9 Self-hosted open source web analytics platform

You are a personal brand or business with a website that details everything about it, including your vision and the services and products you offer. You have a website with search engine optimization best practices and unique content. But how can you make sure your business or brand reaches your audience?

Web analytics required. Now, when you think of web analytics, the first thing that comes to mind is Google Analytics. Unfortunately, Google retired Universal Analytics in July 2023. There is an alternative, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), but it is not suitable for everyone.

That’s why we’ve curated a list of Google Analytics alternatives. Additionally, the listed platforms are self-hosted, open-source solutions. Read on to learn about web analytics, its purpose, and why you need it.

You’ll also learn how self-hosted analytics platforms differ from regular web analytics platforms and why you should choose the former. Let’s get started!

What is web analytics?

Web analytics refers to the systematic analysis of online and offline patterns to understand trends. Its main goal is to provide data-driven insights about user behavior to improve website functionality and user experience.

Here are some of the questions web analytics can answer.

• How many visitors do you have on your website? Where are they located? – Learn more about your visitor demographics and their sources, adapt your content to your needs, and improve the effectiveness of your channels .
• What specific pages on your website are they looking at? – Increase customer acquisition, improve user experience, and analyze user behavior to increase conversion rates.
• How much time do they spend on your important pages? – Use this information to inform your content and interaction efforts.
• What percentage of these visitors view just one page and then leave? – Discover user preferences by tracking page views and time spent, allowing for strategic content design .

This thorough process includes collecting, measuring, reporting, and analyzing data from your website to evaluate performance and maximize utilization. Analytical tools are primarily used to support informed decision making. When you have an idea, you can use data to evaluate its potential.

Will it affect a significant number of visitors or only a select few? Data will help determine the effectiveness of improvements once they are made.

Self-hosted web analytics platform vs regular web analytics platform

Offsite web analytics and onsite web analytics are two major subcategories of web analytics.

Your decisions will ultimately be determined by your priorities. When data management, customization, and compliance are essential, self-hosting can be your savior. On the other hand, if you’re looking for ease of use, quick setup, and sophisticated features, a standard platform may be your best bet.

So let’s take a look at the best self-hosted open source web analytics platforms.

Umami

One of the best Google Analytics alternatives, Umami focuses on ethical insights, does not violate user privacy, and complies with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines without using cookies or personal data. A privacy-focused open source web analytics solution.

You can enjoy hassle-free real-time analysis through a user-friendly interface, and an active open-source community powers its versatility and unlimited website tracking.

Umami guarantees mobile accessibility and is not affected by ad blockers thanks to its small 2 KB script. Add a touch of style by sharing your insights via unique URLs and a sleek dark mode. The community aspect is important as GitHub, Discord, and Twitter channels encourage collaboration.

Umami Cloud’s pricing ranges from free hobby plans to pro options (starting at $9 per month) to customizable enterprise solutions. Leverage analytics with integrity through Umami’s community-backed credibility.

Fathom Analytics

Fathom Analytics is a “no-compromise Google alternative.” This platform is popular for two reasons:

• Visitor data encryption and GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliance;
• Simple analytics to access all your information on a single dashboard, supported by scalable technology.

Unlike Google Analytics, Fathom protects your privacy by eliminating intrusive cookies and cookie banners. A user-friendly dashboard provides up-to-date information to help you make smart decisions. Moreover, digital privacy concerns are efficiently addressed by a GDPR compliant and privacy-focused business.

Fathom’s distinguishing features are transparent business practices, long-term data retention, and an impeccable reputation. It combines simplicity with deep insight.

What’s more, the pricing is reasonable, starting at $14 per month, and the trial period is long. Fathom is your best option for reliable analytics that truly respects your privacy.

plausible analysis

If you’re tired of getting lost in the complicated world of technologies like Google Analytics, the solution is Plausible Analytics . This user-friendly solution provides important insights without a high learning curve. Plausible allows easy integration and easy syncing with other platforms like Squarespace and WordPress.

