Umami vs Clicky

A detailed comparison of Umami and Clicky — features, pricing, privacy compliance, and which tool is best for your use case.

Quick Summary

Umami and Clicky serve different positions in the analytics market. Umami is developers and technically capable teams who want to self-host a privacy-first analytics tool with minimal overhead and maximum cost efficiency. Umami is ideal for personal projects, developer portfolios, side projects, and small businesses where the person managing the website is also comfortable managing a Docker deployment and wants to avoid recurring subscription costs while still getting clean, privacy-compliant web analytics., while Clicky is small website owners and solo operators who value real-time visitor monitoring and want to see exactly who is on their site at any moment. Clicky is particularly useful for troubleshooting user issues in real time, monitoring the immediate impact of marketing campaigns, and maintaining situational awareness of site activity without the overhead or complexity of enterprise analytics platforms.. Umami operates without cookies, requiring no consent banners. Clicky also uses cookie-based tracking. Umami does not include AI capabilities, while Clicky relies on manual analysis. The right choice depends on your specific needs around privacy compliance, feature depth, pricing structure, and ease of use. For a privacy-first alternative with AI-powered actionable insights, cookie-free tracking, and a generous free tier, ActionLab Analytics offers a compelling option that combines the best aspects of modern web analytics.

Umami: Free (self-hosted) or 10K events/mo (cloud)|Clicky: Free — 1 site, 3,000 pageviews/day

Umami

Umami is an open-source web analytics tool designed as a simple, fast, privacy-respecting alternative to Google Analytics that you can self-host on your own infrastructure. The project started as a side project and has grown into a well-maintained platform with a clean, modern dashboard that displays visitors, page views, bounce rate, visit duration, referrer sources, browser and device data, and geographic location. Umami does not use cookies and does not collect personal information, making it compliant with privacy regulations without consent banners. The platform recently launched a cloud-hosted option alongside the traditional self-hosted deployment, offering a free tier of ten thousand events per month. Umami supports custom event tracking, UTM parameter collection, multiple website management from a single installation, and a shareable dashboard feature. The project is built with Next.js and can connect to either PostgreSQL or MySQL databases, making self-hosting straightforward for developers familiar with these technologies.

Best for: Developers and technically capable teams who want to self-host a privacy-first analytics tool with minimal overhead and maximum cost efficiency. Umami is ideal for personal projects, developer portfolios, side projects, and small businesses where the person managing the website is also comfortable managing a Docker deployment and wants to avoid recurring subscription costs while still getting clean, privacy-compliant web analytics.

Clicky

Clicky is one of the longest-running independent web analytics services, operating since 2006 with a focus on real-time visitor tracking and individual session analysis. Unlike most modern analytics tools that aggregate data into anonymous metrics, Clicky provides a visitor-level view where you can see exactly which pages each visitor viewed, how long they spent on each page, where they came from, and what actions they took. The platform includes heatmap functionality that visualizes where visitors click on your pages, uptime monitoring that alerts you when your site goes down, and real-time dashboards that update within seconds rather than the minutes or hours typical of larger platforms. Clicky offers a limited free tier for a single site with up to three thousand daily page views, making it accessible for small websites. The interface has a functional but dated design that prioritizes information density over modern aesthetics, which some users find efficient while others find cluttered and overwhelming.

Best for: Small website owners and solo operators who value real-time visitor monitoring and want to see exactly who is on their site at any moment. Clicky is particularly useful for troubleshooting user issues in real time, monitoring the immediate impact of marketing campaigns, and maintaining situational awareness of site activity without the overhead or complexity of enterprise analytics platforms.

Feature Comparison

Feature comparison between Umami and Clicky
Feature	Umami	Clicky
Cookie-free tracking	✓	✗
Requires consent banner	✓	✗
AI-powered insights	✗	✗
Open source	✓	✗
Script size	~2KB	~18KB
Custom event tracking	✓	✓
Funnel analysis	✓	✗
Real-time dashboard	✓	✓
Team management	✓	✗
REST API access	✓	✓
Free tier	Free (self-hosted) or 10K events/mo (cloud)	Free — 1 site, 3,000 pageviews/day
Paid plans	Cloud from $9/mo (100K events)	From $9.99/mo (Pro)

Where Umami Wins

Fully open source under the MIT license with self-hosting support, meaning you can run it indefinitely at zero software cost on your own servers.
Lightweight tracking script at approximately two kilobytes has minimal impact on page load performance, preserving good Core Web Vitals scores.
Clean, modern user interface built with Next.js provides a visually appealing dashboard that feels contemporary rather than dated.
No cookies or personal data collection ensures compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations without implementing consent banners.
The free self-hosted option makes Umami the most cost-effective analytics solution for developers willing to manage their own infrastructure.
Supports both PostgreSQL and MySQL databases for self-hosting, giving you flexibility to use whichever database your infrastructure already runs.

