How to Self-Host Plausible Analytics with Docker

What Is Plausible?

Plausible is a lightweight, privacy-friendly web analytics tool. It tracks page views, referrers, and top pages without cookies, making it GDPR-compliant out of the box. Plausible replaces Google Analytics for anyone who wants simple, accurate traffic data without the privacy baggage. The dashboard loads in under a second and shows everything on a single page.

Prerequisites

A Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+ recommended)
Docker and Docker Compose installed (guide)
2 GB of RAM minimum (ClickHouse needs memory)
A CPU with SSE 4.2 or NEON instruction support (required by ClickHouse)
A domain name pointed at your server (required for automatic SSL)

Docker Compose Configuration

Clone the official Community Edition repository:

git clone -b v3.2.0 --single-branch \
  https://github.com/plausible/community-edition plausible-ce
cd plausible-ce

Create a .env file:

# REQUIRED: Your Plausible instance URL (must match your actual domain)
BASE_URL=https://plausible.example.com

# REQUIRED: Secret key for session encryption (minimum 64 bytes)
# Generate with: openssl rand -base64 48
SECRET_KEY_BASE=change-me-generate-with-openssl-rand-base64-48

# Optional: TOTP vault key for 2FA (generate the same way)
# TOTP_VAULT_KEY=change-me-generate-with-openssl-rand-base64-32

# Optional: Disable registration after creating your account
# DISABLE_REGISTRATION=invite_only

# Optional: SMTP for email reports and alerts
# [email protected]
# SMTP_HOST_ADDR=mail.example.com
# SMTP_HOST_PORT=587
# [email protected]
# SMTP_USER_PWD=your-smtp-password
# SMTP_HOST_SSL_ENABLED=true

The repository includes a compose.yml with three services — Plausible, PostgreSQL, and ClickHouse. To expose ports, create a compose.override.yml:

services:
  plausible:
    ports:
      - 8000:8000

If you want Plausible to handle SSL automatically with Let’s Encrypt, expose ports 80 and 443 instead:

services:
  plausible:
    ports:
      - 80:80
      - 443:443

And add to your .env:

HTTP_PORT=80
HTTPS_PORT=443

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

The default compose.yml from the repository creates these services:

plausible — ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.0 — the analytics server
plausible_db — postgres:16-alpine — stores user accounts, sites, and goals
plausible_events_db — clickhouse/clickhouse-server:24.12-alpine — stores analytics events (page views, custom events)

Initial Setup

Open your Plausible instance at the BASE_URL you configured
Create the first user account — this becomes the admin
Add your first website by entering its domain
Copy the tracking script and add it to your website’s <head>:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.com"
  src="https://plausible.example.com/js/script.js"></script>

That single line is the entire tracking snippet. No cookies, no consent banners needed.

Configuration

Disable Public Registration

After creating your admin account, prevent others from signing up by adding to .env:

DISABLE_REGISTRATION=invite_only

Then restart:

docker compose restart plausible

You can still invite team members from the Plausible UI.

Google Search Console Integration

Plausible can import search query data from Google Search Console. In the Plausible UI, go to Site Settings > Search Console and follow the OAuth flow. This requires creating Google API credentials — see the Plausible docs for the full setup.

GeoIP Location Data

By default, Plausible shows country-level data using a built-in database. For city-level geolocation, configure MaxMind GeoLite2:

# Add to .env
MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY=your-maxmind-license-key
MAXMIND_EDITION=GeoLite2-City

Custom Events and Goals

Track button clicks, form submissions, or any custom interaction by adding JavaScript calls:

plausible('Signup', {props: {plan: 'premium'}});

Then create a matching goal in the Plausible UI under Site Settings > Goals.

Reverse Proxy

If running Plausible behind a reverse proxy like Nginx Proxy Manager or Traefik, expose port 8000 in your override:

services:
  plausible:
    ports:
      - 8000:8000

Set BASE_URL to your public domain (with https://) and let the reverse proxy handle SSL. Do not expose ports 80/443 in this setup — the reverse proxy manages those.

See Reverse Proxy Setup for the full configuration.

