PlainSignal

Analytics and signal tooling for product observability and user behavior insights.

Overview

PlainSignal is a privacy-focused analytics platform designed as a lightweight alternative to Google Analytics. It operates without cookies or PII data collection, making it compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR regulations. The tracking script is over 100x smaller and 10x faster than Google Analytics 4.

The platform offers a single-page dashboard for easy data exploration, with features including UTM campaign tracking, web vitals monitoring, and flexible filtering by date, page, country, device, and browser. Users maintain full data ownership and can export analytics in CSV format or delete data at any time.

PlainSignal includes access control for team collaboration, support for multiple websites, and a choice of data center locations (US/EU) on higher-tier plans. Setup is straightforward with a lightweight ~2KB script.

Key features

Cookie-free tracking
GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliant
Web vitals monitoring
UTM campaign tracking
Data export and deletion
Access control and user roles
Multiple website support
EU hosted option

Pros

No cookies or PII collection
Lightweight script (~2KB)
Fast load times
Full data ownership
Simple single-page dashboard
Flexible access control
Ecommerce revenue reports

Cons

Limited free tier (14-day trial only)
Smaller feature set compared to Google Analytics
Pay-as-you-grow pricing may add costs
Data retention limited to 2-5 years depending on plan

Use this if

You need privacy-compliant analytics without cookies, want to reduce tracking script overhead, or require GDPR/CCPA compliance for EU or regulated markets.

Skip this if

You need advanced analytics features comparable to Google Analytics 4, require unlimited historical data retention, or prefer a fully free analytics solution.

Best for

Privacy-conscious website ownersGDPR-compliant analytics needsTeams wanting lightweight trackingMulti-site analytics managementEcommerce revenue tracking

Alternatives

Google Analytics 4Plausible AnalyticsFathom AnalyticsMatomoMixpanel

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