How to Self-Host Plausible Analytics on Coolify in 2026 (Community Edition)

Why self-host Plausible Analytics?

Plausible has become a popular Google Analytics alternative because the interface is intentionally simple. Instead of overwhelming you with dozens of reports, it focuses on the numbers most site owners actually check: visitors, pageviews, traffic sources, popular pages, devices, countries and conversions.

The hosted Plausible service is the easiest option because the company handles updates, uptime, backups and infrastructure. Self-hosting makes sense when you already operate a VPS, enjoy managing your own stack, or want your analytics data stored on infrastructure you control.

There is a trade-off: when you self-host, you become responsible for the boring but important parts—server security, updates, backups and recovery. If you prefer not to manage those tasks, the managed cloud service is usually worth paying for.

What Plausible Community Edition actually is

Plausible Community Edition, often shortened to Plausible CE, is the self-hostable edition of Plausible Analytics. A typical deployment uses three main services: the Plausible application, PostgreSQL for application data, and ClickHouse for high-volume analytics events.

For current version details, releases and configuration options, always verify the official Plausible Community Edition repository before deploying.

Server requirements before you begin

A small VPS can run Plausible CE, but you should not treat ClickHouse like a tiny static website. Give the stack breathing room. For a modest installation, start with at least 2 GB of RAM, recent x86 CPU support, SSD storage and a clean Ubuntu server.

• A VPS with at least 2 GB RAM
• Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04
• A domain or subdomain such as analytics.example.com
• DNS access so you can create an A record
• Coolify installed and accessible
• SSH access to the server

If your Coolify instance is already working, skip to Step 2. On a fresh Ubuntu VPS, the official Coolify installer can be started with:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

When installation finishes, open the Coolify panel and create the administrator account immediately. Then create a new project for analytics so the Plausible services stay organized separately from your other apps.

If Coolify is installed but the server shows as unreachable, check firewall rules, Docker health, server IP changes and the Coolify proxy before deploying Plausible.

Inside your Coolify project, create a new Docker Compose service. The exact official compose configuration can change between Plausible CE versions, so use the Community Edition repository as the source of truth. The simplified pattern below shows the main services and the variables you must understand before pressing Deploy.

services:
  plausible_db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - plausible_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: change-this-password

  plausible_events_db:
    image: clickhouse/clickhouse-server:24.12-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - plausible_events:/var/lib/clickhouse

  plausible:
    image: ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.1
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - plausible_db
      - plausible_events_db
    environment:
      BASE_URL: ${BASE_URL}
      SECRET_KEY_BASE: ${SECRET_KEY_BASE}
      TOTP_VAULT_KEY: ${TOTP_VAULT_KEY}
      HTTP_PORT: 8000
      DISABLE_REGISTRATION: ${DISABLE_REGISTRATION:-false}

volumes:
  plausible_db:
  plausible_events:

Create the environment variables

In Coolify, add the base URL and generate strong secrets. You can create secrets locally with OpenSSL:

openssl rand -base64 48
openssl rand -base64 32

Then configure:

BASE_URL=https://analytics.example.com
SECRET_KEY_BASE=paste-your-long-random-secret
TOTP_VAULT_KEY=paste-your-second-random-secret
DISABLE_REGISTRATION=false

Deploy the stack and wait until the Plausible, PostgreSQL and ClickHouse containers are healthy.

Create a DNS A record pointing your analytics subdomain to the VPS public IP address. A common setup looks like this:

Type: A
Name: analytics
Value: YOUR_SERVER_IP
TTL: Auto

In the Plausible service settings, attach the domain to the web-facing Plausible container. Plausible normally listens on port 8000 inside the container network, while Coolify’s reverse proxy handles public HTTPS traffic.

https://analytics.example.com:8000

Save the domain configuration, redeploy if needed and visit the URL. Coolify should provision a TLS certificate automatically when DNS is correct and the proxy can reach the service.

The first-run Plausible wizard lets you create the initial account and add your first website. Do this as soon as the service becomes publicly reachable. You do not want an unclaimed analytics instance sitting on a public domain.

• Open your new analytics URL.
• Create the first administrator account.
• Use a strong, unique password.
• Finish account activation if your configuration requires it.
• Return to Coolify and disable public registration.

DISABLE_REGISTRATION=true

Redeploy the Plausible service and test the registration URL in a private browser window. New public sign-ups should no longer be allowed.

Inside Plausible, add the domain you want to track. The installation wizard generates a script tag for your site. Use the snippet generated by your own instance because its URL and options can differ from someone else’s setup.

A self-hosted installation commonly produces a script pattern similar to:

<script defer
  data-domain="www.example.com"
  src="https://analytics.example.com/js/script.js">
</script>

Where to add the script in WordPress

For an OceanWP site, the safest approach is to use a trusted header/footer insertion plugin or your child theme so the script loads in the site <head>. Avoid editing the parent theme directly because a theme update can overwrite your change.

After saving the script, open your website in a normal browser, browse several pages and return to the Plausible dashboard. You should begin seeing visits, pageviews, referrers and popular pages.

The operational details that matter after installation

1. Back up both application and analytics data

A self-hosted analytics system is only as reliable as its backups. Protect the PostgreSQL data, ClickHouse data and any Plausible application volume used by your deployment. VPS snapshots are useful, but database-aware backups are better when you need a clean restore.

2. Upgrade deliberately

Do not use a floating latest tag for a production analytics stack. Pin a known Plausible CE version, read the release notes, back up your data, then update the image tag and redeploy.

# Example only
image: ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.1

3. Watch disk usage

Analytics data grows over time. ClickHouse is efficient, but high-traffic sites can still consume significant storage. Set server alerts before your disk becomes full.

4. Keep the VPS patched

Apply operating-system security updates, use SSH keys instead of password login when possible, restrict unnecessary ports and keep Coolify itself updated.

5. Understand bot filtering

No analytics platform perfectly filters every bot. Expect some difference between your self-hosted numbers, server logs, Search Console and other analytics tools. What matters most is using one consistent source for trend analysis.

Common problems and quick fixes

Frequently asked questions

Final checklist

• Plausible, PostgreSQL and ClickHouse containers are healthy.
• Your analytics subdomain resolves to the correct server.
• HTTPS works without browser certificate warnings.
• The first administrator account is created.
• Public registration is disabled.
• Your website tracking script loads correctly.
• Real pageviews appear in the dashboard.
• You have a tested backup plan before the first upgrade.