Ahrefs vs Plausible Analytics

Ahrefs (BTW we use OCaml) and Plausible Analytics (Simple, open source, lightweight (< 1 KB) and privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics.) both appear on the Smoower Developer Ecosystem Index.

Plausible Analytics (rank #338) holds a narrow lead over Ahrefs (rank #401) on the overall Smoower ecosystem score (43 vs 41). The gap of 2 points reflects composite signals across code, docs, community and reach.

On code quality (the state of repositories, tests, releases and polish), Plausible Analytics is ahead of Ahrefs. On education (docs, guides and learning material for developers), Plausible Analytics is ahead of Ahrefs. On community (issue response, PR reviews and discussion health), Plausible Analytics is clearly ahead of Ahrefs. On reach (how visible the ecosystem is beyond its own repos), Plausible Analytics is clearly ahead of Ahrefs. On momentum (release cadence and how fast the ecosystem moves), Ahrefs is clearly ahead of Plausible Analytics.

Ahrefs carries 1,303 GitHub stars across 171 public repos, with 28 repositories active in the last 90 days and 7 external contributors on record. Plausible Analytics shows 31,145 stars across 21 public repos, 7 active in the last 90 days and 23 external contributors. The star gap on its own does not decide the comparison, but Plausible Analytics's footprint is roughly 23.9x larger, which usually shows up in downstream signals like inbound issues and third party integrations.

Ahrefs is the stronger read for anyone weighting momentum. Plausible Analytics looks better where reach is the deciding factor. The table below breaks the scores down pillar by pillar; the linked profiles cover the underlying repos, docs and community signals in full.