Connect Plausible¶
Connecting Plausible gives Squoosh a source to calibrate your synthetic shoppers against. Squoosh reads your recorded traffic and shapes the shopper pool to match your real visitors, so experiment results reflect your actual audience. This page covers what the connection does and how to set it up from the Integrations page.
Beta
Plausible is a newly added connector. It calibrates device, geography, and traffic-source mix from real visit and visitor counts — the same fidelity as Google Analytics — plus a conversion rate when you set a goal.
What the connection does¶
Plausible is a calibration source. Once connected, Squoosh reads your recorded visitor traffic and builds synthetic shoppers whose mix of device, traffic source, and geography matches your real visitors — the same role Google Analytics or Shopify Analytics plays. Setting a conversion goal also gives Squoosh a true visitor-based conversion rate to ground shopper behavior against.
The connection is not required to run a test — Squoosh can build a pool from a general e-commerce mix without it. For how the calibrated pool behaves and how the match is measured, see Synthetic shoppers.
Connect Plausible¶
You'll need a Plausible API key and your site's domain. Plausible's Stats API — what this connection reads — is a Business-plan feature, and the key itself has to be created as the "Stats API" type: in Plausible, go to Settings → API Keys → New API Key, then choose Stats API (not "Sites API" — that key type exists for provisioning sites, not reading stats, and won't work here).
- In the sidebar, click Integrations.
- In the Plausible row, click Connect.
- Enter:
- API key — a Stats API-type key from Plausible's Settings → API Keys → New API Key. Kept private; Squoosh never shows it again after you save it.
- Site domain — the domain you track in Plausible, e.g.
example.com. - API host (optional) — only needed for a self-hosted Plausible instance. Defaults to
https://plausible.io. - Conversion goal name (optional) — the goal Plausible tracks for a purchase or signup. Leave it blank if you don't want a conversion rate calibrated from Plausible.
- Click Connect.
Squoosh verifies the key and site live before saving. The row shows Connected — syncing while the first calibration read runs, then Calibrating shoppers from Plausible once real data is grounding your shopper pool.
What it grounds¶
| Dimension | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Device | visit:device |
|
| Geography | visit:country |
|
| Traffic source | visit:source |
|
| Conversion rate | Converting visitors vs. total visitors, filtered by your goal | A true visitor-based rate — Plausible has a real session/visitor concept, unlike most product-analytics tools. |
A dimension needs a reasonable amount of traffic before Squoosh treats it as real signal — a handful of visitors doesn't become a fabricated distribution. Below that floor, Squoosh leaves the dimension out of calibration rather than guessing.
Limits and caveats¶
- No goal configured means no conversion rate. Squoosh never invents one.
- Requires a Business-plan Plausible account and a "Stats API"-type key. A key created as "Sites API" type, or a plan below Business, will fail to connect even though the key itself is valid.
- Self-hosted Plausible works the same way — just set API host to your instance's URL — but needs Plausible Community Edition v3.0.0 or later (released April 2024). Older self-hosted instances may reject the relative date-range queries Squoosh sends and fail to connect.
Troubleshooting¶
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Connection fails immediately | Double-check the API key and that the site domain exactly matches what's registered in Plausible. |
| "Missing Plausible site domain" | Site domain is required — reopen Connect and fill it in. |
| Connection fails with a payment/plan error | The Stats API needs a Business plan on plausible.io, and the key must be the "Stats API" type (not "Sites API") — recreate it under Settings → API Keys → New API Key. |
| No conversion rate shows up | The Conversion goal name field is optional — add the exact goal name configured in Plausible to get one. |
| Self-hosted connection fails | Confirm your instance is on Plausible Community Edition v3.0.0+ — earlier versions may not support the date-range queries this connection uses. |
Related¶
- Synthetic shoppers — how the calibrated pool behaves and how the match is read.
- Connect Google Analytics and Connect Shopify — the original calibration sources.
- Connect a CSV import — an alternative if you'd rather export numbers from another tool.