Overview
Legacy Platform vs Modern Analytics
Different Eras of Analytics
Staminads: Built for the privacy-first era. No cookies, no fingerprinting, no consent banners. Median metrics (TimeScore), advanced traffic categorization with backfill.
Matomo: Born as Piwik in 2007, designed around cookies and visitor tracking. Cookieless mode added later with daily fingerprinting.
All-in-One vs Premium Add-ons
Staminads: All features included — traffic categorization, data exploration, ad network detection, goals dashboard. No premium tiers.
Matomo: Core features free, but funnels, heatmaps, A/B testing, session recording, and form analytics require premium plugins (€79-199/year each).
What They Share
Both platforms share some common ground:
- Open Source: Both have open source cores
- Self-hostable: Run on your own infrastructure
- Full API: Comprehensive REST APIs for data access
- GDPR Options: Both can be configured for GDPR compliance
Where They Differ
The key differences come down to simplicity, privacy, and marketing insights:
Staminads Advantages
- • Cookieless by design (no opt-in mode)
- • No fingerprinting ever
- • Median metrics (not averages)
- • Traffic categorization with backfill
- • All features included (no premium tiers)
- • Sub-second real-time data
- • Full ad network detection
- • Lightweight (~2KB vs 22KB)
Matomo Features
- • 15+ years of development
- • Large plugin ecosystem
- • Heatmaps & session recording (premium)
- • A/B testing (premium)
- • Form analytics (premium)
- • Tag Manager included
- • Visitor profiles (broken by ITP/consent)
- • Funnels (broken cross-session)
- • Attribution (multi-touch impossible)
Matomo (formerly Piwik) is a veteran analytics platform with extensive features built over 15+ years. It uses first-party cookies by default for visitor identification and offers a cookieless mode with daily fingerprinting. Many advanced features require premium plugin purchases.
Staminads is a modern, privacy-first platform designed for the post-GDPR era. No cookies, no fingerprinting, all features included. Built for pro marketers who need to identify winning traffic dimensions.
Quick Comparison
| Staminads | Matomo | |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking Method | Cookieless (session-only, no fingerprinting) | Cookies by default (fingerprinting in cookieless mode) |
| Consent Required | No consent needed | Required for cookies (contested for cookieless) |
| Engagement Metrics | Median values (TimeScore) | Average only |
| Traffic Categorization | Advanced rules with backfill | None (dashboard filters only) |
| Traffic Backfill | Recompute & modify historical data | Report re-aggregation (no categorization rules) |
| Data Delay | Real-time (<1 second) | 5 seconds to 6 hours (varies by setup) |
| API Access | Full access | Full access |
| Sites Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited (self-host) or 30 (Cloud) |
| Pricing | Free (infrastructure only) | Free (self-host) + premium plugins OR €29+/month (Cloud) |
| Script Size | ~2KB gzipped | ~22KB |
Tracking & Privacy
Matomo uses cookies by default. Its cookieless mode relies on fingerprinting, which has legal implications under EU privacy laws.
Matomo's Privacy Modes
Matomo offers two tracking modes, both with privacy trade-offs:
- Default (Cookies): Uses 5+ first-party cookies including a 13-month visitor ID cookie. Requires consent under GDPR/ePrivacy.
- Cookieless Mode: Uses a "config_id" hash of IP + User-Agent + browser settings. This is fingerprinting under EDPB Guidelines 2/2023.
Staminads: No cookies ever, no fingerprinting ever. Pure session analytics with clear ePrivacy compliance. No consent banners needed.
Privacy & Tracking Comparison
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies | No cookies used | 5+ cookies by default (13-month visitor ID) |
| Cookieless Mode | Native (only mode) | Optional (daily fingerprint) |
| Device Fingerprinting | No fingerprinting | Yes (config_id in cookieless mode) |
| ePrivacy Directive Compliance | Clear (no device access/fingerprinting) | CNIL exemption possible (France only) |
| GDPR Compliance | Yes (no personal data processed) | Configurable (requires proper setup) |
| Visitor Identification | None (session-only) | Cookie-based (13 months) or daily hash |
| Cross-session Tracking | Yes (with cookies) or daily (cookieless) | |
| IP Address Processing | GeoIP only (customizable settings) | Used for fingerprinting + anonymization options |
| Data Residency | Your servers (you control) | Your servers or Frankfurt (Cloud) |
Matomo's CNIL Exemption
France's CNIL has approved Matomo for consent exemption when properly configured (IP anonymization, no cross-site tracking, opt-out provided). However, this is a French regulatory position — other EU countries may interpret the ePrivacy Directive differently. The EDPB's 2023 guidelines explicitly include fingerprinting within scope.
