Matomo
Web analytics with an option to operate the collection and reporting system yourself. The useful choice depends on what you measure and who maintains it.
- Evidence
- Used by us
- Model
- Open source
- License / terms
- GPLv3 or later for core
Use it to answer a measurement question.
Matomo is a web analytics platform with self-hosted software and a hosted Cloud option. Its core is released under GPLv3 or later. Matomo source and license.
Our operating records document Matomo use. This profile is not a new benchmark or a claim that every installation has been privacy-audited.
Decide what a report should change.
For a technical resource site, useful questions include whether visitors reach a relevant application page and whether an inquiry completes. Counting every interaction creates more data without necessarily producing a better decision.
Write the event definition before adding tracking. Distinguish a button click from a completed form and a completed form from a useful business inquiry.
Self-hosting adds real jobs.
Your team must operate the server, database, updates, scheduled processing and backups. Keep enough capacity and retention planning for the way you actually collect data. Managed hosting can change who does that work; it does not remove the need to assign it.
Budget infrastructure, maintenance and any paid features separately. Check the edition and extension terms for the features you need rather than treating “open source” as a claim that every add-on costs nothing.
Configuration carries the privacy decision.
First-party hosting gives you more direct control over storage. It does not automatically make every collection choice appropriate. Review identifiers, URLs, form data, retention, permissions and any recording features before enabling them.
Avoid sending private form answers or sensitive query parameters into analytics. Set the measurement plan to collect the minimum needed for the decision.
Where it fits.
Consider Matomo when ownership of analytics infrastructure or data location matters and the operating work has an owner. A simpler aggregate reporting tool may be a better fit when the only question is which pages people read. A managed analytics service may fit when the team cannot maintain another application.
A good evaluation follows one test journey through collection, reporting and deletion. The marketing-stack guide puts that journey in context.
Sources and further reading
Primary documentation checked September 14, 2026. Product behavior and terms can change; follow the source for current details.
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