No. Plausible has no free plan, only a 30-day free trial (no credit card). MetriXs has a free-forever cloud plan (1 site, 5k pageviews/mo, 1 month retention) with no credit card, so you can run a small site for free.

Does Plausible track AI traffic like ChatGPT and Perplexity?

Yes. Plausible aggregates AI-assistant referrals into a dedicated AI Assistants channel, and so does MetriXs: the AI traffic panel on every plan shows visitors from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot. The gap is what happens next: MetriXs also audits whether your site is structured so AI engines can read, trust and cite it (the GEO-readiness audit, Team and Pro).

Does Plausible have an MCP server or uptime monitoring?

No to both, officially. Plausible has community-built MCP wrappers around its API but no first-party MCP server, and no uptime monitoring. MetriXs ships a read-only MCP server on every plan (no setup) and pings your site every 5 minutes with email alerts to your team.

Is Plausible open source?

Yes. Plausible is open source and self-hostable (Community Edition). MetriXs is a managed cloud product only, with no infrastructure for you to run. If self-hosting matters to you, Plausible has the edge; if you want managed cloud with audits, uptime monitoring and a free tier, MetriXs does.

What happens if I exceed my Plausible pageview limit?

Plausible does not charge extra for a one-month spike. If you exceed your tier for two consecutive months, it asks you to upgrade and your dashboard is temporarily locked until you do (stats keep collecting in the background). MetriXs never locks the dashboard or escalates the bill, events beyond your allowance are silently dropped until next month.

MetriXs

MetriXs vs

Plausible

Both are cookieless, EU-hosted, and GDPR-clean, and both now track AI referrals. The real differences sit outside the traffic chart: MetriXs audits your site (GEO/SEO, security, performance), watches its uptime, exposes stats to AI assistants over a built-in MCP server, and prices flat per site. Plausible is a focused traffic counter with none of those extras, tiered by pageviews.

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Site audits Plausible doesn’t run

MetriXs scans your site for GEO-readiness (is it cited by AI engines), classic SEO issues, security headers and cookies, and delivery performance. Plausible counts your visitors; it never looks at your site. If you want to know why AI engines recommend (or ignore) you, MetriXs tells you.

Uptime monitoring included

MetriXs pings your site every 5 minutes and emails your team when it goes down (opt-in, all plans). Plausible has no uptime monitoring at all: you’d need a separate service and another bill.

AI assistants can query your stats

MetriXs ships a first-party, read-only MCP server (mcp.metrixs.eu) on every plan, so ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor can pull your metrics directly. Plausible only has community-built MCP wrappers around its API.

Still flat, still cheaper

Plausible’s price scales with your pageview tier. MetriXs is priced by sites + members, so a traffic spike never moves your bill (events beyond the allowance are dropped, not billed). Starts at €6/mo with a free tier; Plausible starts at $9/mo with a 30-day trial only.

Side-by-side

Plausible features checked from plausible.io (Sep 2026). Starter $9/mo (10k pv), Growth ~$14, Business ~$19.

	MetriXs	Plausible
Starting price	€6/mo (1 site, 1 member, 15k pv)	$9/mo (Starter, 1 site, 10k pv)
Pricing model	Flat (sites + members)	Tiered by pageviews
Free plan	Yes, 5k pv, 1 site, 1mo	No (30-day trial only)
AI referral tracking	Yes, all plans (dedicated panel)	Yes (AI Assistants channel)
MCP server (AI access to stats)	Yes, built-in, all plans	No (community wrappers only)
GEO/SEO audits	Yes (Team & Pro)	No
Security audit (HTTPS, headers, cookies)	Yes (Team & Pro)	No
Performance audit (TTFB, caching)	Yes (Team & Pro)	No
Uptime monitoring	Yes, all plans (5-min checks, email alerts)	No
White-label agencies	Yes (Agency plans, customer seats)	Unbranded embeds only
PDF reports	Yes (Team & Pro)	No (CSV export)
Revenue tracking	Yes, incl. Shopify app	Yes (revenue goals)
Funnels	Yes	Business plan
Team members	Included in plan	Gated by plan / paid
When you exceed the cap	Events dropped, bill unchanged	Dashboard locks after 2 months over
Cookies	None	None
Cookie banner needed	No	No
GDPR compliant	By design	Yes
Hosted in EU	Yes	Yes (Germany)
Data retention	1–24 months (by plan)	Unlimited on paid
Self-hosting	No	Yes, open source
Script size	~4 KB	< 1 KB

Both tools are privacy-first and cookieless, and both aggregate AI-assistant referrals. Plausible is open source and self-hostable; MetriXs is a managed cloud product. Beyond traffic counting, MetriXs adds site audits, uptime monitoring and AI access that Plausible leaves to third-party tools.

Switch from Plausible

Free to start, €6/mo when you grow. No surprise upgrades, your bill stays flat.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Plausible free?: No. Plausible has no free plan, only a 30-day free trial (no credit card). MetriXs has a free-forever cloud plan (1 site, 5k pageviews/mo, 1 month retention) with no credit card, so you can run a small site for free.
Does Plausible track AI traffic like ChatGPT and Perplexity?: Yes. Plausible aggregates AI-assistant referrals into a dedicated AI Assistants channel, and so does MetriXs: the AI traffic panel on every plan shows visitors from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot. The gap is what happens next: MetriXs also audits whether your site is structured so AI engines can read, trust and cite it (the GEO-readiness audit, Team and Pro).
Does Plausible have an MCP server or uptime monitoring?: No to both, officially. Plausible has community-built MCP wrappers around its API but no first-party MCP server, and no uptime monitoring. MetriXs ships a read-only MCP server on every plan (no setup) and pings your site every 5 minutes with email alerts to your team.
Is Plausible open source?: Yes. Plausible is open source and self-hostable (Community Edition). MetriXs is a managed cloud product only, with no infrastructure for you to run. If self-hosting matters to you, Plausible has the edge; if you want managed cloud with audits, uptime monitoring and a free tier, MetriXs does.
What happens if I exceed my Plausible pageview limit?: Plausible does not charge extra for a one-month spike. If you exceed your tier for two consecutive months, it asks you to upgrade and your dashboard is temporarily locked until you do (stats keep collecting in the background). MetriXs never locks the dashboard or escalates the bill, events beyond your allowance are silently dropped until next month.