Counter.dev vs Simple Analytics (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Simple Analytics grades higher than Counter.dev: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Counter.dev grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Simple Analytics grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Simple Analytics
Cookieless web analytics hosted in the EU
Which one is for you
Pick Counter.dev if
- Fits if you only want a daily visitor count and referrers
- Works for hobby sites where cookie banners are unwelcome
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for anyone who needs funnels, events or goals
- Not for you if you want published plan limits: the site shows none
- Watch out: tracking code appears only after you create an account
- Skip it if you need support, as none is described
Pick Simple Analytics if
- Fits if you want a single page of traffic numbers with no cookie banner
- Works for someone leaving GA4 who wants to run both side by side
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to follow individual visitors, as it records pageviews with no visitor IDs
- Tight if you stay free: 1 month of history and a badge shown on your site
- Pricey if you add team members, at $20 a month each
- Watch out: bills from $500 paid by bank transfer carry an extra 10% in fees
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACounter.devFair | 2.6GPASimple AnalyticsGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BFree hosted, no server needed, with an optional payment. It covers very little, so it can't be an A. | C$20 a month for up to 100k pageviews, with extra users $20 a month each. That's just above the analytics cheaper quarter of $16.58. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree to everyone, with no plan limits stated on the site. | BFree plan: 1 user, 5 websites and unlimited pageviews under fair use. It keeps 1 month of history and requires a badge. There's also a 14-day trial with no card. |
| Features | DUnique visitors a day and referrals. A very narrow set of numbers. | CCookie-free pageviews and events, one-page dashboard, API and BI access, Google Analytics import and EU hosting. It does that job fully, but it doesn't follow individual users. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You sign up and paste in a tracking snippet. | BNo store rating on record. You paste in a script and read one page, with nothing to build. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with open-source code. No integrations. | BWeb only, but it works with WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, Ghost, Cloudflare, Netlify and Google Tag Manager, plus an API. |
| Best for | bare-bones visitor counts, free | simple, cookie-free site stats |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Counter.dev and Simple Analytics. How we grade
Price against what you get
Counter.dev has no paid plan and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Simple Analytics starts at $20 a month and scores 2.7.
Simple Analytics scores higher, and starts $20 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, none scores higher than Counter.dev for less, and none scores higher than Simple Analytics for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Counter.dev is open source, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Counter.dev | Simple Analytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $20 per month for up to 100k pageviews |
| Free plan | None | 1 user, 5 websites and unlimited pageviews under a fair-use policy, with 1 month of history and a badge required. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of all features, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Counter.dev | Simple Analytics B.V. |
| Price read from | counter.dev | simpleanalytics.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Counter.dev
- The site shows no pricing page or plan limits; payment is described only as optional and made when you are ready.
- The vendor says it keeps things simple and shows only the basics, so there is no feature comparison with larger tools.
- Sign-up and tracking code are found after creating an account on counter.dev.
Simple Analytics
- The free plan keeps only the latest month of data and requires a Simple Analytics badge on the site.
- The price follows pageviews, and the paid plan includes one user; extra users are $20 a month each.
- Bills from $500 can be paid by bank transfer, with an extra 10% in banking and service fees.
- It records pageviews and events without visitor IDs, so it does not follow individual users across visits.
Key features
Counter.dev
- Unique visitors per day
- Metrics are based on the number of unique visitors per day rather than a per-visitor profile.
- Referrals
- Shows which other websites link to your site and send visitors to it.
- No cookies or IP fingerprinting
- The vendor says it uses no cookies, keeps no logs and does no IP address fingerprinting.
- Live demo dashboard
- A demo dashboard can be opened from the homepage before signing up.
- Open-source code
- The frontend, backend and services are published on GitHub under the AGPL-v3 license.
Simple Analytics
- No cookies, no personal data
- The service says it sets no cookies, collects no personal data and creates no visitor IDs, so it does not need a consent banner.
- One-page dashboard
- Traffic is shown on a single dashboard that needs no configuration, with a public live dashboard available to view as an example.
- Run beside GA4
- Can run next to Google Analytics 4 to record pageviews and events from visitors who reject consent, so the two datasets can be compared.
- API and BI access
- A full API and exports let teams pull the data into their existing reporting tools. An MCP server and an AI assistant are also listed.
- Google Analytics import
- Historical Google Analytics data can be imported so reporting does not restart from zero after a switch.
- EU hosting
- Data is stored in the EU, with primary infrastructure in the Netherlands, and leaves it only when a customer opts into a feature such as the AI assistant.
Plans
Counter.dev
Free$0
The vendor offers the service free to everyone and says you can start paying whenever you want.
Simple Analytics
Free$0
For hobby sites: 1 user, 5 websites, the latest month of data and a required Simple Analytics badge.
Self-serve$20
per month for up to 100k pageviews
Price follows pageviews, up to 2.5M on the slider. Includes 1 user; each extra user is $20 a month. Annual billing shows 2 months free.
EnterpriseCustom
Quoted for your traffic, sites, data access and support needs; tied to a 30-day proof of concept run alongside GA4.
Ways to pay less
Counter.dev
No public discounts listed.
Simple Analytics
- Annual discount
2 months free on annual billing
The pricing page shows an annual payment option labelled 2 months free; the yearly total depends on the pageview limit you pick.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Counter.dev or Simple Analytics?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Counter.dev is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $20 a month for Simple Analytics. Counter.dev is free, and Simple Analytics starts at $20 per month for up to 100k pageviews.
Which has a free plan, Counter.dev or Simple Analytics?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Counter.dev and Simple Analytics have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.