Staminads: No Configuration Needed
Staminads processes IP addresses only for GeoIP location — not for identification or fingerprinting. No cookies, no device hashing, no cross-session linking. Privacy-first by design, not by configuration.
Matomo's "Visitor" Metrics Are Misleading in 2026
Matomo's core value proposition — tracking unique visitors across sessions — is technically broken in today's privacy landscape. Features relying on visitor identification produce misleading data:
Why Cookie Tracking Fails
- • Safari ITP limits cookies to 7 days (or 24h for some)
- • Firefox ETP blocks third-party cookies entirely
- • 40%+ users reject cookie consent banners
- • Private browsing deletes cookies on close
- • Cross-device tracking is impossible
Why Fingerprinting Fails
- • Daily hash reset = no cross-day tracking
- • Browser-specific = no cross-device
- • VPN/proxy changes = new "visitor"
- • Same person = multiple "unique visitors"
Critical: Paid Social Traffic Has No Cookies
Mobile webviews from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn ads don't share cookies with the main browser. Every ad click from these platforms creates a new "visitor" in Matomo — even if the same person clicks 10 times. Your paid social campaigns appear to have 10x more "unique visitors" than actual people. Funnels break completely. Attribution is fiction.
Misleading Metrics You're Paying For
Staminads' approach: We don't pretend to track visitors across sessions. Instead, we focus on session-level engagement metrics (median time, scroll depth, conversions) and traffic categorization — data that's actually accurate and actionable.
Traffic Categorization
Important distinction: Matomo has dashboard filters and segments for viewing data. That's not the same as traffic categorization rules that assign permanent categories to your data with backfill.
Filters ≠ Traffic Categorization
Matomo's segments let you filter reports by dimensions (browser, country, UTM parameters). But they don't:
- Create custom channel groupings that map your marketing mix
- Assign permanent categories to traffic based on rules
- Backfill historical data when you change your categorization
Staminads: Traffic categorization rules let you define how traffic is categorized (e.g., "if utm_source contains 'meta', set channel to 'Paid Social'"). When you update rules, all historical data is automatically recomputed.
Traffic Categorization Features
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic Categorization Rules | Advanced rule engine with backfill | None |
| Channel Groupings | Custom rules to map your marketing mix | None (use segments as workaround) |
| Dashboard Filters/Segments | Yes (real-time) | Yes (100+ filter options) |
| Custom Dimensions | 10 dimensions you can modify via rules | 5 default (expandable on-premise) |
| Backfill on Rule Change | Yes (recompute all historical data) | N/A (no categorization rules to backfill) |
| Ad Network Detection | Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Microsoft | Manual UTM setup required |
| UTM Parameters | Full support + custom | Full support |
| Rule Operators | equals, contains, regex, is empty | None (no categorization rules) |
Ad Network Click ID Detection
Staminads automatically detects click IDs from all major ad networks:
gclid Google Adsfbclid Meta/Facebookttclid TikTokmsclkid Microsoftli_fat_id LinkedIndclid Google DV360Matomo doesn't detect ad network click IDs automatically. You need to manually add UTM parameters to every campaign.
The Backfill Difference
Matomo can invalidate and reprocess reports, but this doesn't apply to traffic categorization because Matomo doesn't have categorization rules. In Staminads, when you update a traffic rule (e.g., split "social" into "twitter" and "linkedin"), all historical data is recomputed with the new categorization.
Real-time Data Exploration
Matomo's real-time capabilities vary dramatically based on deployment type.
Real-time Capabilities
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time Dashboard | ||
| Data Refresh Rate | <1 second | 5 seconds to 6 hours (varies) |
| Current Visitors | Instant | 5 seconds (on-premise) to 6 hours (Cloud) |
| Query Performance | Fast (ClickHouse) | Varies (MySQL/MariaDB) |
| Data Sampling | Never (full dataset) | Never |
| Historical Query Speed | Sub-second for any range | Depends on data volume and hardware |
Matomo's Variable Delays
On-Premise:
- Real-time widgets: 5 seconds (configurable)
- Today's reports: 15 minutes (configurable)
Matomo Cloud:
- Today's reports: Up to 6 hours
- Segmented reports for today: Within 6 hours after next day
Deep Data Exploration
Staminads offers a filterable dashboard plus a Custom Explore for deep data analysis. Drill down by any dimension — source, campaign, country, device, or custom dimensions. Matomo has extensive reports but queries can be slow on large datasets due to MySQL/MariaDB backend.
