GoatCounter
Tiny traffic analytics that tells you what happened and declines to become a growth platform.
Technical Profile & Specs
verified 2026-08-10
- Cost
- $0 / forever (Open Source)
- Hosting Model
- Local or hosted (your machine or their cloud)
- Platforms
- webself-hosteddocker to self-host
- Installation
- Create a hosted account or run the single static binary or Docker image
- Operational Setup
- None for hosted use; self-hosting needs a reachable binary or container plus a public URL and TLS
- Where Your Data Lives
- A self-hosted instance uses SQLite by default or PostgreSQL; the hosted service stores analytics on GoatCounter's infrastructure and supports JSON and CSV exports
- The Catch / Trade-off
- It is intentionally more spartan, with fewer polished event, goal, team and reporting features and no commercial managed support.
Replaces 6 paid apps
up to $70/mo ($840/yr) in subscriptions
GoatCounter FAQ
Common questions
Is GoatCounter free and open source?+
GoatCounter is an open-source tool that runs on local or hosted. Tiny traffic analytics that tells you what happened and declines to become a growth platform.
What paid software does GoatCounter replace?+
GoatCounter serves as a free replacement for 6 paid SaaS applications: Cabin, Fathom Analytics, Pirsch, Plausible, Simple Analytics, Umami Cloud, saving up to $70/month ($840/year) in subscription bills.
How do you install and set up GoatCounter?+
Installation: Create a hosted account or run the single static binary or Docker image. Setup notes: None for hosted use; self-hosting needs a reachable binary or container plus a public URL and TLS
What is the catch or trade-off with GoatCounter?+
It is intentionally more spartan, with fewer polished event, goal, team and reporting features and no commercial managed support.