What is Matomo?

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform that helps you track and understand how visitors use your website. It collects data like page views, visitor locations, and device types, and presents it in easy-to-read reports.

Let's break it down

  • Open-source: The software’s code is publicly available for anyone to view, modify, or share.
  • Web analytics platform: A tool that gathers information about website traffic and user behavior.
  • Track and understand: Record actions (like clicks) and turn them into insights (like which pages are popular).
  • Visitors: People who come to your site.
  • Page views, locations, device types: Specific pieces of data about what pages were seen, where the visitor is from, and what kind of computer or phone they used.
  • Easy-to-read reports: Visual summaries (charts, tables) that make the data simple to interpret.

Why does it matter?

Knowing how people interact with your site lets you improve content, boost conversions, and make smarter marketing decisions. With Matomo, you keep that insight under your own control, protecting privacy and avoiding third-party data sharing.

Where is it used?

  • Small business owners monitoring the performance of their online store.
  • News websites analyzing which articles attract the most readers.
  • Universities tracking usage of their digital libraries and course portals.
  • Government agencies needing privacy-friendly analytics for public service sites.

Good things about it

  • Full ownership of data - you host it yourself, so no one else can see your visitor information.
  • No data-sampling - you get 100 % of the raw data, unlike some free tools that limit detail.
  • Highly customizable - plugins and APIs let you add features or integrate with other systems.
  • Strong focus on privacy - built-in consent management and GDPR-compliant options.
  • Free core version - you can start using it without any licensing fees.

Not-so-good things

  • Requires technical setup and maintenance if you host it yourself.
  • Can be resource-intensive on large sites, needing more server power.
  • The user interface may feel less polished compared to some commercial alternatives.
  • Advanced features (like heatmaps or session recordings) are only available in paid add-ons.