CAOS | Host Google Analytics Locally

80 Quality Score

Active Installs

18/30

10,000 active installs puts CAOS in a stable niche position, not mainstream like Site Kit (5 million) or Burst (200,000), so popularity contributes only 60 of the available 30 points (effectively full marks) but the raw reach is modest.

Update Freshness

25/25

Last updated in June 2026 against WordPress 7.0 with a PHP 7.0 floor shows an actively maintained plugin that keeps pace with core releases, earning full marks on this dimension.

User Rating

15/15

A 98 out of 100 average from 128 ratings is unusually strong and indicates near-universal satisfaction among users who have taken the time to review it.

Support Health

8/15

Only 2 support threads have ever been opened on the repo and both are resolved, which suggests the plugin is stable and rarely breaks, though the tiny sample size means the 50 percent score reflects low volume rather than weak help.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Tested up to WordPress 7.0 with a PHP 7.0 minimum and a minimal, single-purpose codebase keeps compatibility risk very low, justifying a perfect score.

Scores higher than 79% of indexed plugins

About

The fastest, lightest way to integrate Google Analytics in WordPress.

Active Installs 10k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.9/5

Last Updated 2026-06-04 2:03pm GMT

Requires WordPress 4.6+

Tested Up To 7.0.4

Requires PHP 7.0+

Security History

2 known vulnerabilities, all patched

2 Medium

Most recent: December 12, 2023

View details ▸

What It Does

CAOS downloads the Google Analytics tracking script (analytics.js or gtag.js) and serves it from your own WordPress server instead of pulling it from Google's CDN. It also lets you anonymize IP addresses, set up cookie consent strings, and adjust script loading priority for better PageSpeed scores. In practice, it removes a third-party request from your site, which trims load time and keeps some ad blockers and privacy tools from tripping.

Who It's For

This plugin is built for site owners who care about Core Web Vitals, want to avoid being flagged by ad blockers or cookie consent banners as much as possible, and run analytics without giving Google a direct front-end request on every page. It fits performance-focused blogs, European small businesses under GDPR pressure, and publishers who want lightweight tracking without the overhead of a full Google dashboard integration.

Who Should Skip It

If you want Google's own dashboard, Search Console data, AdSense stats, and tag management in one place, Site Kit by Google does all of that and is a better fit. Anyone running a heavy marketing stack with Google Tag Manager for multiple vendors should also skip this and use GTM directly, since CAOS focuses on a single Analytics script.

The Bottom Line

CAOS earns an 80.11 overall score and is a focused, well-maintained utility that does one thing, hosting Analytics locally, very well. It will not replace Site Kit for users who want Google's full dashboard, and the small install base is the only real concern for long-term support risk. For performance-conscious site owners who already know their tracking ID, it is one of the leanest options available.

Related Plugins

Site Kit by Google 94/100

Pick Site Kit instead if you want Search Console, AdSense, and Tag Manager data inside wp-admin, not just faster Analytics loading.

Widgets for Google Reviews 94/100

This is a different use case entirely (review widgets), so only relevant if your real need is Google Business reviews, not analytics.

Burst Statistics 93/100

Choose Burst if you want cookieless, GDPR-friendly analytics that stay entirely on your own server and skip Google entirely.

GDPR Cookie Compliance 93/100

Pair this with CAOS rather than picking it instead, since it handles the consent banner layer that CAOS assumes you already have.

Complianz 92/100

Like GDPR Cookie Compliance, Complianz is a consent management plugin; combine it with CAOS for a full privacy stack rather than treating them as direct swaps.