Introduction: Why Umami Analytics Stands Out

Privacy-focused analytics platforms have become a necessity, not a luxury. Google Analytics feels bloated, intrusive, and increasingly risky from a compliance perspective. Website owners want simplicity, speed, and control—and Umami delivers exactly that. Built by three brothers who were frustrated with existing analytics tools, Umami combines open-source transparency with a user-friendly interface that doesn’t require a data scientist to understand.

What makes Umami special isn’t just privacy (though that’s crucial). It’s the combination of simplicity, speed, affordable pricing, and powerful self-hosting options. Whether you run a small blog or manage analytics for enterprise clients, Umami scales to your needs. This guide covers everything: setup, features, pricing, real-world workflows, and how it compares to alternatives like Plausible and Google Analytics.

Understanding Umami: The Core Philosophy

Umami is built on a fundamental principle: analytics should be simple, fast, and respect privacy. The fully open source code is available on GitHub. Unlike Google Analytics, which treats analytics as a vehicle for data collection and advertising, Umami treats it as a tool for website improvement.

Core Values:

No personal data collection – Only aggregated, anonymized metrics
No cookies required – Visitors don’t need consent banners
GDPR/CCPA compliant – Built for privacy laws from the start
Fully open source – Code is transparent and community-reviewed
Self-hostable – Full control over your data
Blazingly fast – Lightweight script, quick dashboard loads

This isn’t just marketing speak. Every design decision reflects these values. The tracking script is minuscule. The dashboard loads instantly. Privacy is baked into every feature, not added as an afterthought.

Key Features That Matter

Real-Time Dashboard

The moment you add the tracking script, Umami begins collecting data. The dashboard displays:

Visitors: Unique individuals visiting your site
Visits: Total visits (same person visiting multiple times counts separately)
Pageviews: Total pages viewed
Visit Duration: Average time spent per session

All stats update in real-time (with ~1-2 second delay). You can see live activity as it happens, watch traffic spikes occur, and monitor feature launches in real-time.

Flexible Date Range Selection

By default, Umami shows the last 28 days. But you can easily switch to:

Today
Last 24 hours
This week / Last week
This month / Last month
90 days
Custom date range

When you change the date range, all data refreshes automatically. This makes it trivial to compare periods, analyze campaign performance, or spot trends.

Detailed Traffic Breakdown

Navigate to the Details page to see:

Pages: Which pages drive traffic, bounce rate per page, average visit duration
Referrers: Which sites send visitors to you (search engines, directories, blogs)
Devices: Desktop vs. mobile breakdown, device types
Countries: Geographic distribution of visitors
Browsers: Chrome, Safari, Firefox usage
OS: Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux breakdown

Each section can be filtered independently. Want to see only mobile traffic from the US visiting your blog? Filter “Mobile” + “United States” + “/blog/*” and you’re done.

Custom Events and Goal Tracking

This is where Umami transforms from “basic analytics” to “actionable product intelligence.” For a complete list of ways to track events, please refer to official documentation for tracking events.

Adding Custom Events

Track any action that matters to your business:

xml<!-- Add data attributes to HTML elements -->
<button data-umami-event="Signup clicked">Sign Up</button>

<link data-umami-event="Download PDF" href="/files/guide.pdf">Download</link>

<a data-umami-event="Outbound link" href="https://example.com">Visit</a>

Or use JavaScript directly:

javascriptumami.track('purchase', { value: 99, currency: 'USD' });
umami.track('video_play', { video_id: '12345' });

Events appear in the Events section of your dashboard with full filtering and segmentation.

Setting Up Goals

Goals are milestones you want to track. Examples:

Site Type	Goal Examples
SaaS	Free trial signup, payment, API usage
E-commerce	Add to cart, checkout, purchase
Blog	Newsletter signup, comment posted
Course Platform	Enrollment, lesson completion, quiz
Content Site	Read time > 3 min, download, share

Define goals in Settings, then track them in your Goals report. See how many people achieved each milestone, conversion rates, and trends over time.

