Cookieless EU-hosted analytics built in Germany, with open-source AGPLv3 core
🇩🇪 GermanySince 2021Closed-source SaaS · open-source AGPLv3 Go core
Built and hosted in Germany — TTDSG-strict by design. Hetzner Gunzenhausen (Bavaria), no terminal storage on the device, daily salt rotation on the visitor hash. The product is built precisely to satisfy Germany's TTDSG §25 — same posture that got Google Analytics ruled illegal in multiple German states.
GDPR posture, sub-processors under DPA, per-jurisdiction stance, and encryption — everything a procurement team checks.
?GDPR✓ CompliantEU General Data Protection Regulation
EU's omnibus privacy law requiring a lawful basis for processing personal data (consent, legitimate interest, etc.). Applies to anyone handling EU-resident data. Pirsch's posture: Legitimate interest. ?CCPA✓ CompliantCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act
California Consumer Privacy Act — rights for California residents (access, deletion, opt-out of sales). Triggered at $25M revenue or 50k+ CA-consumer records. ?UK PECR✓ CompliantUK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations
UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations sit on top of GDPR specifically for cookies and electronic marketing. PECR Reg 6 governs analytics-cookie consent. ?SOC 2 · II✕ Not heldSOC 2 Type II
SOC 2 Type II — independent audit verifying security/availability controls operate effectively over 6+ months. Standard B2B procurement requirement. ?ISO 27001✕ Not heldISO/IEC 27001 information-security
ISO/IEC 27001 — international information-security management standard, certified by accredited bodies on a 3-year renewal cycle. ?HIPAA✕ Not heldUS HIPAA (with BAA)
US health-data law requiring a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for any tool touching protected health information. Without BAA the tool cannot legally process PHI.
Per-jurisdiction posture
🇫🇷
FranceCNILNo banner
Cookieless + no PII = CNIL-exempt.
?France · CNIL
Cookieless + no PII = CNIL-exempt. 🇬🇧
United KingdomUK ICO / PECRNo banner
No cookies, no local-storage = PECR Reg 6 not triggered. UK ICO has not issued Pirsch-specific ruling but PECR posture is defensible.
?United Kingdom · UK ICO / PECR
No cookies, no local-storage = PECR Reg 6 not triggered. UK ICO has not issued Pirsch-specific ruling but PECR posture is defensible. 🇩🇪
GermanyTTDSGNo banner
Pirsch is German-engineered specifically to comply with TTDSG §25 — no banner required by default.
?Germany · TTDSG
Pirsch is German-engineered specifically to comply with TTDSG §25 — no banner required by default. 🇮🇹
ItalyGaranteBanner recommended
Italian Garante is strictest in EU — disclosure recommended even though Pirsch's posture is solid.
?Italy · Garante
Italian Garante is strictest in EU — disclosure recommended even though Pirsch's posture is solid.
Sub-processors (7)
GDPR Art. 28 disclosure — third parties under DPA that may receive data.
Stack, repo health, deployment options — for engineers evaluating self-host.
Stack
Written inGo
DatabaseClickHouse
HostingHetzner Gunzenhausen (Bavaria)
Open coreAGPLv3 Go library
LicenseClosed-source SaaS · open-source AGPLv3 Go core
GitHub github.com/pirsch-analytics/pirsch
Stars★ 1,018
Forks49
Open issues2
Last committoday
Deploy
· SaaS managed
· On-premise (Enterprise)
· Embed Go library in own backend
· WordPress plugin (200+ active installs)
Used by
Companies and projects that publicly trust Pirsch.
Global X
Maglr
Superblog
Stillalive Studios
Editor review
Independently reviewed by Mark Sutton, cross-checked against vendor documentation. Click any panel to expand.
+What it does well▾
Built and hosted in Germany — TTDSG-strict by design. Hetzner Gunzenhausen (Bavaria), no terminal storage on the device, daily salt rotation on the visitor hash. The product is built precisely to satisfy Germany's TTDSG §25 — same posture that got Google Analytics ruled illegal in multiple German states.
Open-source AGPLv3 core. The pirsch-analytics/pirsch Go library is the actual analytics core (1,018+ stars, AGPL) — embeddable in your own Go backend. Dashboard/SaaS layer is closed, but the brain you can audit and self-modify.
Native Google Search Console integration. Pulls keywords, positions, and impressions into the dashboard. The closest thing to "SEO inside your analytics" in this category — Plausible/Fathom/Umami have nothing equivalent.
Built-in URL shortener with attached referrer + UTM. Bridges link-tracking and analytics without a second tool.
City-level geo on every plan. Most cookieless competitors ship country-only.
Funnels + A/B testing on Plus tier ($12). Real product-analytics depth at indie pricing.
−Weaknesses & gotchas▾
Small user base. ~500 customers per vendor + ~1,018 GitHub stars on the core library. Reviewers praise the product but Pirsch has nowhere near Plausible/Matomo recognition. If "future-proof bet" matters more than current quality, this is a real consideration.
Pricing scales with pageviews. Standard at 10k pv = $6/mo, at 1M pv = $54/mo (still cheaper than Fathom). But Plus tier (needed for funnels, A/B testing, segmentation) jumps to $159/mo at 1M — past 5M pageviews self-hosted Plausible/Umami get cheaper.