Where Clicky Wins

True real-time analytics with data appearing within seconds of a visitor action, making it one of the fastest analytics platforms for live monitoring.
Individual visitor tracking allows you to see the complete session journey of each visitor, useful for debugging issues, understanding user paths, and identifying VIP visitors.
Built-in heatmaps show where visitors click on each page, providing visual behavior data without requiring a separate tool like Hotjar or Crazy Egg.
Uptime monitoring included at no additional cost alerts you immediately when your website goes down, combining site monitoring with analytics in one tool.
The free tier allows small site owners to get started without any payment, supporting one site with up to three thousand daily page views.
Nearly two decades of continuous operation demonstrates reliability and sustainability as a business, reducing the risk of the service shutting down unexpectedly.

Consider ActionLab Analytics

Looking for a privacy-first alternative with AI-powered insights? ActionLab Analytics offers cookie-free tracking, real-time dashboards, and AI that tells you what to change — not just what happened. Start free with 100K events/month.

AI-powered actionable insights
No cookies or consent banners needed
Sub-2KB tracking script
Real-time dashboard
Full GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliance

In-Depth Analysis

Umami

Umami has carved out a meaningful niche as the developer-friendly self-hosted analytics option, particularly popular among personal projects, indie hackers, and engineering teams that want analytics without vendor dependency. The MIT license is more permissive than Plausible's AGPL, which appeals to organizations with concerns about copyleft licensing requirements. The technical implementation is clean and modern — built on Next.js with a polished UI that looks and feels contemporary. For developers who are already comfortable with Docker, PostgreSQL, and reverse proxies, getting Umami running is genuinely straightforward and the result is a fully functional analytics platform at zero ongoing software cost. The main question for potential Umami users is whether they need analytics to be more than a passive dashboard. Umami shows you data clearly, but it does not proactively surface insights, detect anomalies, or recommend actions. As analytics tools increasingly move toward intelligent analysis — using AI to identify what matters in your data without you having to look for it — Umami's traditional dashboard approach may feel limited for teams that want their analytics to be a strategic asset rather than a monitoring screen. The cloud offering addresses the self-hosting barrier but faces stiff pricing competition. At nine dollars per month for one hundred thousand events, Umami Cloud competes directly with Plausible and ActionLab, both of which offer more features at similar price points. The ten-thousand-event free tier is too small for most real websites, limiting its utility as a permanent free option. Umami excels as a self-hosted solution for technically capable teams with modest analytics needs. For organizations seeking AI-powered insights, advanced features, or a generous free tier without self-hosting, other options in the privacy-first analytics space offer more compelling packages.

Clicky

Clicky occupies a unique historical position in web analytics as one of the few independent services that has survived nearly two decades of competition with Google Analytics. Its longevity is a testament to a loyal user base that values its distinctive real-time, visitor-level approach to analytics. Where most modern tools show you aggregated metrics — "you had 5,000 visitors from the US" — Clicky lets you watch individual visitors navigate your site in near real-time, which provides a visceral understanding of user behavior that aggregate dashboards cannot match. This granular approach has genuine utility for specific use cases: troubleshooting reported issues by finding the specific visitor session, monitoring the immediate impact of a social media post or email campaign, or identifying bot traffic patterns that aggregate tools might miss. The included heatmaps and uptime monitoring add practical value without the cost of separate subscriptions. However, Clicky's strengths are also its liabilities in the current market. Individual visitor tracking is increasingly at odds with privacy regulations and the broader industry shift toward anonymous, aggregate analytics. The cookie requirement and consent banner burden place Clicky on the wrong side of the privacy divide. The dated interface, while information-rich, can feel overwhelming and unprofessional compared to the clean designs of modern analytics tools. The lack of funnel analysis, AI insights, and team management features means Clicky has not kept pace with the evolving expectations of what an analytics platform should provide. For organizations evaluating analytics tools, Clicky represents a niche choice that excels at real-time individual monitoring but lacks the privacy compliance, modern interface, and intelligent features that have become table stakes in the analytics market. Teams should consider whether the specific capability of watching individual visitor sessions justifies the trade-offs in privacy, design, and feature breadth.