Advanced Reporting: Understanding User Behavior

Umami’s reporting suite goes beyond pageviews. Use these reports to understand why visitors behave as they do.

Journey Report: Visualizing User Paths

The Journey report is Umami’s most powerful feature for understanding behavior. Instead of isolated metrics, it visualizes the actual sequence of steps visitors take.

Example: You run an SaaS platform. Create a journey from:

Landing page → 2. Pricing page → 3. Signup → 4. Onboarding

The report shows:

How many visitors took this exact path
Where people diverged from the path
Which alternative routes they took instead
Drop-off rates at each step

This reveals friction. If 1,000 people view your pricing page but only 50 start signup, something’s wrong. Is the pricing confusing? The CTA unclear? The signup form too long? Journey reports highlight where to investigate.

You can customize:

Number of steps (3 to 7)
Starting page/event
Ending page/event
Date range
Segments (mobile vs. desktop, by country, by source)

Retention Report: Measuring Stickiness

How often do visitors return? The Retention report tracks this.

Common insights:

“We have 10,000 visitors, but only 5% come back”
“Day-7 retention is 40%—our onboarding needs work”
“Mobile users return 3x less than desktop users”

Use retention data to:

Validate product/content quality
Measure onboarding effectiveness
Identify user churn triggers
Compare different cohorts (mobile vs. desktop, new vs. returning)

Funnel Report: Tracking Conversion Sequences

Funnels are sequential processes you want to measure:

E-commerce funnel:

Browse products (1,000 users)
Add to cart (600 users – 60% drop-off)
Start checkout (400 users – 33% drop-off)
Complete purchase (360 users – 10% drop-off)

The funnel reveals exactly where you lose people. The biggest drop is at step 2 (adding to cart). This suggests something wrong with the product pages or add-to-cart experience.

Funnels are fully customizable and can include any pages or events. You can build multiple funnels for different user flows.

Insights Report: Segmentation and Filtering

Deep-dive into specific slices of your data:

Compare “Desktop users in US” vs. “Mobile users in EU”
See how a specific traffic source performs across different pages
Analyze behavior by browser or OS
Create custom cohorts based on events

Pricing Models: Cloud vs. Self-Hosted

Umami offers flexibility in how you use it.

Umami Cloud (SaaS Pricing)

Official Umami cloud hosting:

Plan	Monthly Events	Websites	Data Retention	Cost	Best For
Hobby	10K	3	6 months	FREE	Personal blogs, tests
Basic	100K	50	2 years	$9/mo	Small sites, startups
Pro	1M	Unlimited	7 years	$49/mo	Growing businesses
Enterprise	Custom	Unlimited	Custom	Custom	Agencies, large organizations

What’s included in all plans:

Unlimited team members
Email support
CSV exports
Real-time dashboard
Custom events and goals
All reports

Notes:

Events are the main usage metric (each page view = 1 event)
10K events/month ≈ 3,000-5,000 visitors depending on pages per visit
Can add events à la carte ($5 per 100K for Basic, $20 per 500K for Pro)
Annual billing gets 2 months free

Self-Hosted Umami (Open Source)

Completely free if you self-host. You only pay for server costs:

Server Type	Monthly Cost	Suitable For
Shared hosting	$2–5	Low-traffic sites
Cheap VPS	$3–6	Small to medium sites
Mid-tier VPS	$10–20	High-traffic sites
Managed hosting	$15–50	Full hands-off approach

Umami is lightweight and doesn’t need much—even a $3/month VPS can handle 100K+ monthly visits.

