Vercel Analytics alternatives, and when to keep it
Plausible, Umami, PostHog and Google Analytics next to Vercel Web Analytics: cookies, open source, self-hosting, scope. When to switch, and when to stay.
Last updated October 29, 2026
First: do you need to switch?
Vercel Web Analytics is cookieless, takes a minute to turn on, and is already on your Vercel bill. People usually look for an alternative for one of four reasons: Hobby pauses collection past its allowance and Pro bills per event, it shows one project at a time, the history window on their plan is short, or they need product analytics (funnels, session replay, user paths) rather than traffic numbers.
The first three don’t need a new analytics tool. The fourth does. The table below shows where each tool fits.
The alternatives side by side
| Vercel Web Analytics | Plausible | Umami | PostHog | Google Analytics 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup on a Vercel project | Turn it on in the project, add the package | A script tag | A script tag | A package or script | A script tag, or Google Tag Manager |
| Cookies | None | None | None | Yes by default; can be set to cookieless | Yes: a consent banner in the EU and UK |
| Open source | No | Yes (AGPL) | Yes (MIT) | Yes (MIT core) | No |
| Self-host | No | Yes, Community Edition | Yes | Yes, for small setups | No |
| What it covers | Web analytics per project | Web analytics | Web analytics | Product analytics, session replay, feature flags and more | Web and marketing analytics, Google Ads |
| Free option | Hobby: 50,000 events a month | A free trial, then paid | Free cloud plan, and free to self-host | A free monthly allowance | Free |
| Every project in one view | No, one project at a time | Yes, a sites list | Yes, a websites list | Within one PostHog project | Per property; roll-ups on paid 360 |
Prices change often, so they aren’t in the table. Check each one’s own page: Vercel Web Analytics, Plausible, Umami, PostHog. Google Analytics 4 is free; its paid tier is Analytics 360.
Which one fits
- Plausible or Umami: you want simple, cookieless traffic numbers like Vercel’s, with every site in one list, and the option to host it yourself. Umami has a free cloud plan; Plausible starts with a trial.
- PostHog: you’re building a product and need funnels, retention, session replay or feature flags. It does much more than traffic, and takes more setup.
- Google Analytics 4: you run Google Ads and want conversions and audiences there. It’s free, but it uses cookies, so sites with visitors in the EU or UK need a consent banner, and the numbers drop for visitors who decline.
- Stay on Vercel Web Analytics: you like it per project, and what you miss is the view across projects, client access, alerts or reports. Read on.
Or keep Vercel Web Analytics and add what’s missing
Lookout isn’t another analytics tool. It reads the Vercel Web Analytics you already have, through Vercel’s API, and adds what Vercel’s dashboard doesn’t do. If you switch to one of the tools above, Lookout has nothing to read, so it’s the choice for teams that stay on Vercel’s analytics.
- Every project side by side, across Vercel teams, grouped into boards: Vercel Analytics for multiple projects.
- A read-only link per client, showing their board only: share with clients.
- An email when a project’s visitors drop or spike, and a weekly digest: alerts.
- Speed Insights for every project on one board: Core Web Vitals across projects.
- An API and MCP server across all projects: Vercel Analytics in Claude and Cursor.
For the full list of what Lookout adds and what only Vercel has, see Lookout vs. Vercel Web Analytics, or try the live demo with sample data.