Detailed Comparison

Umami and Clicky are both analytics platforms that compete for different segments of the market. Umami operates without cookies and does not require consent banners, providing complete visitor coverage. Clicky also relies on cookie-based tracking with consent requirements. On the intelligence front, Umami does not include AI-powered analysis, requiring manual interpretation of dashboards and reports. Clicky similarly lacks AI-powered intelligence. The tracking script sizes differ — Umami at ~2KB versus Clicky at ~18KB — which affects page load performance and Core Web Vitals scores. Pricing also varies: Umami (free: Free (self-hosted) or 10K events/mo (cloud), paid: Cloud from $9/mo (100K events)) versus Clicky (free: Free — 1 site, 3,000 pageviews/day, paid: From $9.99/mo (Pro)). Umami is best for developers and technically capable teams who want to self-host a privacy-first analytics tool with minimal overhead and maximum cost efficiency. umami is ideal for personal projects, developer portfolios, side projects, and small businesses where the person managing the website is also comfortable managing a docker deployment and wants to avoid recurring subscription costs while still getting clean, privacy-compliant web analytics.. Clicky is best for small website owners and solo operators who value real-time visitor monitoring and want to see exactly who is on their site at any moment. clicky is particularly useful for troubleshooting user issues in real time, monitoring the immediate impact of marketing campaigns, and maintaining situational awareness of site activity without the overhead or complexity of enterprise analytics platforms.. The right choice depends on your specific priorities around privacy, features, budget, and technical requirements. For teams seeking a privacy-first alternative with AI-powered actionable insights, ActionLab Analytics provides cookie-free tracking, real-time AI recommendations, and a generous free tier of one hundred thousand events per month.

Verdict

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Umami or Clicky?

The best choice depends on your specific requirements. Umami is best for developers and technically capable teams who want to self-host a privacy-first analytics tool with minimal overhead and maximum cost efficiency. umami is ideal for personal projects, developer portfolios, side projects, and small businesses where the person managing the website is also comfortable managing a docker deployment and wants to avoid recurring subscription costs while still getting clean, privacy-compliant web analytics.. Clicky is best for small website owners and solo operators who value real-time visitor monitoring and want to see exactly who is on their site at any moment. clicky is particularly useful for troubleshooting user issues in real time, monitoring the immediate impact of marketing campaigns, and maintaining situational awareness of site activity without the overhead or complexity of enterprise analytics platforms.. Consider your priorities around privacy compliance (Umami is cookie-free; Clicky requires cookies), pricing (Free (self-hosted) or 10K events/mo (cloud) vs Free — 1 site, 3,000 pageviews/day), tracking script performance impact (~2KB vs ~18KB), and whether you need AI-powered insights (not available in Umami; not available in Clicky). Evaluate both tools against your actual daily analytics workflow rather than feature checklists.

Can I use Umami and Clicky together?

Technically yes, but running multiple analytics scripts compounds page weight (~2KB + ~18KB), increases implementation complexity, and creates data reconciliation challenges since different tools count visitors differently. The tools also differ on privacy — one uses cookies while the other does not, so visitor counts will likely differ. A single analytics tool that covers your needs is typically more efficient. ActionLab Analytics offers a privacy-first alternative with AI-powered insights, a sub-two-kilobyte script, and a free tier that lets you evaluate whether it can replace both tools.

Is there a privacy-friendly alternative to both Umami and Clicky?

Yes. ActionLab Analytics is a privacy-first web analytics platform that uses no cookies and requires no consent banners, making it fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, PECR, and ePrivacy regulations. The tracking script weighs under two kilobytes — lighter than comparable to Umami (~2KB) and much smaller than Clicky (~18KB). ActionLab includes AI-powered insights that proactively surface recommendations about your content, traffic patterns, and growth opportunities. The free tier includes one hundred thousand events per month and three sites, with no credit card required.

How do Umami and Clicky compare on pricing?

Umami offers free (self-hosted) or 10k events/mo (cloud), with paid plans cloud from $9/mo (100k events). Clicky offers free — 1 site, 3,000 pageviews/day, with paid plans from $9.99/mo (pro). Total cost of ownership should include not just subscription fees but also implementation time, infrastructure costs for self-hosted options, and the ongoing effort to extract actionable insights from the data. ActionLab Analytics offers a free tier with one hundred thousand events per month, Pro at fourteen dollars per month with one million events and AI insights, and Enterprise at forty-fourteen dollars per month with ten million events.

Which tool is easier to set up, Umami or Clicky?

Setup complexity varies. Umami is lightweight and typically installs with a single script tag in minutes. Clicky requires more setup effort due to its script size and feature scope. Umami offers self-hosting which adds deployment complexity but provides data control. ActionLab Analytics installs with a single two-kilobyte script tag and shows real-time data within minutes, with no configuration required for the core analytics features.

Do Umami and Clicky require cookie consent banners?

Umami does not use cookies and does not require consent banners under GDPR, CCPA, or similar regulations. Clicky also uses cookies and requires consent management. ActionLab Analytics uses no cookies, collects no personal data, and requires no consent banners in any jurisdiction — ensuring you count every visitor to your site.

Which has better AI features, Umami or Clicky?

Neither Umami nor Clicky includes AI-powered analytics features. ActionLab Analytics provides AI-powered insights that proactively analyze your traffic patterns and generate specific, actionable recommendations — identifying content opportunities, traffic anomalies, conversion bottlenecks, and growth strategies without requiring you to know what questions to ask. This proactive intelligence is available on all paid plans starting at fourteen dollars per month.