---
title: "Replacing Google Analytics with Umami"
date: "2026-09-21"
description: "Why I swapped Google Analytics for Umami, self-hosted on my Synology NAS behind a Cloudflare Tunnel."
image: "https://bryanmanio.com/_astro/umami-cover.DZq-YBkz.png"
url: "https://bryanmanio.com/blog/replacing-google-analytics-with-umami/"
---

# Replacing Google Analytics with Umami

I've always had a love-hate relationship with Google Analytics. When I started my career, it was one of the only free tools that could capture basic information about your site, which was essential if you wanted to learn and react to how people moved through it.

Today, I can't say the same. It's a bloated mess that often feels like it was designed for marketing experts rather than the average person who just wants to track a little data.

As I've been looking for open source or free alternatives to services I'd typically pay for, I came across [Umami](https://umami.is). It's an open source project that offers a minimal yet comprehensive set of analytics, covering more than I need without all of Google's bloat.

![An Umami dashboard showing visitors, views, top pages and referrers](https://bryanmanio.com/_astro/umami-dashboard.C6n3amDw.png)

## Why I moved away

I used to pay for [Fathom](https://usefathom.com), but after using it across 10+ sites, the cost just wasn't worth the information I was getting. Analytics is really just passive collection for me. I'm not building funnels or tracking sales. I mostly want to know who came to my sites, which pages are the most popular, and how people are navigating through them.

The other issue was the consent baggage that comes with Google Analytics. It was becoming overwhelming. I don't want cookie banners on my sites, especially when I don't need the data they exist to protect in the first place.

Umami checks all the boxes:

- It's super lightweight and doesn't require a cookie banner
- It's free to self-host
- The UI is simple
- I can manage multiple sites from one dashboard

## Why a NAS is worth it

I run a little Synology NAS at home, and it's been a lifesaver for running these kinds of tools day to day. I wrote about the original setup when I [replaced Dropbox after 15 years](https://bryanmanio.com/blog/ditching-dropbox-after-15-years/), and it's done a lot more than file storage since then.

I know hardware is expensive right now, but if you're a tinkerer who loves playing with new technology and finding open source alternatives to tools you're probably overpaying for, I'd highly recommend getting a NAS and exploring a bit.

## How it works

My Synology runs Umami alongside its database. Since my sites need to send data back to my server, security matters. This isn't something I want exposed to the outside world.

To handle that, I'm using Cloudflare Tunnels, which means I don't have to open any ports into my server. (Cloudflare keeps earning its spot in my stack, [blocking AI bots](https://bryanmanio.com/blog/cloudflare-can-now-block-ai-bots/) being another favorite feature.)

From there, setup was simple:

1. Add the site in the Umami dashboard
2. Add the tracking script to the site
3. Choose what data you want to track

For the most part, I'm sticking to basic analytics. Umami does offer options like heatmaps and session recordings, which aren't very useful for the kinds of sites I run, but they're there if you want to go the extra mile.

![An Umami heatmap showing where visitors click on a pricing page](https://bryanmanio.com/_astro/umami-heatmap.CGVYJjve.png)

## The downsides

I have over a decade of historical data in Google Analytics, and unfortunately there's no way to import it into Umami. You start with a fresh slate. It's not a huge deal since I still have access to that history in Google, but I do wish there was a way to bring it all over.

## One less Google service

Overall, it's been a really nice change, and the more I can move away from Google, the better. I've already [migrated from Google Photos to Apple Photos](https://bryanmanio.com/blog/migrating-from-google-photos-to-apple-photos/), switched from Gmail to [Fastmail](https://join.fastmail.com/17ccc1a5), and replaced Google Drive with [Synology Drive](https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/feature/drive). Analytics was just one more box to check.