Matomo vs Google Analytics: how to choose
Matomo or Google Analytics? Hosting, cookies, consent, features and cost compared point by point, with a third option hosted in France for PHP sites.
Recorded on November 4, 2026
We publish Quiet Metrics, which is neither of the two: we present it at the end, and we say when it does not fit. Everything written here about Matomo and Google Analytics comes from their own published pages, and from the French regulator, the CNIL, for the consent rules. Sources are dated at the bottom.
At a glance
| Matomo | Google Analytics 4 | Quiet Metrics | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Free software (GPL v3), in the cloud or on your server | Proprietary Google service | Hosted service; PHP packages under the MIT licence |
| Entry level | Free Community edition, which you install yourself | Free | Free tier; paid plans at commercial launch |
| Where data lives | Frankfurt for Matomo Cloud, or your own server | Collected in the EU for European visitors, processing possible in any country where Google has facilities | France, at OVH |
| Default cookies | _pk_id (13 months), _pk_ses (30 minutes), _pk_ref (6 months), can be turned off |
_ga and _ga_<id>, two years |
No identifying or tracking cookies; a ten-minute visit continuity cookie with no identifier |
| Without consent in France | Possible according to Matomo, with a strict setup | Consent mode: reduced pings and modelling when the visitor declines | Depends on your setup |
| Google Analytics history | Free import plugin for the self-hosted edition | Not applicable | No import |
| Beyond audience | Tag manager, heatmaps, session recordings, A/B testing, ecommerce | Explorations, funnels, Google Ads link, modelling | Goals and campaigns, no behavioural analysis |
| What you maintain | Nothing in the cloud; otherwise a web server, PHP and MySQL or MariaDB | Nothing | Nothing |
| SEO issues ranked by your traffic | Not announced; paid plugin: keywords and crawl errors imported from search engines | Not announced; Search Console link | Yes: built-in crawler, ranked by each page's views and conversions |
Google Analytics 4 in brief
GA4 is Google's free analytics service. Its strength is integration: Google Ads, Search Console, and models that estimate what declined consent removed. It is an analyst's tool: powerful, and slow to learn.
The trade-off is well known. Two cookies distinguish your visitors for two years by default. Detailed data is kept for two or fourteen months on a standard property, aggregated reports excepted. And Google's data processing terms allow it to process data in any country where it or its subprocessors have facilities.
Matomo in brief
Matomo is free software under GPL v3, installed on your server or rented in the cloud, hosted in Frankfurt. Its strength is feature coverage, and it is the only one of the two that lets you choose where your data lives. Matomo also says it does not sample data; that is its own claim, and we have not measured it.
The trade-off: cookies set by default, which you can turn off at the cost of recognising returning visitors less reliably; a server to run if you self-host; and advanced features sold as plugins or bundles.
Hosting and transfers
For European visitors, Google says data is collected by servers located in the European Union, that the IP address is used for geolocation and then dropped, and that traffic is then forwarded to Analytics servers for processing. Its data processing terms, which cover Google Analytics, rely on standard contractual clauses or another transfer mechanism. The transfer therefore stays on your record of processing.
With Matomo Cloud, data is stored in Frankfurt; with the self-hosted edition, wherever your server is. The CNIL asks site publishers to watch for transfers outside the European Union made by their provider.
Cookies and consent: what the CNIL says
The CNIL exempts some audience measurement trackers from consent, under precise conditions: a purpose strictly limited to measuring the site's audience, no global tracking of browsing, a thirteen-month tracker lifetime and twenty-five months of retention at most. An offer whose provider reuses the data for its own purposes falls outside the exemption. No solution can call itself "certified" by the CNIL: there is only a self-assessment tool.
On Matomo's side, the publisher documents how to run it without consent in France, provided the terms of the exemption are strictly followed: anonymised IP addresses and referrers, personal data removed from URLs, no user ID, a single site, and an opt-out offered to visitors.
On Google's side, consent mode adapts tags to the visitor's choice. When the visitor declines, no cookie is set, reduced pings are still sent, and Google uses them to model missing conversions. Consent mode reads the result of your banner; it does not replace it.