Self-hosting pros:

No subscription costs
Full data control and privacy
Unlimited events/sites
Can customize code if needed

Self-hosting cons:

You manage infrastructure
You handle security updates
No SLA/guaranteed uptime
Requires basic technical skills

Setting Up Umami: Cloud vs. Self-Hosted

Cloud Setup (5 minutes)

Go to umami.is and sign up
Create an account with email/password
Add your website domain
Copy the tracking script:

xml<script defer src="https://cloud.umami.is/script.js" data-website-id="YOUR_ID"></script>

Paste into your site’s <head> before </head>
Verify installation (dashboard shows “Active” status)

Done. Tracking starts immediately.

Self-Hosted Setup (Docker, 20 minutes)

Requirements: A Linux VPS or server with Docker installed. For more detailed deployment instructions, see step-by-step guide to Docker Compose deployment

Step 1: Create docker-compose.yml

textversion: "3"
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: umami
      POSTGRES_USER: umami
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: your_secure_password_here
    volumes:
      - umami-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped

  umami:
    image: ghcr.io/umami-software/umami:postgresql-latest
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://umami:your_secure_password_here@postgres:5432/umami
      DATABASE_TYPE: postgresql
      APP_SECRET: $(openssl rand -base64 32)
    depends_on:
      - postgres
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    restart: unless-stopped

Step 2: Launch with Docker

bashdocker-compose up -d

Step 3: Access Dashboard

Visit http://your-server-ip:3000 and log in with default credentials (admin/umami).

Step 4: Add Your Website

In the dashboard, click Add website, enter your domain, and copy the tracking code (same format as cloud).

Step 5: Set Up Custom Domain (Optional)

Use Caddy or Nginx as a reverse proxy to access Umami at your domain:

texthttps://analytics.yourdomain.com

Configuration is straightforward; documentation is excellent.

Event Tracking Mastery: Practical Examples

Events are the difference between “I know I had 1,000 visitors” and “I know 50 users started my free trial, 30 completed onboarding, and 12 upgraded to paid.”

Track the entire onboarding process:

xml<!-- On landing page -->
<button data-umami-event="Clicked sign-up CTA" data-umami-event-source="landing">
  Start Free Trial
</button>

<!-- On signup form -->
<input type="email" data-umami-event="Email entered" />
<button data-umami-event="Form submitted" data-umami-event-form="signup" />

<!-- On confirmation page -->
<div data-umami-event="Email verified" data-umami-event-email="true">
  Verification complete
</div>

<!-- After user adds first project -->
<script>
  umami.track('First project added', { 
    project_type: 'web', 
    user_id: 'abc123' 
  });
</script>

Now create a funnel:

“Clicked sign-up CTA” → 2. “Form submitted” → 3. “Email verified” → 4. “First project added”

The dashboard shows exactly where sign-ups are lost.

Example 2: E-Commerce Product Interaction

xml<!-- Product page -->
<button data-umami-event="Product viewed" 
        data-umami-event-product-id="SKU123"
        data-umami-event-price="99.99">
  View Details
</button>

<!-- Add to cart -->
<button data-umami-event="Added to cart"
        data-umami-event-product="Winter Jacket"
        data-umami-event-price="99.99"
        data-umami-event-quantity="1">
  Add to Cart
</button>

<!-- Checkout completion -->
<script>
  umami.track('Purchase', {
    order_value: 299.97,
    items: 3,
    coupon: 'SAVE20'
  });
</script>

Create goals for each event to track conversion rates and revenue impact.

Example 3: Content Engagement

xml<!-- Video player -->
<video data-umami-event="Video played" 
       data-umami-event-video-id="abc" 
       data-umami-event-duration="120">
</video>

<!-- Article read tracking -->
<script>
  // Scroll depth tracking
  window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
    const scrollPercent = (window.scrollY / document.body.scrollHeight) * 100;
    if (scrollPercent > 50) {
      umami.track('Article 50% read', { article_id: '12345' });
    }
  });

  // Time on page
  setTimeout(() => {
    umami.track('Article engaged', { time_on_page: 180 }); // 3 minutes
  }, 180000);
</script>

<!-- Newsletter signup -->
<button data-umami-event="Newsletter signup" 
        data-umami-event-location="article-bottom">
  Subscribe
</button>

Track which content drives engagement, signups, and repeat visits.

