Matomo is the closest thing to a full GA4 replacement that you can self-host — it has nearly as many features. That power comes with GA4-level setup complexity, which is the main thing Orbit trades away for a dashboard that's usable on day one.
| Feature | Orbit | Matomo |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosting | Not available | Yes, open source |
| Cookieless by default | Yes, always | No, requires configuration |
| Report depth | Single-screen dashboard | GA4-level depth, many reports |
| Setup time | Minutes | Hours, especially if self-hosting |
| Multi-site dashboard | Combined Boards view | Multi-site management console, per-site reports |
If data ownership through self-hosting is non-negotiable and you have the time to run the infrastructure, Matomo delivers that. If you want Matomo's privacy posture without running a server or learning its report library, Orbit gets you most of the value in a fraction of the setup time.
Yes — Matomo is open source and self-hosting is a core part of its pitch, giving you full data ownership. Orbit is hosted-only; there's no self-hosted version.
Matomo can be configured cookieless, but it isn't by default — you have to change settings to disable cookies and enable other GDPR-friendly options. Orbit never sets cookies, with nothing to configure.
Matomo's dashboard mirrors GA4's depth — dozens of reports, segments, and widgets. Orbit's dashboard is intentionally a single screen per site, trading Matomo's depth for immediate readability.