Google Analytics 4 sets cookies, so websites serving visitors in the EU and UK need consent before it runs, and Consent Mode doesn’t remove the banner. Cookieless tools count visits without storing anything on the visitor’s device, which is why most can run without an analytics banner.
The cheapest options are Cloudflare Web Analytics (free, no limits published) and Umami (free up to 100,000 events a month). Plausible costs $9 a month for 10,000 pageviews, and Fathom $15 for 100,000 across 50 sites. The catch: dropping the banner only works if nothing else on the page, such as ads, YouTube embeds or a heatmap tool, needs consent.
Key Takeaways
Why GA4 Needs a Banner and These Don’t
The EU’s ePrivacy rules require consent before a site stores or reads information on a visitor’s device, unless it’s strictly necessary. GA4 sets cookies such as _ga, so it falls under that rule. In advanced mode, Google’s Consent Mode lets GA4 send cookieless pings before a visitor agrees, but you still need the banner to ask.
Cookieless tools avoid device storage altogether. Plausible, for example, creates a daily identifier from a hash of the site, IP address and browser string, using a salt that is “rotated and deleted every 24 hours,” and says raw IP addresses are never stored. The same visitor becomes a new visitor the next day, so nobody is tracked across days or sites.
One caution: the European Data Protection Board’s guidelines on the scope of Article 5(3), adopted in October 2024, say the rule isn’t limited to cookies and can cover pixels, tracking links and other techniques. A tool that avoids cookies but fingerprints devices could still need consent. Before choosing, check how each vendor says it identifies visitors.
Quick Comparison of Cookieless Analytics
| Tool | Free option | Paid from | Cookies by default | Hosting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plausible | 30-day trial; free self-hosting | $9/month (10,000 pageviews) | No | EU cloud or self-hosted |
| Fathom | 7-day trial, card required | $15/month (100,000 pageviews, 50 sites) | No | Cloud |
| Simple Analytics | Free hobby plan (badge, 1 month history) | €20/month (100,000 pageviews) | No | EU cloud |
| Umami | Free Hobby (100,000 events, 1 site); free self-hosting | $20/month Pro | No | Cloud or self-hosted |
| Cloudflare Web Analytics | Free | None | No | Cloudflare |
| Matomo | Free self-hosted Community | 29/month Cloud (50,000 hits, billing currency) | Yes, can be disabled | Cloud or self-hosted |
Prices from each vendor’s pricing page, checked October 2026, before tax.
1. Plausible Analytics
Best for: Publishers, blogs and small SaaS sites that want one clear dashboard and goal tracking.
Plausible shows visitors, sources, top pages, goals and funnels on a single page, from a script under 1 KB. Unique visitors are counted with the daily rotating hash described above, and Plausible states that its users “do not need cookie banners for analytics.” It’s open source, so you can host it yourself for free. Funnels, API access and longer retention sit on higher plans.
Pricing: $9/month for one site and 10,000 pageviews.
2. Fathom Analytics
Best for: Agencies and freelancers tracking many client sites.
Fathom’s entry plan covers 50 sites and 100,000 combined pageviews, and every plan has the same features, so the bill only grows with traffic. It collects no cookies or personal data. Custom events count towards the pageview allowance, and there is no free plan.
Pricing: $15/month or $150/year; extra packs of 50 sites $10/month.
3. Simple Analytics
Best for: EU businesses that want EU hosting and a free starting point.
Simple Analytics is a Dutch service with a one-page dashboard and no cookies or fingerprinting. The free hobby plan keeps only one month of history and shows a badge. The paid plan includes one user, and each extra user costs €20 a month, which adds up for teams.
Pricing: Free hobby plan; paid from €20/month at 100,000 pageviews.
4. Umami
Best for: Small sites and developers who want free cloud analytics or full self-hosting.
Umami’s free Hobby cloud plan allows 100,000 events a month on one site with six months of retention, which covers most small blogs. It’s open source and cookieless, and the self-hosted version is free if you run your own server. Pro adds more sites, team access and the API. Session replay and heatmaps only arrive on Business, at $200 a month.
Pricing: Free Hobby; Pro $20/month, with usage above the allowance billed at $0.00003 per event.
5. Cloudflare Web Analytics
Best for: Anyone who wants basic traffic numbers for free.
Cloudflare’s tool is free and, according to Cloudflare, “does not use any client-side state, such as cookies or localStorage” and doesn’t fingerprint visitors. It works with a JavaScript snippet even if your site isn’t on Cloudflare’s network. It shows page views, visits, referrers, countries and Core Web Vitals, but goals and conversion tracking are limited compared with Plausible or Umami.
Pricing: Free.
6. Matomo
Best for: Organisations that need GA-style depth, ecommerce tracking or full data ownership.
Matomo is the closest feature match to GA4, with ecommerce, segments, goals and custom reports. It does set cookies by default, so you need to configure it. You can turn cookies off entirely, or follow France’s CNIL exemption conditions: audience measurement only, a single site, no cross-checking with other data, the last byte of IP addresses truncated, and trackers lasting no more than 13 months. CNIL notes that most large analytics products don’t qualify “regardless of their configuration,” and points to self-configurable tools like Matomo.
Pricing: Cloud from 29/month (50,000 hits, currency set at checkout); self-hosted Community is free, plus your server costs.
What You Lose by Leaving GA4
| GA4 feature | Cookieless tools |
|---|---|
| Free at any traffic level | Only Cloudflare and Umami Hobby are free; others charge by traffic |
| User-level journeys and cohorts | Aggregate totals only |
| Google Ads audiences and remarketing | Not available |
| Cross-device tracking | Not available |
| Search Console integration | Plausible imports Search Console data; others vary |
| Demographics and interests | Not available |
If you run Google Ads and depend on remarketing, a cookieless tool can sit alongside GA4 rather than replace it, but then you still need the banner for GA4.
When You Still Need a Cookie Banner
Removing GA4 only removes the banner if nothing else needs consent. Check your pages for:
- Ad networks and affiliate pixels.
- YouTube, Vimeo or social media embeds (use privacy-enhanced or click-to-load modes).
- Heatmap and session recording tools like Microsoft Clarity, which sets its own cookies.
- Product analytics such as PostHog, unless set up without cookies.
- Live chat widgets and marketing tags.
- Visitor identification scripts, which link visits to companies or people; our guide to website visitor identification tools covers their consent rules.
You also still need a privacy policy that names the analytics provider, and some tools ask you to offer an opt-out.
How to Switch Without Losing Data
- Install the new tool alongside GA4 and run both for a month.
- Compare totals and trends, not exact numbers.
- Recreate your key goals and events before removing GA4.
- Export the GA4 reports you’ll want to look back at.
- Remove GA4 and any banner categories you no longer need.
- Update your privacy policy with the new provider.
