The self-hosted edition is free and open source. You pay for the server and the time it takes to run. Matomo Cloud starts at $26 (€22) a month for 50K hits.

Does Matomo need a cookie banner?

With its default settings it sets cookies, so in the UK and EU you'd normally ask for consent. It can be set up to run without them. Hark never sets cookies.

Does Hark have heatmaps or session recordings?

No. Matomo has both. If you need them, Hark isn't the right tool on its own.

Hark vs Matomo

Matomo replaces Google Analytics report for report. Hark replaces the five reports you actually open.

Matomo has been going since 2007, when it was called Piwik. It's open source, free to self-host, and about as close to a full Google Analytics replacement as you'll find: segments, custom reports, heatmaps, session recordings. Hark makes the opposite bet. One page, no cookies, $5 to start.

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	Matomo	Hark
Price	Cloud from $26/mo for 50K hits; the self-hosted edition is free	From $5/mo for 100K pageviews
What's billed	Hits: pageviews, events, downloads, outlinks, site searches	Pageviews; custom events are free
Cookies	Set by default; can be turned off	None
Consent banner in the UK and EU	Usually needed unless you turn cookies off	Not needed: nothing is stored on the visitor's device
Reports	A full menu, custom reports and segments	One page, every report filterable
Heatmaps and session recordings	Yes, with monthly allowances	No
Recognises visitors across days	Yes, with cookies on	No, by design: ids reset daily
Sites and users (Cloud)	30 sites, 30 users	3, 10 or unlimited sites; one login
Data kept	24 months of raw data on Cloud	1, 2 or 3 years, by plan
Realtime	Real-time visits log	Live world map; each visit appears as it lands
Hosting	Frankfurt (Cloud), or your own servers	London, on Fly.io
Open source, self-hostable	Yes	No

Matomo details checked on 9 November 2026 from Matomo pricing , Matomo features , Matomo cookieless FAQ . Prices are monthly, in US dollars. Matomo's exclude tax. Spot something out of date? Email [email protected] and we'll fix it.

What you'd pay

A month	Matomo	Hark
100K	$42 for 100K hits	$5 for 100K pageviews
300K	$85 for 300K hits	$14 for 300K pageviews
1M	$204 for 1M hits	$29 for 1M pageviews

Matomo Cloud is €38, €75 and €172 at these tiers. Two months are free if you pay yearly; on Hark, a year costs ten months.

Hits aren't pageviews

Matomo Cloud counts hits, and a hit is any tracked request. Someone who reads three pages, downloads a PDF and leaves through an outbound link is five hits. On a blog the gap is small. On a site that tracks a lot of clicks, the 100K plan can run out well before 100K pageviews. Hark counts pageviews and nothing else.

Cookies by default

Out of the box, Matomo sets first-party cookies so it can recognise returning visitors. In the UK and EU that usually means a consent banner. You can switch the cookies off, and Matomo explains how, but returning-visitor numbers get less reliable when you do. Hark was built without them, so there's no setting to get wrong.

Choose Matomo if…

You want to self-host and own the database.
You need the depth of Google Analytics: segments, custom reports, ecommerce.
You want heatmaps and session recordings in the same tool.
Lots of people need their own logins.
You need returning-visitor and cohort reports.

Choose Hark if…

You want an answer in a minute, not a report menu.
You want no cookies and no banner without configuring anything.
You'd rather pay $5 for 100K pageviews than $42 for 100K hits.
You don't want to run or update a server.
You want to watch visitors arrive on a live map.

Switching from Matomo

1
Add Hark's script tag. If Matomo sits behind your consent banner and Hark doesn't, Hark will count more visitors. That's expected.
2
_paq.push(['trackEvent', 'Account', 'Signup']) becomes window.analytics?.('Signup') . Hark events have a name and optional properties, not a category, action and name.
3
Matomo history can't be imported into Hark. If you self-host, the database is yours to keep; on Cloud, export the reports you'll want before you cancel.

Questions people ask

Is Matomo free?: The self-hosted edition is free and open source. You pay for the server and the time it takes to run. Matomo Cloud starts at $26 (€22) a month for 50K hits.
Does Matomo need a cookie banner?: With its default settings it sets cookies, so in the UK and EU you'd normally ask for consent. It can be set up to run without them. Hark never sets cookies.
Does Hark have heatmaps or session recordings?: No. Matomo has both. If you need them, Hark isn't the right tool on its own.

One thing we won't do

Hark counts visitors with an id that resets every day, so we can't follow anyone from one day to the next. That rules out returning-visitor counts and cohorts. It's also why there's nothing to consent to.

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