Looking for a simple and free website analytics solution

Question

Hi!I have a low traffic blog and would like to get a bit of insight on where it is coming from. I know there are quite a few solutions out there but I don't want to use Google.I'm looking for something simple, straightforward, maybe self-hosted but if not, with a generous free plan :)What does the HN community recommend?

tout · Accepted Answer

GoatCounter is a pretty straightforward option.https://www.goatcounter.com/

troydavis · Answer

I haven&rsquo;t used it myself, but I saw that this was released in April: https://github.com/milesmcc/shynet . At least one author is an HN user.

mtmail · Answer

fathom lite (https://github.com/usefathom/fathom) can be self-hosted. We use the pro version https://usefathom.com/ and are happy, especially with their support.There's a couple more alternatives in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17497699

jamieweb · Answer

My own solution is AWStats combined with a custom log file anonymizer that I wrote.
https://gitlab.com/jamieweb/web-server-log-anonymizer-bloom-...
This will provide stats on unique visitors, most viewed pages, referring sites, etc, whilst protecting the privacy of visitors.

zzo38computer · Answer

I use server side only, and that is also what I recommend. If wanted, you can program it to reduce what things are logged if the "DNT:1" header is present (and I do this too).

codegeek · Answer

This may not be popular opinion but I like Cloudflare's free plan analytics. It may not be as extensive as Google analytics but for a low traffic blog, should be good enough.

pruthvishetty · Answer

Any reason why you don't want to use Google Analytics?

Looking for a simple and free website analytics solution

GoatCounter is a pretty straightforward option.
https://www.goatcounter.com/

I haven’t used it myself, but I saw that this was released in April: https://github.com/milesmcc/shynet . At least one author is an HN user.

fathom lite (https://github.com/usefathom/fathom) can be self-hosted. We use the pro version https://usefathom.com/ and are happy, especially with their support.
There's a couple more alternatives in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17497699

My own solution is AWStats combined with a custom log file anonymizer that I wrote.
https://gitlab.com/jamieweb/web-server-log-anonymizer-bloom-...
This will provide stats on unique visitors, most viewed pages, referring sites, etc, whilst protecting the privacy of visitors.

I use server side only, and that is also what I recommend. If wanted, you can program it to reduce what things are logged if the "DNT:1" header is present (and I do this too).

This may not be popular opinion but I like Cloudflare's free plan analytics. It may not be as extensive as Google analytics but for a low traffic blog, should be good enough.

Any reason why you don't want to use Google Analytics?

Looking for a simple and free website analytics solution

GoatCounter is a pretty straightforward option.https://www.goatcounter.com/

I haven’t used it myself, but I saw that this was released in April: https://github.com/milesmcc/shynet . At least one author is an HN user.

fathom lite (https://github.com/usefathom/fathom) can be self-hosted. We use the pro version https://usefathom.com/ and are happy, especially with their support.There's a couple more alternatives in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17497699

My own solution is AWStats combined with a custom log file anonymizer that I wrote.https://gitlab.com/jamieweb/web-server-log-anonymizer-bloom-...This will provide stats on unique visitors, most viewed pages, referring sites, etc, whilst protecting the privacy of visitors.

I use server side only, and that is also what I recommend. If wanted, you can program it to reduce what things are logged if the "DNT:1" header is present (and I do this too).

This may not be popular opinion but I like Cloudflare's free plan analytics. It may not be as extensive as Google analytics but for a low traffic blog, should be good enough.

Any reason why you don't want to use Google Analytics?

GoatCounter is a pretty straightforward option.
https://www.goatcounter.com/

fathom lite (https://github.com/usefathom/fathom) can be self-hosted. We use the pro version https://usefathom.com/ and are happy, especially with their support.
There's a couple more alternatives in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17497699

My own solution is AWStats combined with a custom log file anonymizer that I wrote.
https://gitlab.com/jamieweb/web-server-log-anonymizer-bloom-...
This will provide stats on unique visitors, most viewed pages, referring sites, etc, whilst protecting the privacy of visitors.