Matomo Hosting

How Matomo works

A tracking script or supported integration sends page views, events, campaign details, and other configured measurements to the Matomo installation. The application processes those records into reports covering visitors, acquisition, behaviour, goals, conversions, and content performance. Administrators decide which websites or applications are tracked and which users may see each property.

MariaDB stores raw and aggregated analytics data, configuration, goals, segments, and user accounts. Scheduled archiving and report queries can become substantial as traffic, date ranges, custom dimensions, and tracked sites grow. Privacy controls help an operator configure data retention, anonymisation, consent behaviour, and access according to its own legal assessment.

Key Matomo features

Dashboards and standard reports show visits, referrers, campaigns, pages, devices, locations, and events. Goals and ecommerce tracking connect user activity with selected outcomes, while segmentation lets analysts compare meaningful subsets of traffic.

Matomo Tag Manager can deploy and organise tracking tags without changing every page manually. Additional capabilities may depend on plugins or commercial packages, so a self-hosted catalogue page should distinguish the core application from optional marketplace extensions.

Matomo vs Google Analytics

Matomo is a self-hosted analytics system whose tracking data, database, permissions, and retention settings remain under the operator's administration. Google Analytics is a provider-managed measurement service with cross-platform reports, attribution, audience features, and close integration with Google's advertising products.

Google Analytics may suit teams that prioritise managed infrastructure and deep Google advertising connections. Matomo is more appropriate when direct control over analytics storage and privacy configuration matters, although the operator must maintain the installation and determine a compliant measurement setup.

Who uses Matomo

Website owners monitor acquisition and content performance, marketing teams evaluate campaigns and goals, and privacy-conscious organisations use it as an alternative to sending every analytics record to a third-party account. Agencies can separate access for several tracked sites within one installation.

The tool does not create a lawful analytics programme by itself. Consent, retention, identifiers, geolocation, advertising use, and disclosure obligations depend on the site's audience and jurisdiction, so administrators should review the configuration with appropriate privacy expertise.

Self-hosting Matomo: requirements and cost

Traffic volume, tracked sites, events, goals, segments, report ranges, data retention, and archiving work determine resource use. MariaDB stores the analytics history and is included with Matomo, but the container remains unmanaged. Because database memory is outside the application minimum, the corrected mapping advances the complete stack one tier.

Matomo has no separate core application charge in this hosted catalogue, and AvaHost recommends Plan 3 at €10. The service includes one-click deployment, a custom analytics domain, automated HTTPS, automatic application updates, and scheduled backups. Application email is disabled, so scheduled email reports, notification mail, and email-based password recovery are unavailable.