Engagement Metrics
This is a key differentiator. Staminads uses median values for engagement metrics. Matomo uses averages, which are easily skewed by outliers.
Engagement Metrics Comparison
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Session Duration Calculation | Median (TimeScore) | Average (skewed by outliers) |
| Single-page Session Duration | Measured via focus tracking | 0 seconds (unless heartbeat enabled) |
| Scroll Depth | 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% thresholds | Premium plugin (Heatmaps) |
| Time on Page | Median with focus tracking | Average (last page = 0 seconds) |
| Bounce Rate | Configurable time threshold (default 10s) | Single page view without events |
| Engagement Score | TimeScore (composite median) | No composite metric |
Why Median Matters
Matomo's average can be misleading. Staminads' median shows you typical user behavior.
Matomo's Time Tracking Limitation
Matomo calculates time on page by subtracting timestamps between page loads. The last page always shows 0 seconds. Single-page visits also show 0 seconds unless you enable heartbeat tracking. Staminads uses focus tracking to accurately measure engagement time on every page.
Goals & Conversions
Both platforms support goal and conversion tracking. Matomo's funnels require a premium plugin purchase.
Goals & Conversions Features
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Goals Dashboard | Dedicated view with KPIs & charts | Goals reports section |
| Conversion Tracking | ||
| Revenue Tracking | Yes (with median value) | Yes (with average value) |
| Funnel Analysis | Coming soon | Premium plugin (€199/year) |
| Goal Breakdowns | By any dimension | By any dimension |
| Event Tracking | Yes (with custom dimensions) | Yes (category, action, name, value) |
Matomo Premium Plugin Costs
Many of Matomo's advanced features require separate plugin purchases:
Matomo Cloud includes these features, but starts at €29/month for just 50,000 hits.
Multi-tenant & Enterprise
Both platforms support multiple sites. Matomo Cloud limits sites to 30.
Enterprise Features
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Sites Included | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Unlimited (self-hosted) or 30 (Cloud) |
| Team Members | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Unlimited (self-hosted) or 30 (Cloud) |
| Multi-tenant Architecture | Isolated workspaces | Shared database or separate databases |
| Data Retention | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Configurable (with data purging options) |
| White Label | Yes (self-hosted) | Premium plugin required |
User Roles & Permissions
User Management
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Role Types | Owner, Admin, Editor, Viewer | View, Write, Admin, Super User |
| Per-Site Permissions | ||
| Tag Manager Roles | Integrated | Separate (View, Write, Publish) |
API Access
Both platforms provide comprehensive API access.
API Capabilities
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ||
| API Availability | All installations | All installations |
| Rate Limits | Configurable | 2,000/10 min (Cloud) or none (self-hosted) |
| Output Formats | JSON | JSON, XML, CSV, TSV, PHP, Excel |
| Raw Data Export | Full access (your database) | Full access (your database) |
| Real-time API |
Pricing
Staminads
Software cost (self-hosted)
+ ClickHouse: Included or managed
- ✓ Unlimited pageviews
- ✓ Unlimited websites
- ✓ Unlimited team members
- ✓ Full API access
- ✓ All features included
- ✓ No premium plugins
Matomo
Cloud (50K hits) or self-host free
Cloud: €29-€14,850/month based on hits
- ✓ Unlimited pageviews (self-hosted)
- ✓ Core features free
- • Funnels: €199/year
- • Heatmaps: €199/year
- • A/B Testing: €199/year
- • Session Recording: €199/year
Open Source
Open Source Comparison
| Feature | Staminads | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source | Yes (AGPL-3.0) | Yes (GPL v3) |
| Source Code | Full access on GitHub | Full access on GitHub |
| Self-hosting | Docker | PHP + MySQL/MariaDB |
| Technology Stack | Typescript + ClickHouse | PHP + MySQL/MariaDB |
| Premium Features | All features included | Separate plugin purchases required |
| Community | Growing | Established (10+ years) |
Unique Matomo Features
Matomo has some features that Staminads doesn't currently offer. However, many rely on visitor identification which is technically broken in today's privacy landscape.
