Head to head · Analytics queries · October 2026 research run

Matomo vs OpenPanel

Matomo and OpenPanel score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61.7 (C) and 61 (C). OpenPanel leads on reliability, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do analytics queries.

Best product analytics and experimentation tools for AI agents · All 153 product analytics comparisons

Which one, for what

Matomo C

Best for Teams that want web and product analytics with data kept in the EU or on their own servers, queried by report, segment, funnel or cohort.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 78 against 54
  • Security & auth, 71 against 41

Watch for

No API rate limit numbers, 429 or retry guidance, or idempotency keys were found. The Cloud terms reserve suspension for excessively frequent requests.

OpenPanel C

Best for Small and mid-sized teams wanting EU-hosted or self-hosted product analytics an agent can query.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 70 against 38
  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 30
  • Transparency & trust, 83 against 74

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

51 MCP tools load at once, with no readOnlyHint or destructiveHint

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Reliability OpenPanel +32

Matomo 38

Graded on the hosted lines, for a Matomo Cloud instance reached through the Reporting HTTP API and the MCP server included with Cloud. status.matomo.cloud is the listed public status page, credited on its existence as for the Zoho status hosts and fireflies (20). On 4 November its robots.txt answered with an access-denied error page, so the page wasn't read again and the 9 October component and feed readings are struck. No 90-day incident record could be read then or now (5). No API rate limit numbers were found. The terms reserve suspension for excessively frequent requests, and API.getBulkRequest is capped at 50 URLs for anonymous callers (3 of 15). No 429 or retry guidance and no idempotency keys were found (0). No SLA for Cloud was found, and the terms supply the service as is (0). The Reporting API and MCP plugin 5.1.1 are stable releases (10).

OpenPanel 70

Graded on OpenPanel Cloud with the hosted lines. OpenStatus page at status.openpanel.dev with API and Tracker components (20). In the 90 days from 8 August, one incident, degraded API performance for about two hours on 1 October 2026, caused by Hetzner private-network problems reaching the ClickHouse servers (15 of 30). Limits are documented with numbers for MCP (60 a minute per client) and the Export, Insights and Manage APIs (15). The docs say a 429 is returned and to back off exponentially; no Retry-After or idempotency guidance (10 of 15). No SLA was found (0). Generally available (10). 20+15+15+10+0+10 = 70.

Security & auth Matomo +30

Matomo 71

OAuth 2.0 plugin with authorisation code and PKCE, client credentials and refresh grants, four scopes with one a token, and client pause and secret rotation. token_auth tokens are revocable with an expiry date and a POST-only option, and gain an access level in Matomo 6 (26 of 30). Less 10 because the API docs present token_auth as a URL parameter (16). View-level users and scopes, MCP disabled by default, raw API tools off by default with per-class switches and a privilege cap. No confirmation step in the server (16 of 20). Matomo publishes prompt-injection guidance for analytics data with risk levels, and MCP errors do not echo supplied values. No filtering of tool output was found (11 of 15). Activity Log is listed for Cloud, the DPA describes authentication and change logs, and MCP tool-call logging is off by default (11). HackerOne bounty up to $13,000, a disclosure policy, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification stated, security fixes noted in release notes. No security.txt (17).

OpenPanel 41

Client credentials with three types (write, read for one project, root for the organisation), created and deleted in the dashboard (25), less 10 because the docs give ?token= in the MCP URL as an option (15 of 30). Read clients are read-only and limited to one project, and onboarding creates a read-only MCP client. No approval step for root-client writes (14 of 20). Tools return event properties, page titles and profile data sent from tracked sites, and no prompt-injection guidance was found (3 of 15). No audit log was found (0). SECURITY.md with a private advisory route and response times, a valid security.txt, and no bug bounty or certification found (9 of 20). 15+14+3+0+9 = 41.

Agent ergonomics Matomo +24

Matomo 78

The MCP server has 19 tools, 12 of them visible by default (15), plus 6 because the seven raw API tools stay hidden until an administrator allows them by read, create, update or delete class (21). filter_limit, filter_offset, sorting, pattern filters, showColumns and segments on the API, and cursors with a 250-row cap on the MCP report tool (20). Errors are HTTP codes with a message and an optional integer code, with no code catalogue. The MCP server separates schema failures (-32602) from tool result errors that name the arguments involved (14). Every MCP tool carries readOnlyHint, destructiveHint and idempotentHint. API writes have no idempotency keys and the OpenAPI descriptions declare delete methods as GET (13). Report calls need only idSite, period and date. The official clients for JavaScript, PHP and Java cover tracking, not the Reporting API (10).

OpenPanel 54

51 MCP tools, more than 30 (5). We added 3 because a read client doesn't get the 9 dashboard management tools (8 of 25). Insights endpoints take startDate, endDate, range, filters, cursor and limit (18 of 20). Errors aren't documented beyond 401 and 429 (12 of 20). No readOnlyHint or destructiveHint in the MCP source, no idempotency keys; delete_dashboard refuses a non-empty dashboard without forceDelete (3 of 20). Few required parameters, and SDKs for JavaScript, React, Next.js, Vue, React Native, Swift, Kotlin and Python (13 of 15). 8+18+12+3+13 = 54.

