GoatCounter
Minimal, free web analytics that tracks visits without tracking people — no cookies, no personal data, no consent banner needed.
🔗 Visit GoatCounter
Description
Most websites want to know roughly how many people visit and where they come from, without needing to build a profile of each individual visitor. GoatCounter is a small, free analytics tool built exactly for that: enough numbers to understand your traffic, with nothing that identifies a person. GoatCounter is an open-source web analytics platform that tracks visitor metrics — page views, referrers, browser, rough location, screen size, campaign sources — without collecting personally identifiable information, using non-identifiable session hashing instead of persistent cookies or unique IDs. Because it doesn't track individuals, most jurisdictions don't require a cookie-consent banner for it. It can be embedded via a lightweight JavaScript tag (about 3.5KB), an image pixel, backend middleware, or by parsing existing log files, making it usable even on sites that block third-party scripts. The dashboard offers a text-based view and path filtering rather than a heavy visual UI. It's free for reasonable use on personal sites and small-to-medium businesses via the hosted service, fully exportable, and open source (Go, ~5,800 GitHub stars) for anyone who wants to self-host for heavier traffic.
💬 Our review
The short version: if you just want to know how many people visit your site and where from — nothing more — GoatCounter is about as simple and privacy-clean as analytics gets, for free.
GoatCounter's whole design philosophy is subtraction: no user profiles, no heatmaps, no session replay, no consent banner requirement in most places because it simply doesn't collect what triggers one. That makes it the right tool for developers, indie makers and small businesses who find Google Analytics both bloated and privacy-uncomfortable, without needing Plausible or Fastly-scale infrastructure either. The multiple integration paths — script tag, pixel, server middleware, or log parsing — mean it works even for sites that already strip third-party JavaScript. Being maintained essentially by one person (arp242) is both a strength (focused, opinionated, no feature bloat) and a real risk factor for long-term reliability — check recent commit activity before betting critical reporting on it. Compared to Plausible or Umami, GoatCounter is more minimal by design; those two have more polished dashboards and business-analytics features (goals, funnels) if you need them. For a blog, a docs site, or a small SaaS marketing page where 'how many visits, from where' is the whole question, GoatCounter answers it cleanly and for free.
💰 Pricing
📊 Global score
🤖 AI-enriched data
Pros
No personal data collected — usually no consent banner needed
Free hosted tier, free self-hosting, fully open source
Multiple integration methods including log-file parsing
Cons
Solo-maintained — long-term continuity risk
Minimal dashboard, no funnels/goals/heatmaps
🔄 Alternatives to GoatCounter
See all alternatives to GoatCounter →❓ Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a cookie consent banner if I use GoatCounter?
- In most jurisdictions, no — because it doesn't use persistent cookies or collect personally identifiable information, it typically falls outside consent-banner requirements. Verify against your specific local regulations if compliance is critical.
- Can I use it on a site that blocks third-party scripts?
- Yes — beyond the JavaScript tag, GoatCounter supports an image-pixel method, backend/server middleware, or parsing your existing server log files, so a script isn't strictly required.
- Is GoatCounter actively maintained?
- Yes, with releases through at least December 2025 (v2.7.0) and an active GitHub repo (~5,800 stars), though it's maintained primarily by a single developer — worth factoring into any reliance for business-critical reporting.
- Is it worth the money compared to alternatives?
- It's free for reasonable personal/small-business use and free to self-host at any scale — genuinely hard to beat on price. Plausible and Fathom charge monthly subscriptions for a more polished, business-oriented dashboard; pick GoatCounter if minimal and free wins over polish.
- Which privacy analytics tool should you pick for your case?
- Want the absolute minimum, free, no consent banner: GoatCounter. Want a nicer dashboard with goals and funnels, willing to pay: Plausible or Fathom. Want a self-hosted alternative with a friendlier UI: Umami.