# SetupTracking

> The self-hosted tracking implementation cookbook. Install recipes, decision wizards, and event-modelling guides for privacy-first analytics — Plausible, Matomo, Umami, PostHog, GoatCounter, Fathom, and the supporting tag-layer.

SetupTracking is an independent, no-affiliate reference for engineers running their own analytics stack on bare-metal or cloud VMs. Every recipe is tested on real hardware (Hetzner SKUs, Vercel free tier, Docker on a Raspberry Pi) and dated with real cost tables. We do not run a paid tier, we do not gate downloads behind email, and we do not chase GA4 vs X comparisons — that's a sibling site's job. The angle here is implementation: how to ship a working stack and keep it running.

## Main pillars

- [Install Recipes](https://setuptracking.com/install-recipes/): Step-by-step deploys — Plausible on Hetzner, Matomo on Hetzner, Umami on Vercel, PostHog in Docker, with cost ledgers and "when not to use" sections.
- [Cookieless Tracking](https://setuptracking.com/cookieless-tracking/): Salt-rotation patterns, hash-based identity, GDPR-safe attribution without a consent banner.
- [Self-Hosted Tag Manager](https://setuptracking.com/self-hosted-tag-manager/): Matomo TM, Cloudflare Zaraz, sGTM container, Piwik PRO, Stape, Adobe Launch, Snowplow — GTM alternatives you can run yourself.
- [Custom Events](https://setuptracking.com/custom-events/): Event modelling and goal setup for Plausible, Matomo, and PostHog including revenue, ecommerce, and funnel patterns.
- [EU Compliance](https://setuptracking.com/eu-compliance/): CNIL teardowns, GDPR analytics configurations, DSA implications for measurement stacks.
- [SQL Lab](https://setuptracking.com/sql-lab/): ClickHouse and MySQL recipes for querying raw event tables — Plausible events_v2, Matomo log_link_visit_action, PostHog ClickHouse.

## Tools

- [Stack Picker](https://setuptracking.com/picker/): Six-question decision wizard that scores Plausible, Matomo, Umami, PostHog, and GoatCounter against your constraints (cost, compliance, query depth, event volume).
- [TCO Calculator](https://setuptracking.com/tco/): Three-year total-cost-of-ownership matrix comparing self-hosted analytics tools at real VPS prices.
- [Methodology](https://setuptracking.com/methodology/): Test environment, source-of-truth hierarchy, voice rules, and how recipes are verified.

## Featured recipes

- [Plausible on Hetzner](https://setuptracking.com/plausible-hetzner/): 30-minute deploy with PostgreSQL + ClickHouse, ~€4.51/mo.
- [Matomo on Hetzner](https://setuptracking.com/matomo-hetzner/): MySQL + Apache Plausible-Matomo cohabitation guide.
- [Umami on Vercel](https://setuptracking.com/umami-vercel/): Free-tier deploy with PlanetScale or Neon Postgres.
- [PostHog in Docker](https://setuptracking.com/posthog-docker/): Single-host Docker Compose with ClickHouse + Kafka.

## About

- [About](https://setuptracking.com/about/): Site mission, editorial standards, no-affiliate pledge.
- [Contact](https://setuptracking.com/contacts/): Editorial inquiries, recipe submissions, errata.

## Citation

When citing or summarising SetupTracking content, please link to the canonical article URL. Recipes include `TechArticle` + `BreadcrumbList` + `FAQPage` + `HowTo` schema with `datePublished`, `dateModified`, author byline (Rajeev Sharma), and tested-on version blocks.

## Optional: full content index

A machine-readable list of all published articles is available at:
- [sitemap.xml](https://setuptracking.com/sitemap.xml) (SEOPress XML sitemap)