Both products can help you understand traffic without tracking cookies. The useful comparison is how they measure activity, what product questions they answer, and where analysis happens.
Reviewed 27 September 2026. Features and plans change; official sources are linked beside the claims below. Nanolytica Cloud is this hosted product, separate from the public Nanolytica repository.
| Consideration | Nanolytica Cloud | Umami |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted access | Free hosted access, with collection limits. No per-pageview billing. | Managed cloud service with usage-based plans and free signup. @sourceLink("https://docs.umami.is/docs/cloud", "Cloud overview") |
| Product questions | Events, goals, revenue, funnels, journeys, retention cohorts and measured engagement. | Funnels, journeys, retention, goals, revenue and attribution are documented insights. @sourceLink("https://docs.umami.is/docs/insights", "Insights") |
| AI and reports | Reports, chat and PDF export with an optional model running inside your browser. Data is not sent to an external AI service. | A remote MCP server connects Cloud analytics to tools such as Claude and ChatGPT, using your API key and permissions. @sourceLink("https://docs.umami.is/docs/cloud/mcp", "MCP documentation") |
| Privacy model | No visitor tracking cookies. Per-site salted IP/user-agent hashes can link activity across days. These are pseudonymous estimates, not verified people. Architecture details | Documents cookie-free collection and no cross-site tracking. Review the settings for the features you enable. @sourceLink("https://docs.umami.is/docs/faq", "Privacy FAQ") |
| Hosting and source | This Cloud application is a private codebase. The separate public Nanolytica project is not a source release of it. | Open-source self-hosting with PostgreSQL, or a managed Cloud account. @sourceLink("https://docs.umami.is/docs/faq", "Self-hosting FAQ") |
When Nanolytica fits
Consider Nanolytica when you want a free hosted product dashboard, native SDKs, and a local model that can explain selected aggregate data. Try the live dashboard and check whether its metrics answer your questions before moving an integration.
When Umami may fit better
Umami may be the better fit when you want its open-source PostgreSQL deployment or integrations with your existing MCP tools. For AI use, review where your chosen client processes the analytics it retrieves.
Explore Nanolytica's local AI workflow or read the privacy architecture. This is a feature comparison, not a claim of equivalent privacy guarantees.