Open-source story is library-only. The Go library is AGPL, but the SaaS dashboard isn't. You can't self-host a turnkey Pirsch — you'd have to build your own UI on top of the library or pay for the Enterprise on-premise install.
No mobile SDKs. iOS / Android tracking requires hand-rolled REST calls.
WordPress plugin is small (200+ installs). Compared to Matomo's 100k+ or Plausible's 10k+, the WP ecosystem coverage is thin.
No HIPAA / no BAA. Not for healthcare contexts.
Funnels and A/B testing are Plus-tier only. $12+/mo before unlocking the depth (10k pv) — $159 at 1M pv.
★Best for▾
Best for indie hackers and bootstrapped SaaS in EU markets, agencies serving German/Austrian/Swiss clients (where TTDSG matters), content publishers who want SEO data alongside analytics, and developers who actually want a working REST API.
Real value at the Plus tier ($12+/mo) — that's where funnels, A/B testing, segmentation, and white-labeling unlock.
The Google Search Console integration is a real differentiator. If you live half in your analytics and half in GSC, Pirsch is the only privacy-first tool that pulls them into one view.
Not for e-commerce teams needing checkout funnel forensics with revenue attribution (Matomo/GA4 still win here), product teams needing session replay (PostHog territory), high-volume publishers (>5M pv where pricing scales unfavorably), or healthcare contexts requiring a BAA.
⚡Setup walkthrough▾
1. Sign up at pirsch.io → 30-day free trial, no credit card.
2. Add a domain → get a single async tag (~4 KB).
3. Paste in of every page. WordPress users: install Pirsch Analytics plugin v2.1.1.
4. Optional: install the GSC integration to pull keywords + positions into your dashboard.
5. Optional: turn on the URL shortener for campaign links — referrer + UTM auto-attached.
Total: ~5-10 minutes per most reviewer reports. Goals & events configurable via the dashboard, no code redeploy.
↔Migrating from GA4▾
GA importer documented at /get-started/ga-import — pulls historical Google Analytics data. Pirsch also documents Plausible and Fathom importers (rare — most competitors only do GA).
What does not migrate: GA4 custom dimensions and audiences (Pirsch's data model is intentionally flat), Google Ads conversions plumbing (rebuild via Pirsch goals).
Recommended: parallel tracking for ~30 days. Don't expect identical numbers — daily-rotating salt vs GA4's persistent Client-ID will drift uniques by a few percent.
Bonus: if you're switching from Plausible or Fathom, Pirsch is one of the few tools with a native importer for those too — historical data carries forward.
Help & FAQ
Where to get help with Pirsch and the questions buyers email us about.
Support
HoursMon-Fri 09:00-17:00CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
ChannelsEmail · Github issues
LanguagesEnglish, German
Response SLA~24h
FAQ (7)
Is Pirsch GDPR-compliant out of the box?▾
Yes — Pirsch is German-engineered specifically to comply with TTDSG §25 (Germany's stricter cookie law) and GDPR. It's cookieless, doesn't store IP addresses (uses an in-memory daily-rotating hash), and no banner is required by default. CNIL France, UK ICO, and German DPAs all accept this configuration.
Where is Pirsch hosted?▾
Hetzner Online GmbH data centers in Gunzenhausen, Bavaria, Germany — exclusively in the EU. No transfer to non-EU jurisdictions for analytics data. Pirsch Analytics GmbH is incorporated in Germany.
Why does Pirsch have a Standard and a Plus tier?▾
Standard ($6/mo for 10k pv, $18 for 100k) covers core analytics: events, goals, GA importer, REST API, unlimited team members. Plus ($12/mo for 10k pv, $159 for 1M) adds funnels, A/B testing, segmentation, and white-labeling. Both tiers include all 50 sites — no per-site fee.
Does Pirsch have a free tier?▾
No permanent free tier — only a 30-day trial. The minimum paid plan is $6/mo (Standard 10k pv). For free analytics, look at GoatCounter (free for personal/SMB) or Umami Hobby (3 sites, 100k events).
Can I self-host Pirsch?▾
The Pirsch core is published as an AGPL-licensed Go library you can integrate into your own application. The full Pirsch Cloud dashboard (charts, settings, billing) is closed-source. So 'self-host' here means embedding the analytics engine into your codebase, not running the full Pirsch UI.
Does Pirsch honor Do Not Track?▾
Yes — Pirsch respects the DNT (Do Not Track) browser signal by default. Visitors with DNT enabled are not counted. This is unusual among privacy-first analytics tools (most argue DNT is irrelevant since they don't collect PII).
What's the difference between Pirsch and Plausible?▾
Pirsch is German-engineered with explicit TTDSG focus, slightly cheaper at entry ($6 vs $9), respects DNT (Plausible doesn't), and has Plus-tier funnels at $12/mo (vs Plausible's $39 Business). Plausible is open-source AGPL with a self-hostable Community Edition; Pirsch's full UI is closed-source. Plausible has more polish; Pirsch has stronger German compliance posture.
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