---
title: "Deploy Plausible WordPress"
description: "Cookie-free WordPress stats from your own Plausible"
category: "Analytics"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-plausible-for-wordpress-sites
---

# Deploy Plausible WordPress

Cookie-free WordPress stats from your own Plausible

**[Deploy Plausible WordPress on Railway](https://railway.com/template/deploy-plausible-for-wordpress-sites)**

Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-plausible-for-wordpress-sites/manifest.json

- **Creator:** onepush
- **Category:** Analytics

## Template content

### plausible

- **Image:** ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.1
- **Start command:** `sh -c "/entrypoint.sh db createdb && /entrypoint.sh db migrate && /entrypoint.sh run"`
- **Health check:** /api/health
- **Public domain:** Yes

### ClickHouse

- **Image:** clickhouse/clickhouse-server:24.12-alpine

### Postgres https://devicons.railway.app/i/postgresql.svg

- **Image:** ghcr.io/railwayapp-templates/postgres-ssl:18

## Documentation

# Deploy and Host self hosted Plausible WordPress (Open-Source Cookie-Free Analytics for WordPress) on Railway

Plausible WordPress runs Plausible Community Edition on Railway so your WordPress sites can report cookie-free stats without a consent banner.

## About Hosting Plausible WordPress open-source software on Railway (self hosted Plausible for WordPress sites template)

Running your own Plausible means the visitor data for your WordPress sites stays on infrastructure you control, not on a third party's servers.

## Why Deploy Plausible WordPress, the Google Analytics alternative on Railway (Railway Free Trial)

Google Analytics is free but uses cookies and sends visitor data to Google, so many EU WordPress sites need a consent banner.

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Plausible WordPress on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.

### Railway vs Other Hosting Providers and VPS for Plausible WordPress self hosting

Railway runs the Plausible app, Postgres and ClickHouse as linked services, while a VPS leaves assembly and upkeep to you.

| Provider | What You Get with Railway | What You Get with the Other Provider |
|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | Three linked services from one template, with a public HTTPS domain. | A droplet you size, where you install Docker, handle TLS and back up both databases. |
| AWS | Managed deployment with no VPC or IAM setup before the dashboard loads. | Full networking control, with more setup for EC2, storage and billing. |
| Hetzner | Domain and service wiring handled, so no SSH or certificate renewal. | Low cost per gigabyte of RAM for ClickHouse, but you run updates and backups. |

Choose Railway for a quick start, or a VPS if you want the lowest long-term cost and can operate it.

## Common Use Cases for hosted Plausible WordPress

- **Blogs that want to skip the cookie banner:** Plausible sets no cookies and collects no personal data, so a WordPress blog can drop the consent popup it only needed for Google Analytics. Local law still applies, so check your own situation.
- **WooCommerce revenue goals:** The plugin's one-click option records WooCommerce purchases, so you can see which pages and sources bring in orders without writing custom code.
- **Tracking 404s and outbound links:** Turn on the 404 and outbound link options to find broken URLs and see where visitors leave for other sites, straight from the plugin settings.
- **A stats widget for clients inside wp-admin:** Share a Plausible dashboard link and add the WordPress dashboard widget so a client sees their traffic without logging into a separate analytics tool.
- **Multisite networks:** Run one shared dashboard filtered by hostname for the whole network, or give each site its own Plausible site if you need separate reporting.

## Dependencies for Plausible WordPress Docker hosted on Railway

Plausible WordPress runs as three Railway services: the Plausible Community Edition app, a Postgres database for users, sites and goals, and a ClickHouse server that stores every event.

### Deployment Dependencies for Managed Plausible WordPress Service (WordPress Analytics)

- **Plausible service:** image ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.1, port 8000, public HTTPS domain, volume /var/lib/plausible.
- **Postgres:** Railway Postgres, referenced through DATABASE_URL.
- **ClickHouse:** clickhouse/clickhouse-server:24.12-alpine, volume /var/lib/clickhouse, database plausible_events_db.
- **Email (optional):** SMTP settings such as MAILER_EMAIL and SMTP_HOST_ADDR. Without it, invites and password resets will not arrive.

### Implementation Details for Plausible WordPress (Using Plausible CE official docker image)

The app sets BASE_URL to https://${{RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN}}, plus SECRET_KEY_BASE and TOTP_VAULT_KEY. ClickHouse is reached over HTTP on port 8123.

## How does Plausible WordPress compare against other analytics options for WordPress

### Plausible vs Google Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative)

- **Cookies and consent:** Plausible sets no cookies and collects no personal data, so you usually skip the consent banner. GA4 uses cookies, so EU sites typically need one.
- **Data ownership:** Your Plausible CE stack keeps events on your own Postgres and ClickHouse. GA4 sends visitor data to Google.
- **Depth:** Google wins on funnels, audiences and Ads integration, which Plausible does not try to match.

