Matomo is free and open-source software (FOSS)​

Free and open-source software gives you, the user, the freedom to run, share, study and modify it without limitations.

For Matomo, the “free” in “free software” is used primarily in reference to freedom and not to price – although Matomo core is available free of charge. 

The most important thing about Matomo is that it confers rights of software freedom on the people who install and use it. It is those freedoms that enable the Matomo community to grow; to share a collective experience; and to contribute their expertise to improve Matomo.

Free and Open Source (FOSS)

We have made a deliberate choice to offer freedom by choosing the GNU General Public License v3 (or later). Licensed to be free to use, modify, and distribute.

Free software has been a coherent social movement for more than two decades. This movement has produced millions of lines of code, documentation, and a vibrant community of which Matomo is proud to be a part of.

The main benefits of free and open-source analytics

  • Community – A thriving open-source community is a treasured asset to any open-source project. Without a community of believers, contributors to encourage, challenge and advocate for us, we wouldn’t have made it to where we are. Interested in joining this community? Get involved!

  • Future-proof analytics – No matter what happens in the future, the Matomo core software will remain free forever. There will never be an event which will cause Matomo to turn the open-source software into proprietary software. This is because we don’t require contributors to give over the copyright of their code, and so the core is protected from any licensing issues. 

  • Security – Our open-source solution is more secure as we’re able to tap into the collective power of a community to ensure our code is more thoroughly examined and reviewed. We also run a dedicated bug bounty programme for security issues.

  • Reliability – Because there is a community of talented contributors and developers constantly improving and adding fixing the code, over time it becomes increasingly more dependable since there have been so many eyes on it.

  • Transparency – The source code is open for all to see, “open source”. 

  • Free from being locked in to one vendor – Choosing open-source means the power of the solution rests in your hands. Rather than being trapped by a solution you’ll outgrow, this access to the source code, raw data and APIs is liberating. 

  • Ethical and trustworthy – People choose Matomo for a reason, and it’s because we are here to empower you to choose a software that is fully yours to own, modify and explore.

Matomo adheres to free software and open-source principles 

This is why you see FOSS being used, as it stands for Free and Open Source Software.

Free software principles

Quoting the Free Software Foundation’s “What is Free Software”, the four freedoms at the core of free software, such as Matomo, are defined as:

  • The freedom to run the programme, for any purpose.

  • The freedom to study how the programme works, and adapt it to your needs.

  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others.

  • The freedom to improve the programme, and release your improvements to the public, so that everyone benefits.

 We want you to feel that liberation in being able to have access to our web analytics software and reap the benefits of having an open-source community that continues to contribute to making Matomo Analytics better.

Learn more in this short video: What is Free Software (Open Source)? Explained in less than 3 minutes (from the FSFE).

We hope you will join us as we continue championing your right to enhance technology and have access to free software forever.

intranet analytics

"Given our tradition in libraries to protect reader privacy, a compelling argument can be made that Google Analytics is inappropriate for libraries. After a review of alternatives to GA following Edward Snowden's revelations, we selected Matomo as a replacement for GA. Matomo is a free, open source, and most importantly, supports local data collection."

Adam Chandler | Director at Cornell University

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Matomo’s commitment to open-source 

Open-source remains a very important part of Matomo. 

Matomo core will forever remain open-source. This will never change. 

More than 50 public repositories are also available if you’re interested in exploring the projects we’re involved in https://github.com/matomo-org/

Projects such as:

Matomo’s licenses:

Check out all of Matomo’s free and open-source licenses here https://matomo.org/licences/ 

Libraries packaged with Matomo

Matomo uses many other great libraries written in PHP (Twig, PclZip, Tcpdf, pChart, PEAR, Zend, cssmin, jsmin, sparkline, PEAR, etc.) and in JavaScript (angularjs, jquery, Jqplot, sprintf, jquery plugins, etc).

A list of libraries used by Matomo and their respective licenses can also be found in the file: LEGALNOTICE

Free Software Foundation

Don’t you wish all software came with these freedoms? So do we!

The FSF advocates for free software ideals as outlined in the Free Software Definition, works for the adoption of free software and free media formats and organises activist campaigns against threats to user freedoms such as Windows 7, Apple’s iPhone and OS X, DRM on ebooks and movies, and software patents.

Matomo.org is a proud member of the FSF.

Matomo integrates with other free softwares

Matomo also integrates with most of the popular free/libre web publishing platforms, web framework and ecommerce shops.

Premium plugins are closed source but are needed to fund open-source community. 

Related FAQs and docs

You may be interested in the following FAQs:

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