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Can I code Plausible?

Cookieless pageview counting is deliberately the simplest kind of analytics: no per-user tracking, just aggregate counts per page per day. That constraint, which is Plausible's whole ethical pitch, is also exactly what makes it an evening build.

VIBE SCORE 97/100

how this is worked out

Why CanICodeThis says Build it

  • A pageview is one beacon request incrementing a counter — no cookies, no user identity, no consent banner needed
  • Aggregating by page, referrer, and country from request headers is simple grouped counting
  • A dashboard with a line chart and a few top-N tables is standard reporting UI

Read before building

  • Bot filtering (don't count crawlers as visitors) needs an up-to-date bot signature list
  • Real-time visitor counts at genuinely high traffic need a bit of care about write contention on the counter
  • Their funnel and goal-tracking features add real query complexity beyond raw pageviews

Bill of materials

The parts this build actually needs, each rated on its own — the average is the Vibe Score above.

Landing page99
CRUD database95

The build spec

Build me a privacy-first, cookieless analytics tool. A tiny JS snippet sends a pageview beacon (no cookies, no localStorage) on page load. Server aggregates by page path, referrer domain, and country (from IP geolocation, IP itself discarded after) into daily counts. Dashboard: visitors over time, top pages, top referrers. Filter obvious bot traffic by user-agent.

Standard Parts/Free Alternatives

Don't feel like building it? These are already made, open-source, and free.

categoryanalytics
time to codean evening
Build it
their price$9/mo · $108/yr
last checked2026-08 · source ↗

Questions

Can I code Plausible?

Build it. Cookieless pageview counting is deliberately the simplest kind of analytics: no per-user tracking, just aggregate counts per page per day. That constraint, which is Plausible's whole ethical pitch, is also exactly what makes it an evening build.

How much does Plausible cost?

Plausible costs $9/mo (about $108/yr) as of 2026-08. That's what a working rebuild would save you.

What do I lose by building it myself?

Bot filtering (don't count crawlers as visitors) needs an up-to-date bot signature list Real-time visitor counts at genuinely high traffic need a bit of care about write contention on the counter Their funnel and goal-tracking features add real query complexity beyond raw pageviews

Is there a free alternative to Plausible I don't have to build?

Yes — Plausible (self-hosted) are open-source options worth trying before you build your own. Details are in the standard parts section on this page.