Grain logomark
Honest comparison · Updated April 2026

Grain vs Umami

Umami is for developers who want a tiny, self-hostable counter. Grain is for teams who need an AI analyst investigating revenue leaks.

The 30-second honest answer
Pick Umami if you want

A tiny, open-source, developer-friendly counter you can self-host in minutes.

Pick Grain if you want

Full-stack behavior intelligence with an AI analyst: heatmaps, session replay, mobile, and Deep Investigation.

They overlap on: Cookieless tracking, EU-friendly, lightweight script, clean dashboards.

Feature matrix

What each tool ships today. No roadmap wishes.

Capability
Umami
Grain
Open source
Self-hosted on enterprise
Self-hostable
Enterprise only
Cloud SaaS
Cookieless tracking
Recall
GDPR out of the box
AI analyst built-in
Kai (3 tiers)
Deep Investigation
Six-phase audit
Heatmaps
Session Replay
Mobile SDK
iOS + Android
Funnels / journeys
Basic
Tracks + attribution + p-values
Custom dashboards
WordPress / WooCommerce
Community
Native, server-side
BYOK AI
n/a
OpenAI, Gemini
Pricing
Free OSS / cloud paid
$29 → $299 · LTD via AppSumo

When Umami is the better choice

  • You want a minimal counter and zero operational overhead beyond a Postgres instance.
  • You're a developer who prefers SQL over a UI.
  • You don't need replay, heatmaps, or AI analysis.

When Grain is the better choice

  • You've outgrown counting — you need to know why funnels leak.
  • You want Kai writing reports instead of hand-rolling SQL.
  • You need replay, heatmaps, and mobile in one tool.
  • You're running revenue through WordPress or WooCommerce.

Run both, no commitment

Umami and Grain run in parallel. Keep Umami for your dev audit log and let Grain handle the revenue surfaces. Email eray@grainql.com for a 90-day Growth-tier trial.

FAQ

Is Grain open source?

No, not in the next 12 months. Self-hosting is available on enterprise tier.

Does Grain track users across sites?

No. No cross-site tracking, no fingerprinting, no third-party cookies.

Can I export my data?

Yes. CSV from every view, plus the Grain Connector (in development).