Features That Still Work
Premium Plugins (Session-Level)
- • Heatmaps & session recording
- • A/B testing (within session)
- • Form analytics
- • Media analytics (video tracking)
Built-in Features
- • Tag Manager (free)
- • Ecommerce tracking (session-level)
- • CNIL consent exemption (France)
- • 100+ integrations
Features That Are Technically Broken
These features rely on identifying visitors across sessions — which fails due to ITP, consent rejection, cross-device usage, and mobile webviews:
- Unique Visitors — overcounted 2-5x
- Returning Visitors — severely undercounted
- Visitor Profiles — incomplete/fragmented
- Cross-Session Funnels — broken at step transitions
- Multi-Touch Attribution — impossible without visitor ID
- Cohort Analysis — unreliable visitor grouping
When Matomo Might Still Be Useful
If you need heatmaps or session recording, Matomo (with premium plugins) can provide that — these work at the session level and don't require visitor identification. Just be aware that visitor-based metrics in the same dashboard will be misleading.
When to Choose Each Platform
Choose Staminads
Staminads is the better choice if you:
- Want no cookies and no fingerprinting
- Need traffic categorization with backfill
- Want median metrics (not misleading averages)
- Need automatic ad network detection
- Want all features included (no premium tiers)
- Prefer a lightweight script (~2KB vs 22KB)
Choose Matomo
Matomo might be useful if you:
- Need heatmaps or session recording
- Want A/B testing (within single sessions)
- Want a Tag Manager included
- Don't need traffic categorization rules
Warning: Visitor profiles, funnels, multi-touch attribution, and "unique visitor" counts are technically impossible due to ITP, consent rejection, and cross-device limitations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Matomo's cookieless mode really consent-free?
It depends on your jurisdiction. France's CNIL has approved Matomo for consent exemption when properly configured. However, the EDPB Guidelines 2/2023 explicitly include fingerprinting (which Matomo's cookieless mode uses) within the scope of Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Other EU countries may interpret this differently. Staminads avoids this legal gray area entirely — no fingerprinting means clear compliance.
Are Matomo's "unique visitor" metrics accurate?
No. Visitor-based metrics in Matomo (and any analytics tool relying on cookies or fingerprinting) are fundamentally broken in 2026. Safari's ITP limits first-party cookies to 7 days. Over 40% of users reject consent banners. Most critically: mobile webviews from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn ads don't share cookies with the main browser — every ad click creates a new "visitor," making your paid social campaigns appear to have 10x more unique visitors than actual people. Cross-device tracking is impossible. Funnels that span multiple sessions break at step transitions. Multi-touch attribution requires identifying visitors across touchpoints — which is technically impossible. These aren't Matomo-specific problems; they affect any legacy analytics approach built on visitor identification.
Can I migrate from Matomo to Staminads?
Yes. Install the Staminads script and start collecting data immediately. Historical data from Matomo can be exported, though the different tracking approaches (cookie-based visitor tracking vs session-only) mean the metrics won't be directly comparable. You may want to run both in parallel during transition.
Why doesn't Staminads use cookies?
Cookies require consent under GDPR and ePrivacy. Even first-party analytics cookies need a consent banner in most EU interpretations. Staminads was built for the privacy-first era — session-only tracking gives you the marketing insights you need without the legal complexity.
What's the difference between segments and traffic categorization?
Matomo's segments are filters for viewing data — they don't change how data is categorized. Staminads' traffic categorization rules assign permanent categories to your traffic (e.g., "if utm_source contains 'meta', set channel to 'Paid Social'"). When you update rules, historical data is automatically recomputed with the new categorization. Matomo can't do this.
How much do Matomo's premium plugins cost?
Premium plugins range from €79-€199/year each. Popular ones: Funnels (€199), Heatmaps (€199), Session Recording (€199), A/B Testing (€199), Form Analytics (€149). If you need multiple plugins, costs add up quickly. Matomo Cloud includes these but starts at €29/month for just 50,000 hits. Staminads includes all features in the open source release.
Which is better for agencies?
Staminads offers isolated workspaces with advanced traffic categorization and backfill — perfect for agencies managing multiple client sites with different categorization needs. Matomo can handle multiple sites but lacks traffic categorization rules, meaning you can't easily recategorize historical data when client requirements change.
Ready for modern, privacy-first analytics?
Skip the cookie banners, premium plugins, and legal gray areas. Staminads gives you advanced traffic categorization and median metrics out of the box.