On this point, Matomo gives a French site more levers, provided you do the configuration and keep it up.
The real cost
Google Analytics is free. Its cost lies elsewhere: the banner, documenting transfers, and the expertise to read the tool.
Matomo's Community edition is free, with no time limit. Its cost is the server: for Matomo 6, PHP 8.1 and MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6 at minimum, plus security updates. Matomo Cloud is a subscription that depends on traffic.
Moving from Google Analytics to Matomo
Matomo offers a free plugin, Google Analytics Importer, for the self-hosted edition and for Matomo for WordPress. Run both tools side by side for a few weeks before switching GA4 off: your own figures are what you will judge on.
A third option: server-side measurement
Matomo and Google Analytics measure from the browser first, and what the browser loads, the browser can block. Matomo also offers server-side methods, its HTTP Tracking API and log analytics, which you set up yourself.
Quiet Metrics starts from that path. Our Composer packages send measurement from your application: the Laravel middleware and the Symfony bundle send each pageview after the response has gone out, and the plain PHP SDK sends it during the request, within a 400 ms budget by default. Measurement data is hosted in France, at OVH SAS. Our DPA also names Laravel Forge, in the United States, which administers the server: technical access, with no data hosted, under standard contractual clauses. Our counting method is published on how we count.
What we do not do: no GA4 history import, no funnels, no heatmaps. And we do not decide for you whether consent is required.
Which one to choose
Google Analytics, if you buy advertising from Google, a team reads the explorations, and the consent banner is accepted in your organisation.
Matomo Cloud, if you want its feature coverage, data in Germany and no server to run.
Self-hosted Matomo, if controlling the infrastructure is a requirement, someone maintains it, and you aim for the CNIL exemption with a documented setup.
Quiet Metrics, if your site runs on PHP, ad blockers cost you visits, and you want a readable dashboard without a server to maintain. The details are on Matomo alternative and Google Analytics alternative.
For a lightweight browser tool, see Umami vs Plausible, and all our comparisons.
Frequently asked questions
Is Matomo more GDPR compliant than Google Analytics?
No tool is compliant in itself: your processing is. Matomo gives you more levers: a choice of hosting location, cookies you can turn off, and a published setup for the CNIL exemption. With Google Analytics, you document the transfers its terms allow and collect consent where it is required.
Can Matomo run without a cookie banner?
In France, Matomo says yes, if it is configured in strict compliance with the CNIL exemption. The CNIL certifies no solution: the configuration remains your responsibility.
Can you import Google Analytics data into Matomo?
Yes, with the free Google Analytics Importer plugin. Quiet Metrics does not import GA4 history: the definitions differ, and a merged curve would be wrong.
Is Google Analytics banned in France?
The CNIL publishes no list of allowed or banned tools. It sets exemption conditions, excludes offers whose provider reuses data for its own purposes, and asks publishers to check transfers outside the European Union. Your configuration is assessed, not the name of the tool.
Which one counts more visitors?
Neither counts everyone. GA4 loses declined consent and models it. Matomo, with cookies off, recognises returning visitors less reliably. In JavaScript, both lose browsers that block the script, a gap that server-side measurement removes.
Sources and verification date
Recorded on 4 November 2026 from pages published by Matomo:
- Pricing: Frankfurt, free Community edition, premium plugins.
- Licences: GPL v3 or later.
- Server requirements: PHP, MySQL and MariaDB versions.
- List of cookies and turning them off.
- Matomo without consent: conditions and settings by country.
- Google Analytics Importer: free import.
- Matomo vs Google Analytics: the publisher's own presentation.
Recorded the same day from pages published by Google:
- Cookies, EU data collection, data retention, consent mode.
- Data processing terms and services covered, Google Analytics included.
- Google Analytics: free service.
And from the CNIL: solutions for audience measurement tools (in French).
Checked on 4 November 2026, for SEO health:
- Search Engine Keywords Performance: paid plugin, keywords and crawl data imported.
- Search Console link: queries and landing pages.
We copy no prices: a copied figure goes stale without warning.
Matomo is a trademark of its publisher, Google Analytics a trademark of Google LLC. This comparison is made independently of both, from public information.