Plausible Analytics
Sprout Social
| Feature | Plausible Analytics | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $9/mo | From $249/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | privacy-conscious-businesses, bloggers, developers, eu-businesses | enterprise, agencies, marketing-teams, brand-managers |
| Founded | 2019 | 2010 |
| Pageviews | ✓ | ✗ |
| Referrers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Goals | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Events | ✓ | ✗ |
| Utm Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Publishing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Social Inbox | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Social Listening | ✗ | ✓ |
| Advocacy | ✗ | ✓ |
| Chatbots | ✗ | ✓ |
| Review Management | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Plausible Analytics Pros
- No cookies — GDPR compliant without consent banner
- Script is under 1KB (vs GA's 45KB)
- Open-source and transparent
- Simple dashboard — no overwhelming data
✗ Plausible Analytics Cons
- Less detailed than Google Analytics
- No free tier (but affordable)
- Limited segmentation and custom reports
✓ Sprout Social Pros
- Best-in-class social analytics and reporting
- Unified inbox across all platforms
- Social listening for brand monitoring
- Excellent customer support
✗ Sprout Social Cons
- Very expensive — starts at $249/month
- Additional profiles cost extra
- Overkill for small businesses
The Verdict
Plausible Analytics is built for privacy conscious businesses and bloggers, with a focus on pageviews and referrers. Sprout Social targets enterprise and agencies and leads with publishing and social-inbox.
On pricing, Plausible Analytics is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $9/mo compared to $249/mo for Sprout Social. That $240/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.