Comparing Umami vs. Alternatives

Umami vs. Google Analytics

Feature	Umami	GA4
Setup time	2 minutes	20+ minutes
Learning curve	5 minutes	2+ weeks
Privacy focus	Built-in	Afterthought
Compliance	GDPR-first	Requires work
Cookie banner	Not needed	Required by law
Script size	Minimal	~70 KB
Cost	$9–49/mo or free	Free (surveillance)
Data ownership	100% yours	Google’s advertising
Reports quality	Focused/essential	Overwhelming
Journey mapping	Yes (visual)	Yes (complex)
Self-hosting	Yes (free)	No

Winner for: Privacy-conscious site owners, developers, those who want simplicity

Umami vs. Plausible

Feature	Umami	Plausible
Simplicity	Simple	Simpler
Features	More options	Minimal
Self-hosting	Free, unlimited	Free, limited
Cloud pricing	$9–49/mo	$9–69/mo
Custom events	Yes, flexible	Yes, but fewer
Reports depth	Detailed	Streamlined
WordPress plugin	Community-built	Official
E-commerce	Manual setup	WooCommerce native
User journeys	Visual/interactive	Not available

Winner for: Umami excels if you need custom events and journey mapping. Plausible if you want maximum simplicity

Real-World Use Cases

Freelancer Running a Tech Blog

Umami (free self-hosted) tracks which articles drive traffic, newsletter signups, and affiliate link clicks. Events track newsletter CTAs and download conversions. Dashboard shows 100-line blog gets 5,000 visitors/month from Google organic. Revenue potential is clear.

SaaS Startup (Plausible, Umami)

Both tools track free trial signups, onboarding completion, and feature adoption. Umami’s journey report reveals that users who complete the “Connect integrations” step have 40% higher retention. The team optimizes onboarding around this insight.

E-Commerce Store

Self-hosted Umami tracks products viewed, cart abandonment, and purchase value. Filtering by traffic source shows email campaigns convert at 8%, while Google Ads at 2%. Budget shifts to email.

Agency Managing 50 Websites

Umami cloud scales easily. Create dashboards for each client, invite team members per website, and generate CSV reports for weekly client emails. Funnels highlight which client sites have UX issues.

Multi-Language Support

Umami supports 20+ languages including:

English, Spanish, French, German, Italian
Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech
Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Korean
Arabic, Persian, Hindi
And more…

Simply click the globe icon in the header to switch languages. Perfect for international teams or selling to non-English-speaking audiences.

Team Collaboration and Permissions

Invite team members with granular permissions:

Owner: Full access to all settings
Editor: Can modify dashboards, goals, events
Viewer: Read-only access

Perfect for agencies, teams, or delegating analytics management.

Conclusion: The Right Time to Switch

Umami represents the future of web analytics: simple, private, and transparent. According to the analysis of GDPR-compliant solutions https://www.data-mania.com/blog/top-10-gdpr-compliant-google-analytics-alternative-solutions/. Whether you choose cloud or self-hosted, you get a tool built for modern web needs, not surveillance capitalism.

The decision is straightforward:

Tired of Google Analytics complexity? → Umami
Want full data control? → Self-host Umami
Need custom event tracking? → Umami (more flexible than Plausible)
Manage multiple sites? → Umami Cloud ($9/month for 50 sites + unlimited team)
Value your visitors’ privacy? → Umami (GDPR by design)

The 30-day free trial (cloud) or instant setup (self-hosted) costs nothing. One hour of switching saves months of frustration navigating GA4’s labyrinth.

Make the switch. Your dashboard will finally make sense.

Umami Analytics: Privacy-First Open-Source Analytics You Can Self-Host