How to switch from self-hosted Matomo and keep your data

1. Write down the reports you really use.
2. Export those reports, and keep a backup of the Matomo database.
3. Add the Hitsteps code next to the Matomo code.
4. Set up what you used before.
5. Compare the same two weeks in both tools.
6. Remove the Matomo tracking code when the new tool answers your questions.

Open Matomo and list the reports you actually open. It is usually shorter than the menu: where visitors came from, which pages they read, a goal, and maybe the visits log when a page did not convert. Write each habit as a question, such as "Which campaign sent the most visitors last week?" or "Which page do people leave from?"

This list is your test. If Hitsteps answers every line by the end of step 5, you can switch with confidence. If one line has no answer, you find out before you remove anything.

Hitsteps does not import Matomo data. It starts counting the day its code goes live. Your existing history stays in the database you already host. Take a copy before you change the server:

• Export the reports you still open. In Matomo, pick the date range, open the report, click the Export icon and download CSV, TSV or JSON. The Reporting API can pull the same reports.
• Raw visits are a separate export. Aggregated reports are not the visit log. Matomo's own guide for raw visits points to the Reporting API method Live.getLastVisitsDetails, and, on a self-hosted install, to a direct export of the database.
• Back up the database before you delete anything. That file is the full copy. Hitsteps cannot open it. Keep it somewhere you control, then use your list from step 1 when you compare the two tools.

Create a Hitsteps account, add your site and install the tracking code. Leave Matomo running. The two codes work independently. New visits in Hitsteps are stored by that hosted service, not written into your Matomo database. Choose the route that matches your site:

• A script tag in your site template. The code is in your site's Settings, under Tracking Code.
• The WordPress plugin or the Shopify app.
• Google Tag Manager, if that is where Matomo runs today. Add Hitsteps as a second tag.
• Wix and other platforms, in the setup guide.

Then open your own site in a private window, click through two or three pages and look for your visit in the live feed. You should see the page, the source and your device. If you do not, the troubleshooting section of the setup guide fixes most installs.

The 7-day Pro trial includes goals, heatmaps and funnels, so use week one to try them. After the trial, goals start on the Starter plan, click heatmaps on Growth and funnels on Pro. The Free plan covers 1 site and 2,000 pageviews a month with 14 days of detailed history. Session recordings stay off until you turn them on, and they cover a daily sample rather than every visit. Which plans include them is shown in your dashboard.

Put the same dates side by side. Start with trends and top pages, not exact totals. The numbers will not match, and that is normal: consent banners, ad blockers, bot filtering, time zones and the way each tool defines a visit all change the count. If one page looks far apart, open it yourself in a private window and see which tool noticed.

Then go back to your list from step 1 and mark each line answered or not.

Two weeks fits inside the Free plan's 14 days of detailed history, if your site stays under 2,000 pageviews a month. A longer comparison, or a busier site, needs a paid plan sized by monthly pageviews.

There is no deadline. When Hitsteps answers your list, take the Matomo code out of every place it hides. Do this before you delete the server. Matomo's uninstall note starts the same way: remove the tracking code from every site first.

• your theme or site settings (a script that loads matomo.js or piwik.js, or a header scripts field that contains _paq)
• a Google Tag Manager tag that loads Matomo
• a WordPress plugin that inserts the Matomo code
• hard-coded script in your templates (search for matomo.js, piwik.js or _paq)

Then clear your site cache, open the site in a private window and check the browser's network tab. Search for matomo.js, matomo.php, piwik.js and piwik.php. If nothing loads, the old tracking code is gone.

Only after that, and only when you no longer need the app, follow Matomo's uninstall order: delete the Matomo files, then delete the database with your database tool. The database delete is permanent, so do it last, not first. Keep the backup from step 2.

Last, check that your cookie banner and privacy page still describe what your site does. If Matomo was the reason for a banner, that may change. The rules that apply depend on your site and your visitors, so ask your own adviser if you are unsure. Our CNIL self-assessment is a good starting checklist for EU sites.

Hitsteps does not replace a database you host yourself. Keep Matomo running for that job if you:

• need the raw visit log of every visit, not a sample of recordings
• need the old reports to stay on your own server

Many sites run both for a while. Use Hitsteps for the live view and the day-to-day reports, and Matomo for the history that already sits in your database. Stopping the tracking code does not delete that database.

• Matomo is a product of its publisher. Hitsteps is not affiliated with or endorsed by Matomo.
• Matomo facts checked 7 November 2026: Export a report, Export raw visit data and Uninstall Matomo.