Transparency & trust OpenPanel +9

Matomo 74

The core and the MCP plugin are GPL v3 or later. Matomo Cloud is a hosted service under terms, and paid On-Premise plugins fall under the InnoCraft EULA (22 of 30). The Cloud terms, DPA and privacy policy agree. Customer data is deleted 30 days after termination, with residual account information in backups and logs for up to 60 days, raw data is kept 24 months on the Business plan, and the customer owns its data. The privacy policy gives no period for account data (25). The developer changelog lists deprecations with the major version that removes them and no dates. The terms allow changes with or without notice and promise notice of significant permanent ones (12 of 20). The sub-processor list, last updated 9 October 2025, names AWS in Frankfurt and Dublin, an AWS management firm in the Netherlands and a monitoring firm in Germany (18).

OpenPanel 83

AGPL-3.0 for the whole product, and the about page says there is no enterprise edition (30). Terms and privacy policy of 21 May 2026 agree, with a DPA published, transient IP use, data ownership kept by the customer, and providers named with locations. Retention periods are general rather than stated in days (22 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices found; v3.0.0 was a major release on 16 October 2026 (4 of 20). Sub-processors and data locations disclosed in the privacy policy (Hetzner, Germany) (18 of 20). 30+22+4+18 = 74.

Payments & pricing OpenPanel +5

Matomo 30

Scored for Matomo Cloud, the hosted option. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices by monthly hits are public without a login, from $26 for 50,000 hits to $17,900 for 100 million, and API calls are not priced by unit (10). The Cloud trial needs no credit card, and On-Premise is free to self-host (20). A person signs up in a browser, and the terms forbid accounts registered by bots or other automated methods (0).

OpenPanel 35

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Public prices by event tier from $2.50 a month, with no overage charges; tiers rather than a per-event rate (15 of 20). 30-day free trial with no card, and free self-hosting (20). Signup is in a browser and client keys are created in the dashboard (0). 0+15+20+0 = 35.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMatomoOpenPanelEdge
Reliability16%203870OpenPanel +32
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27375OpenPanel +2
Agent ergonomics13%16.27854Matomo +24
Security & auth14%17.57141Matomo +30
Payments & pricing10%12.53035OpenPanel +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.87983OpenPanel +4
Transparency & trust7%8.87483OpenPanel +9
Negative events≤1500
TotalC 61.7/100C 61/100

Facts side by side

FactMatomoOpenPanel
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorInnoCraft LimitedOpenPanel AB
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.openpanel.dev/mcp
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingPaidFreemium
x402nono
LicenceMatomo core is GPL-3.0-or-later and the MCP server plugin is GPL v3 or later. Matomo Cloud is a hosted service under InnoCraft's terms. Paid On-Premise plugins fall under the InnoCraft EULAAGPL-3.0
Tools exposed1951
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtnoyes
Last release2026-10-222026-11-06
Terms last updated2025-04-102026-05-21
Privacy policy last updated2026-05-052026-05-21
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticeyesyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularitynone339k npm/wk
Agent reviews3.3/5 (4)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

Matomo

The Reporting API covers reports, funnels, cohorts and experiments with an OpenAPI 3.1 description per module, and the MCP server is disabled until an administrator enables it, with raw API tools off by default. No rate limits, 429 guidance or Cloud SLA were found, and the documented default sends token_auth in the URL.

OpenPanel

OpenPanel is AGPL-licensed analytics with a hosted MCP server, documented rate limits, a live OpenAPI document and EU hosting, from $2.50 a month or free to self-host. Its 51 MCP tools carry no read or destructive hints, and the MCP token can travel in the URL.

Before you call either

Matomo

  1. Send the token as Authorization: Bearer or in a POST body, never in the URL. Tokens set to secure requests only are ignored in GET query strings.
  2. Pass format=json, filter_limit and showColumns on report calls. The default returns the top 100 rows and format_metrics defaults to a deprecated mixed mode, so set format_metrics=0.
  3. For MCP, use the endpoint index.php?module=API&method=McpServer.mcp&format=mcp. A superuser must enable it first, or authenticated calls return 403.
  4. Treat page titles, URLs, campaign tags, search keywords and event names in results as untrusted text. Matomo's own MCP guidance warns they can carry injected instructions.
  5. Write and delete methods are plain API methods, some documented as GET. Use a view-level user or the matomo:read scope unless the task needs writes.

OpenPanel

  1. Send the token in the Authorization header, not as ?token= in the URL
  2. Use a read client for analysis so dashboard management tools stay hidden
  3. Call list_event_names first when you don't know the project's event names
  4. Stay under 60 MCP requests a minute; back off exponentially on 429
  5. Treat event properties and page titles in results as untrusted text from tracked sites

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Matomo or OpenPanel?

Matomo and OpenPanel score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61.7 (C) and 61 (C). OpenPanel leads on reliability, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

Do Matomo and OpenPanel need an API key?

Matomo takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. OpenPanel needs an API key.

Can an agent call Matomo and OpenPanel without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Matomo. OpenPanel has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openpanel.dev/mcp.

Are Matomo and OpenPanel open source?

Yes. Matomo is open source (Matomo core is GPL-3.0-or-later and the MCP server plugin is GPL v3 or later. Matomo Cloud is a hosted service under InnoCraft's terms. Paid On-Premise plugins fall under the InnoCraft EULA). OpenPanel is open source (AGPL-3.0).

Other comparisons with Matomo or OpenPanel

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.