Why Replace Google Analytics?
Google Analytics collects extensive user data, requires cookie consent banners in the EU, and can be blocked by ad blockers. Umami is a lightweight alternative that tracks what matters without compromising visitor privacy.
Key Advantages
| Feature | Google Analytics | Umami |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie consent required | Yes (GDPR) | No (cookie-free) |
| Data ownership | Google's servers | Your server |
| Script size | ~45 KB | ~2 KB |
| Page speed impact | Noticeable | Negligible |
| Ad blocker resistant | Often blocked | First-party domain = not blocked |
| Learning curve | Complex UI | Clean, simple dashboard |
Deploy on Panelica
Go to Docker → App Templates and deploy Umami. Panelica sets up the application with its PostgreSQL database automatically.
After deployment, log in with the default credentials (admin/umami) and change your password immediately.
Adding Your First Website
- Go to Settings → Websites → Add Website
- Enter your domain name
- Copy the generated tracking code
- Add the tracking code to your website's
<head>section
The tracking script is a single line:
<script defer src="https://analytics.yourdomain.com/script.js" data-website-id="your-id"></script>What Umami Tracks
- Page views — Which pages are visited and how often
- Visitors — Unique visitor counts (without cookies or fingerprinting)
- Referrers — Where your traffic comes from
- Browsers & OS — What devices and browsers visitors use
- Countries — Geographic distribution of visitors
- Custom events — Track button clicks, form submissions, and more
Using a Custom Domain
For ad-blocker resistance, serve Umami from your own subdomain (e.g., analytics.yourdomain.com). In Panelica, create a subdomain and link it to the Umami container. Since the script loads from your own domain, ad blockers cannot distinguish it from your regular content.
Summary
Umami provides everything most websites need from analytics without the privacy concerns, cookie banners, or data sharing of Google Analytics. At under 2 KB, it will not slow down your site, and self-hosting means your visitor data never leaves your infrastructure.