown | Yes Country, region, city |
Yes Country always; city configurable per privacy mode |
| Device, browser, OS | Yes Full device/OS/browser breakdown |
Yes |
| Bounce / engagement | Yes Bounce rate |
Yes |
| Time on site | Yes Full session timeline |
Yes |
| Custom events | Yes Multi-dimensional events |
Yes Via Tag Manager + JS API |
| Goals / conversions | Yes Multi-step + revenue tracking |
Yes Goals + multi-step funnel attribution |
| Funnels | Partial Cloud Business+ included; Self-host: $229/yr premium plugin |
Yes Native funnel reports |
| Outbound link tracking | Yes Auto + manual |
Yes Auto via Tag Manager |
| File download tracking | Yes Auto + file-type categorization |
Yes Auto via Tag Manager |
| 404 / error tracking | Yes Plugin |
Yes Via custom event tag |
| Feature | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Cookieless by default | Partial Opt-in mode (one-line JS or admin toggle); cookies on by default |
Partial Configurable — three modes (cookies / no-cookies-with-session / fully anonymous) |
| No personal data collected | Partial Configurable; off by default, CNIL mode masks last 2 octets |
Partial Anonymous mode strips all PII; default mode collects cookies |
| GDPR-compliant out of the box | Partial CNIL exemption (FR); DSK (DE) + Garante (IT) require case-by-case DPA review |
Partial Anonymous mode allows banner-free; default mode requires consent |
| Data hosted in EU | Yes AWS Frankfurt EU; InnoCraft (NZ) operates under EU adequacy decision |
Yes Sweden / Germany / Netherlands / France |
| Data hosted in US | Yes US data center option |
Yes Azure US (also HIPAA) |
| Self-hostable | Yes Free |
Partial On-premises Analytics Suite available — separate DPA, per-quote pricing |
| Open source | Yes GPL |
No Closed-source enterprise SaaS since 2016 split from Piwik project |
| Data retention period | Configurable Default 180 days raw (CNIL); max 25 mo; aggregated unlimited |
60 14/25/60 months configurable |
| Bot & spam filtering | Yes IAB list + custom |
Yes Fraud0 + BotD integration |
| Feature | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Script weight (KB) | 23 ~23 KB gzipped (~218 KB uncompressed); same comparison basis as peers |
86 ~86 KB gzipped — heavy by privacy-tool standards |
| Single-snippet install | Yes Also GTM |
Yes One container snippet (Tag Manager) |
| WordPress plugin | Yes Bundled plugin (full Matomo runs in WP); 100,000+ installs |
Yes Official WP plugin available |
| Proxy / first-party domain | Yes Configurable proxy/CDN; no native SaaS proxy |
Yes Server-side container with custom domain on Enterprise tiers |
| Public API | Yes Reporting + Tracking + Custom Reports APIs (REST/JSON/XML/CSV) |
Yes REST API + SDK; JSON/CSV/XML exports |
| Data export (CSV/JSON) | Yes CSV/JSON/XML/RSS |
Yes BigQuery, Azure Blob, raw exports |
| Google Search Console connector | No No native GSC connector; pull via API |
Partial Not native; requires custom integration via API |
| Email digests | Yes Scheduled email reports |
Yes Scheduled email reports |
| Slack / webhook alerts | No No native; via plugin |
Yes Slack + Teams + Mailchimp + Zapier via Data Activation |
| Public shareable dashboard | Yes Anonymous viewer permission |
Yes Shareable dashboards (auth-gated by default; public configurable) |
| Feature | Matomo | Piwik PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier exists | No 21-day trial only on Cloud; Self-host is free forever |
No Freemium Core plan ended 2025; only 30-day trial |
| Entry price ($/mo) | 29 Cloud Starter (50k hits/mo, 30 sites) |
38 Business ~€35/mo (~$38) |
| Price at 100k pageviews | — Business tier — custom pricing |
38 Business covers up to 2M actions |
| Unlimited sites on entry plan | Yes Cloud: 30 sites on Starter; Self-host: unlimited |
Partial 1-20 domains on Business; unlimited on Secure Intelligence |
Factual answers to the questions readers most often ask about this pair.
No. They share lineage — Piwik PRO started as consulting around the open-source Piwik project. In 2016 they parted ways: Matomo (InnoCraft, NZ) is the GPL-3.0 open-source line; Piwik PRO is closed-source enterprise SaaS run by a separate Polish company. Data models diverged since the fork.
Yes, on Trusted Insights and Secure Intelligence Enterprise tiers. Matomo does NOT sign a BAA — for US healthcare, Piwik PRO is the only option of the two.
Matomo Cloud ~€49/mo for 100K actions vs Piwik PRO Business ~€35/mo for up to 2M actions. Piwik PRO is cheaper at high volume; Matomo is cheaper at low volume. Matomo On-Premise is free.
Matomo is GPL-3.0 with PHP/MySQL self-host (mature, free). Piwik PRO offers licensed on-premises Analytics Suite (commercial agreement, per-quote pricing). For free self-host, Matomo.
Piwik PRO. ISO 27001 + SOC 2 Type II + HIPAA BAA + multi-region data residency + named hospital customers (Boston Children's, Rochester Regional, Children's Nebraska). Matomo Cloud has ISO 27001 but lacks SOC 2 and BAA.
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