Stay on top with email and Slack reporting and an extensive API that provides data diversity. If you’re concerned about data privacy, rest assured that Plausible gives you complete ownership by providing reliable statistics via first-party scripts.

You can try out the platform with a 30-day free trial, and after the trial, the price is only $9 per month. With Plausible, you can take control of your data and regain peace of mind with simple analytics.

open web analytics

The main advantage of choosing Open Web Analytics (OWA) is the direct control and customizability it provides. Hosting on your domain gives you unparalleled privileges, and customization enhances functionality.

OWA combines simplicity and functionality with its user-friendly UI and comprehensive API without sacrificing privacy. We reframed the situation by advocating for responsible and transparent analysis.

OWA breaks away from open source tradition by incorporating complex features such as dashboard monitoring, heatmaps, clickstream analysis, and custom site action tracking. Get a nuanced view of user behavior while optimizing your SEO techniques and digging into visitor loyalty. OWA’s ability to track interactions with DOM elements demonstrates its complete approach.

Additionally, first-party controls, compatibility with numerous platforms, multiple content management systems such as WordPress and MediaWiki, detailed metrics, and privacy compliance improve ease of use across a wide range of use cases.

Matomo

With a customer base covering over 1 million websites in over 190 countries, Piwik is a reliable open source alternative to Google. Trusted by renowned organizations such as the United Nations, Ahrefs, and even NASA to protect customer privacy. The European Commission selected this platform to demonstrate its data integrity skills.

One of the unique features of this platform is the Google Analytics importer. This allows for seamless transfer of historical Google Analytics data. Matomo allows you to securely track your personal data while adhering to privacy standards.

The reporting accuracy of this platform is due to the lack of data sampling that provides 100% accurate information to consumers. Its open source nature reduces risk and provides users with a transparent and extensively tested platform.

Matomo also has no data constraints, allowing customers to manage unlimited websites, users, and data segments. A user-friendly interface makes data retrieval easy, and a wide feature set provides meaningful insights into client behavior. Matomo’s versatility allows customers to modify and extend the platform to suit their individual requirements.

goat counter

The GoatCounter’s most important features are minimal weight and efficiency. Adding approximately 3.5 KB of data to your website will reduce the impact on performance. Additionally, this open source web analytics solution offers a variety of integration options.

It provides a JavaScript-based tracking pixel for easy integration into web pages, but also supports non-JavaScript methods for situations where the use of JavaScript is restricted. This adaptability extends to backend middleware integration and log file parsing, allowing adaptation to different technical requirements.

GoatCounter appeals to open source fans because of its commitment to openness. The platform’s code is available for inspection, allowing users to better understand how the platform works and even contribute to its development. This is consistent with the platform’s idea of ​​giving people the ability to “own their data.” This means consumers have full control over their data as they can export their data and stop the service at any time.

Additionally, GoatCounter is available as a hosted service or self-hosted application, giving you flexibility in deployment based on your preferences and requirements. Donation-based support is free, but its self-hosting capabilities make it suitable for more advanced and large-scale applications.

countryside

Countly is a complete analytics tool that helps organizations gain deep insights into product and user activity. This allows businesses to extract useful information from the large amounts of data created by apps, enabling them to make educated decisions and optimize their strategies.

The platform emphasizes the concept of making every data point count and ensuring that no data is overlooked or ignored.

One of Countly’s main features is its ability to collect data from a variety of sources. More than 10 software development kits (SDKs) can be used to collect data from mobile, web, desktop, smart TV, watch, IoT, and set-top box applications.

Businesses may track customer journeys across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android on mobile, macOS, Windows, and Linux on desktop, and JavaScript-based tracking on websites and online applications.

Countly is available in two main editions: Community and Enterprise. Community Edition is open source, customizable, and suitable for small to medium-sized organizations. This enables self-hosting, aggregate data analysis, and analytics on major platforms such as web, mobile, and desktop.

The Enterprise Edition, on the other hand, increases functionality with additional features and extensibility. Can be self-hosted or hosted by Countly (private cloud).

