Why I Use Umami Instead of Google Analytics (And Don't Have a Cookie Banner)
When I was setting up analytics for my blog, Google Analytics seemed like the obvious choice. But once I looked at what it actually requires — a tracking script, a cookie consent banner, a cookie policy page, conditional script loading — it felt like way too much for a personal site that doesn't run ads or retargeting. So I went with Umami instead. It's open-source, self-hosted, and doesn't use…
In the process of setting up analytics for my personal blog, Google Analytics appeared as the default option. However, upon exploring its requirements, it became evident that the necessity for a tracking script, cookie consent banner, cookie policy page, and conditional script loading appeared excessive for a site without ads or retargeting.
Thus, I opted for Umami instead. This open-source, self-hosted analytics platform eschews cookies entirely and eschews a consent banner altogether, storing data exclusively on my own server.
The crux of the matter lies within the privacy implications of Google Analytics cookies and the associated consent procedures. Google Analytics establishes first-party tracking cookies (_ga, _ga_<container-id>) which necessitates a comprehensive cookie consent banner complying with GDPR guidelines, complete with category-by-category opt-ins.
Users who decline cookies, in turn, would not be tracked, leading to an incomplete dataset right from the onset. Your data resides on Google's servers, where it is processed for their own purposes as well. In this scenario, Google gains insight into your traffic patterns, while you receive a free analytics tool at the expense of user privacy.
Furthermore, the Google Analytics 4 (GA4) snippet loads between 90-135KB of JavaScript, while the dashboard is tailored for enterprise-level requirements, which is an overkill for a personal site focusing on basic metrics such as pageviews, referrers, and device stats.
Umami, on the other hand, stands as an open-source, self-hosted analytics solution offering the essential metrics without the privacy-related drawbacks. It substitutes cookies with a hash of IP, user agent, and website ID, ensuring no personal data is stored. The absence of a consent banner simplifies the user experience and ensures all visitors are tracked from the outset without any need to navigate through a consent popup.
The deployment process with Umami is straightforward, involving the use of Docker and PostgreSQL, and the tracking script weighs less than 2KB compared to GA's 90KB. Moreover, Umami presents a user-friendly dashboard displaying pageviews, unique visitors, bounce rate, session duration, referrers, browsers, OS, devices, and geo data all in one page.
Although there are trade-offs, such as the lack of cross-site tracking capabilities and Google Ads integration, self-hosting Umami entails managing software updates and database backups, a task that is relatively minimal.
In conclusion, for a personal site, blog, or small project, the benefits of Umami outweigh the drawbacks. The platform provides a clear, concise, and privacy-conscious analytics solution without the additional complexity and privacy concerns that come with Google Analytics.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