Backup

Three volumes matter for backup:

db-data — PostgreSQL data (user accounts, site configs, goals)
event-data — ClickHouse data (all analytics events)
plausible-data — Plausible application data

Back up all three:

docker compose stop
docker run --rm \
  -v plausible-ce_db-data:/data \
  -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/plausible-postgres-backup.tar.gz /data

docker run --rm \
  -v plausible-ce_event-data:/data \
  -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/plausible-clickhouse-backup.tar.gz /data

docker compose start

For ongoing backups, use PostgreSQL pg_dump and ClickHouse’s native backup tools without stopping services. See Backup Strategy.

Troubleshooting

ClickHouse fails to start

Symptom: plausible_events_db container exits immediately with instruction set errors.

Fix: ClickHouse requires SSE 4.2 (x86) or NEON (ARM) CPU instructions. Check with:

grep -o 'sse4_2' /proc/cpuinfo | head -1

If your CPU lacks SSE 4.2, you cannot run ClickHouse (and therefore Plausible) on this machine.

”Database connection refused” on startup

Symptom: Plausible container restarts repeatedly with connection errors.

Fix: The databases need time to initialize on first boot. Plausible depends on health checks, but if they timeout, restart the stack:

docker compose down && docker compose up -d

Tracking script not recording visits

Symptom: Dashboard shows zero visitors despite script being installed.

Fix:

Verify the script URL matches your BASE_URL exactly
Check browser developer console for blocked requests (ad blockers may block the script)
Ensure the data-domain attribute matches the site domain configured in Plausible
Test with curl -I https://plausible.example.com/js/script.js to verify the script is accessible

Let’s Encrypt certificate not issuing

Symptom: HTTPS not working, certificate errors in browser.

Fix: Ensure ports 80 and 443 are publicly accessible and your DNS A record points to the server. Let’s Encrypt requires HTTP challenge validation on port 80.

Resource Requirements

RAM: 1 GB idle, 2+ GB under moderate traffic (ClickHouse is the main consumer)
CPU: Low for small sites (<100K monthly). ClickHouse can spike during report generation.
Disk: 500 MB for the application. Analytics data grows ~1 GB per million page views stored.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Plausible uses no cookies and stores no personal data. It generates a daily-rotating hash from the visitor’s IP + User-Agent to count unique visitors without tracking individuals. This makes it GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant without consent banners.

What’s the difference between Plausible Cloud and Community Edition?

Plausible Cloud is the hosted SaaS version (paid). Community Edition is the self-hosted version — same analytics engine, free to run on your own infrastructure. The CE version is released periodically from the main codebase.

Can Plausible replace Google Analytics?

For most websites, yes. Plausible covers page views, referrers, top pages, geographic data, device/browser stats, UTM campaigns, and custom events. It does not offer the deep funnel analysis, audience segments, or e-commerce tracking that GA4 provides. If you need simple, privacy-respecting traffic data, Plausible is a better fit.

Verdict

Plausible is the best self-hosted analytics tool for most websites. It’s lightweight, privacy-friendly, and gives you 90% of the insights you actually look at in Google Analytics — on a single dashboard that loads instantly. The setup with Docker is straightforward thanks to the official Community Edition repo. The main limitations are the lack of advanced segmentation and e-commerce features. For product analytics or complex funnels, look at PostHog or Matomo. For simple traffic analytics, Plausible is the clear winner.

What Is Plausible?

Prerequisites

Docker Compose Configuration

Initial Setup

Configuration

Disable Public Registration

Google Search Console Integration

GeoIP Location Data

Custom Events and Goals

Reverse Proxy

Backup

Troubleshooting

ClickHouse fails to start

”Database connection refused” on startup

Tracking script not recording visits

Let’s Encrypt certificate not issuing

Resource Requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Plausible really cookie-free?

What’s the difference between Plausible Cloud and Community Edition?

Can Plausible replace Google Analytics?

Verdict

Related

Related Articles

How to Self-Host Umami Analytics with Docker

Self-Hosted Alternatives to Google Analytics

How to Self-Host Blocky with Docker

How to Self-Host Technitium DNS with Docker

How to Self-Host Portainer with Docker

How to Self-Host AdGuard Home with Docker

Get self-hosting tips in your inbox