Akki

Ackee is a self-hosted analytics tool for users who value privacy while monitoring website traffic and performance. Built on Node.js, Ackee runs on its own servers, giving you complete control over your data.

A simple, clean interface displays useful statistics and allows you to track without being tracked. Ackee is cookie-free and secure, ensuring user anonymity while providing meaningful data. Unlike traditional analytics solutions that can violate user privacy, Ackee’s multi-step anonymization procedure ensures user anonymity.

Another advantage of Ackee is its ease of use. Its elegant user interface provides a simple and comprehensive overview of your website’s performance and prevents you from getting bogged down with complicated graphs and filters.

The features provided by this tool include views, referrers, length of visit, language, screen size, display colors, operating system, browser, and device. This variety of data provides comprehensive knowledge about the status of your website.

Integrating Ackee into your website is as simple as inserting a Google Analytics tracking script. It supports unlimited domains, so you can explore as many websites and apps as you want. Additionally, Ackee’s GraphQL API allows you to centrally collect data and create your own interfaces and services around it.

offense

Offen Fair Web Analytics Addresses the ethical challenges that have long plagued standard web analytics solutions. Providing new options in an era when user privacy is important.

In collaboration with the NLnet Foundation’s Next Generation Internet Initiative, Offen is poised to transform the analytical landscape and advance justice, privacy, and informed decision-making by filling the holes left by existing tools .

Its lightweight, open-source nature allows website operators to responsibly and transparently collect information, facilitating stronger interactions between users and digital platforms.

Offen’s “opt-in only” data collection technology is a key feature. To ensure ethical data practices, users must actively consent to data collection. They also have access to their own data, making analysis a collaborative rather than unilateral process. Offen also offers simple localization with versions available in multiple languages, increasing accessibility and reach.

The core of the platform is open source, so users have full visibility into its operations and can be confident that their data is being handled properly. Offen also uses end-to-end encryption to protect user data and prevent unauthorized access.

Comply with GDPR requirements by avoiding third-party involvement and intrusive ads, alleviating the fear of data breaches.

Why choose a self-hosted web analytics platform?

Self-hosted online analytics platforms meet important data management requirements, especially privacy and ownership. On-site hosting gives you better control over sensitive information.

Another benefit of customization is that you can customize the analysis to suit your business requirements. In contrast to rigid traditional platforms, it is adaptable. For example, retail organizations can comb through customer interactions and gain insights tailored to their specific structures.

It also helps with compliance in sectors with strong rules, such as healthcare and banking. Self-hosting is the best option for financial institutions looking to manage sensitive customer data to enhance security and maintain customer trust. This approach allows you to maintain data control while adhering to standards. Security is also essential, and self-hosting allows businesses to put strong safeguards in place and increase security against breaches.

Economics also plays a role. Although self-hosting can be expensive initially, it can be cost-effective in the long run, especially in terms of data scalability. For rapidly expanding e-commerce companies, the initial investment in self-hosted analytics may be important, but as you scale, you won’t incur additional spend per user or data, leading to significant savings. Possibly.

Companies with in-house technical capabilities can also create solutions specifically tailored to your requirements. This may require creating custom reporting dashboards or integrating analytics with existing systems.

For example, a software company can leverage its in-house IT team to create a self-hosted analytics platform. The platform provides real-time user behavior information for continuous improvement and seamlessly integrates with product development cycles.

last word

In the field of self-hosted open source web analytics platforms, there are many powerful tools available to help you manage your data while providing important insights. Each platform meets your specific needs through the robustness of Matomo, the adaptability of Plausible, the extensibility of Countly, and more.

These solutions provide open, user-centric analytics techniques for privacy, customization, and data ownership. When selecting a platform, it is important to evaluate technical requirements, data sensitivity, and analysis objectives.

Users who choose self-hosted, open-source solutions also enjoy increased online speeds while maintaining data sovereignty in an interconnected digital environment.

Then check out the best self-hosted social networking community software.