### Plausible vs Jetpack Stats (Jetpack Stats Alternative)

- **Hosting model:** Jetpack Stats is hosted by Automattic and tied to a WordPress.com or Jetpack connection. Plausible CE runs on infrastructure you control.
- **Scope:** Jetpack Stats stays inside WordPress. Plausible covers any site you add, with goals and UTM campaigns.
- **Trade-off:** Jetpack Stats is simpler if you already run Jetpack. Plausible asks you to host the stack.

### Plausible vs Matomo (Matomo Alternative)

- **Feature breadth:** Matomo is a full GA-style suite with heatmaps and A/B testing, many of them paid premium plugins on-premise. Plausible keeps the dashboard to one page.
- **Stack weight:** Matomo runs on PHP and MySQL or MariaDB. Plausible CE uses Elixir, Postgres and ClickHouse, which needs more RAM.
- **Licensing:** Matomo is GPL-3.0 and Plausible CE is AGPL-3.0. Matomo wins if you need heatmaps out of the box.

### Plausible vs Site Kit by Google (Site Kit Alternative)

- **What it is:** Site Kit is a WordPress plugin that surfaces GA4 and Search Console inside wp-admin. It is a dashboard layer, not an analytics engine.
- **Data flow:** Site Kit still feeds numbers into Google. Plausible keeps events on your own stack.
- **Where Site Kit wins:** If you want Search Console data alongside Google reports, Site Kit gives you that for free.

## How to use Plausible WordPress (the OSS web analytics platform)?

Follow these steps on your first day after the deploy finishes. The plugin token takes the most care.

1. Log into your Railway Plausible instance with the owner account you created first.
2. Add the site in Plausible using the bare domain, such as yourdomain.com (no https or www).
3. In wp-admin, go to Plugins, Add New, and install Plausible Analytics.
4. Open Settings, then Plausible Analytics.
5. Switch on the self-hosted option and enter https://your-plausible-domain.
6. Enter the Domain Name exactly as you added it in Plausible.
7. Create a plugin token for the site in Plausible and paste it into Plugin Token.
8. Enable the goals you want, such as 404s or outbound links.
9. Open the site in a private window and watch Realtime in Plausible.

Without the plugin, paste this into your theme head:

```html

```

## How to self host Plausible WordPress on other VPS Services (Plausible CE self hosting guide)

### Clone the Repository

Clone the Plausible Community Edition repository at the pinned release tag.

```bash
git clone -b v3.2.1 --single-branch https://github.com/plausible/community-edition plausible-ce
cd plausible-ce
```

### Install Dependencies

You need Docker and the Compose plugin on a Linux VPS. ClickHouse requires a CPU with SSE 4.2 or NEON support, and at least 2 GB of RAM is recommended.

```bash
docker compose version
```

### Configure Environment Variables

Create a `.env` file with your public URL and a generated secret key. Keep the secret key stable after first boot, or sessions and encrypted data will break.

```bash
echo "BASE_URL=https://your-domain" > .env
echo "SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -base64 48)" >> .env
```

### Start the Plausible WordPress Application

Start the stack in the background, then open your domain and create the first user, who becomes the owner.

```bash
docker compose up -d
```

Railway handles the containers, private networking, HTTPS and persistent volumes for you, so none of these steps are needed there.

## Official Pricing of Plausible WordPress (Plausible CE pricing)

Plausible Community Edition is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, so there is no license fee to pay.

## Plausible WordPress cloud vs self hosted comparison (Pricing, features, costs, and more)

Self hosting Plausible CE trades a monthly subscription for a small server bill and some upkeep. Cloud is simpler and includes features CE lacks.

### Monthly cost of self hosting Plausible WordPress on Railway

On Railway you pay for three services: the Plausible app, Postgres and ClickHouse. Plausible Cloud starts at $9 per month for one site and rises with pageviews.

### System Requirements for Hosting Plausible WordPress on a VPS

Your CPU must support SSE 4.2 or NEON, which ClickHouse needs. Plan for at least 2 GB of RAM, since ClickHouse is the biggest memory consumer.

## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

### Do I need a cookie banner for WordPress with Plausible?

Plausible uses no cookies and collects no personal data, so the docs say you do not need a consent banner for Plausible itself.

### Does the Plausible plugin work with a self-hosted instance?

Yes. You still need a plugin token created for the site in Plausible.

### Why am I not seeing my own visits?

Logged-in administrators can be excluded from tracking, which is usually what you want.

### Does WooCommerce revenue tracking work with self-hosted Plausible?

Purchase tracking is a one-click goal option in the plugin.

### Why does tracking stop after I turn on a caching or optimisation plugin?

Plugins that defer, combine or delay JavaScript can strip the Plausible script.

### Can I use one Plausible dashboard across a WordPress multisite network?

Yes.


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