zgoat/goatcounter
Goatcounter
Goatcounter is a privacy-focused web analytics platform designed to be self-hosted on your own infrastructure. It collects visitor statistics like page views, browser information, location, screen size, and referring sites without using cookies or storing any personal data, identifying unique visits through a non-identifiable hash derived from browser and network data.
The platform distinguishes itself by offering multiple tracking methods that respect user privacy, including a lightweight JavaScript snippet, an image-based tracking pixel for environments without JavaScript, and the ability to import server access logs from nginx, Apache, Caddy, or CloudFront. It runs as a single compiled binary with SQLite as its primary database, supports PostgreSQL, and includes automatic TLS certificate provisioning from Let's Encrypt for secure connections.
Goatcounter provides a web interface and REST API for viewing aggregated statistics, managing multiple sites, and exporting all collected data in CSV format for full ownership and portability. It also offers ready-made integration snippets for popular static site generators and content management systems like Gatsby, WordPress, and Hugo.
Features
- Self-Hosted Analytics Platforms - Runs the full analytics application on your own server, giving you full control over data.
- Privacy-Focused Analytics - Collects website visitor statistics without cookies, personal data, or unique identifiers to respect privacy.
- Visit Identifiers - Identifies distinct visits without cookies or persistent identifiers using a privacy-preserving method.
- Analytics Integrations - Adds a single JavaScript snippet to any page to start collecting visitor statistics with minimal setup.
- Page View Statistics Retrievals - Fetches aggregated view counts, per-path statistics, referral data, and browser/system details through GET endpoints.
- Page View Tracking - Records a visit to a website by incrementing a counter for the site's domain.
- SQLite-Backed - Runs the entire analytics stack from a single compiled binary with SQLite for zero-dependency deployment.
- Identifier Anonymization - Creates a temporary session identifier from site ID, user agent, and IP address without storing any personal data to disk.
- Salted Hash Session Identification - Identifies unique visits using a salted hash of IP and user agent without storing personal data.
- Log Importers - Parses access logs from nginx, Apache, Caddy, or CloudFront to populate analytics data.
- Log File Parsing - Parses server log files to generate analytics data without modifying the website's frontend.
- Server Log Analytics Importers - Parses server access logs from nginx, Apache, Caddy, or CloudFront to populate analytics dashboards.
- Visitor Tracking Dashboards - Collects pageview data via script tags, image pixels, middleware, or log file imports without cookies.
- Unique Session Trackers - Counts each unique visitor session once, ignoring repeat page loads within the same visit to provide more meaningful analytics.
- Web Visitor Statistics Reports - Displays aggregated metrics on browser type, location, screen size, referring sites, and campaign performance.
- Privacy-Preserving Visit Identifiers - Distinguishes repeat visitors by a non-identifiable hash derived from browser and network data, avoiding personal tracking.
- Pageview Tracking - Adds a small JavaScript snippet to any web page to automatically count visits and pageviews without tracking personal data.
- Unique Visit Sessions - Provides session-based visitor counting that deduplicates repeat page loads within a single visit.
- Web Visitor Analytics - Displays aggregated metrics including browser info, location, screen size, referring sites, and campaign data through a web interface.
- Cookie-Less Tracking - Tracks website visitors without cookies or personal identifiers to respect privacy.
- Static Site Analytics Integrations - Configures analytics for Gatsby, Publii, Schlix, WordPress, and Write.as by pasting a custom script.
- WordPress Integration - Offers a dedicated WordPress plugin or custom JavaScript snippet for analytics integration.
- Server Access - Parses nginx, Apache, Caddy, or CloudFront access logs to populate analytics dashboards without client-side tracking.
- Analytics Site Configuration APIs - Creates, lists, updates, and retrieves site configurations programmatically through REST endpoints.
- JavaScript-Free Tracking Integrations - Collects analytics using an image-based tracking pixel or backend middleware without requiring client-side scripts.
- Analytics Management Interfaces - Creates and configures individual website tracking profiles via a command-line interface or setup wizard.
- Data Export - Exports all collected analytics data so users retain full ownership and can cancel service anytime.
- Portable Data Exports - Exports all collected analytics data in CSV format for full ownership and portability.
- Static Site Integrations - Provides ready-made setup instructions for embedding analytics into static site generators.
- Server Access Log Importers - Parses and ingests server access logs from nginx, Apache, Caddy, or CloudFront into the analytics database.
- Tracking Pixels - Uses an image-based tracking pixel or server-side middleware to collect analytics when JavaScript is unavailable.
- Server-Side Pageview Senders - Ships a server-side API endpoint for sending batched pageview data with elevated rate limits.
- Image Pixel Tracking - Collects visitor statistics using an image pixel or server-side middleware when JavaScript is unavailable.
- Business Analytics - Simple, privacy-friendly web statistics.
