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Last Updated: 08-22-2026 09:57 PM (UTC)

GoatCounter

GoatCounter delivers meaningful web traffic insights — pageviews, referrers, browsers, screen sizes, country-level geolocation — without setting a single cookie, without collecting personal data, and without forcing GDPR consent banners on your visitors. Written entirely in Go and distributed as a single compiled binary consuming roughly 25MB of RAM, it adds just 3.5KB to your pages via the tracking script, with a JavaScript-free tracking pixel alternative for sites that avoid scripts entirely, plus backend middleware integration and log file import for server-side collection. The dashboard displays pageview counts per path with hourly resolution, referrer sources grouped by domain with full URL on hover, browser and OS version breakdowns, screen size distributions, and country-level location data derived from IP addresses that are immediately discarded after geolocation. Campaign tracking supports UTM parameters and custom data attributes. A public stats option exposes your dashboard at a shareable URL for build-in-public transparency. SQLite serves as the default database requiring zero administration, while PostgreSQL handles higher-traffic deployments with multi-site setups. Built-in ACME and TLS certificate management eliminates reverse proxy requirements for HTTPS — no Nginx or Caddy needed. The REST API provides programmatic access to all analytics data. Deploy as a single binary, via Docker with the official arp242/goatcounter image, or through native packages. Running on a dedicated VPS on RepoCloud with guaranteed CPU, RAM, and SSD, full root SSH access, and a browser serial console. EUPL-1.2 licensed.

GoatCounter
GoatCounter
GoatCounter

Benefits

  • Privacy Without Compromise
  • Track pageviews without cookies, unique identifiers, or personal data collection, eliminating GDPR consent banners while still providing meaningful referrer, browser, and location analytics.
  • Minimal Resource Footprint
  • Single Go binary using approximately 25MB RAM at idle with a 3.5KB tracking script, running on hardware as small as a Raspberry Pi with SQLite requiring zero database administration.
  • Multiple Tracking Methods
  • Collect analytics via JavaScript snippet, no-JavaScript tracking pixel, backend middleware integration, or log file import, supporting sites with any technical architecture or script policy.
  • Zero Configuration HTTPS
  • Built-in ACME and TLS certificate management provides automatic HTTPS without requiring Nginx, Caddy, or any external reverse proxy for secure analytics collection.

Features

  • Pageview Dashboard
  • Real-time dashboard displaying pageview counts per path with hourly resolution, referrer sources grouped by domain, and campaign tracking via UTM parameters.
  • Visitor Analytics
  • Browser and OS version breakdowns, screen size distributions, and country-level geolocation derived from IP addresses that are immediately discarded after lookup.
  • Tracking Pixel Option
  • JavaScript-free image-based tracking for sites that prohibit scripts, alongside backend middleware integration and Apache/Nginx log file import.
  • SQLite and PostgreSQL
  • Default SQLite database requires zero administration for smaller sites, with PostgreSQL support for higher-traffic multi-site deployments handling millions of pageviews.
  • Public Stats Sharing
  • Expose your analytics dashboard at a public URL for build-in-public transparency, with configurable access controls and CSV data export.