Counter.dev vs Umami (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Umami: it is third in our ranking of website and product analytics tools, and it grades higher too, 2.6 against 2.4.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Counter.dev grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Umami grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
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 Umami if
- Fits if you want free analytics on one site or are happy to host it yourself
- Works for a developer who wants an API and MCP access
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Hobby: 1 website, 100K events and no teams, API or email reports
- Pricey if you want replays or heatmaps, which start at Business, $200 a month, and extra replays cost $0.005 each
- Watch out: pageviews and every stored event property count as events, so heavy tagging raises the bill
- Watch out: self-hosting means you run and update the server and change the default admin password
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACounter.devFair | 2.6GPAUmamiGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BFree hosted, no server needed, with an optional payment. It covers very little, so it can't be an A. | CPro is $20 a month for 1 million events, in the middle of the analytics range. The free self-hosted version needs your own server. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree to everyone, with no plan limits stated on the site. | BHobby is free for 1 website, 100K events a month and 6 months of data, with community support. A 14-day trial covers Pro and Business. |
| Features | DUnique visitors a day and referrals. A very narrow set of numbers. | BTraffic and campaign reports, events, funnels, retention, replays, heatmaps, revenue reporting and an API and MCP server. Hobby has no API or teams, and replays and heatmaps are Business. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You sign up and paste in a tracking snippet. | CNo store rating on record. You add a script, or host the server and update it yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with open-source code. No integrations. | BWeb only, with WordPress, Nuxt, Gatsby, Magento 2, Flutter and other integrations, plus an API and MCP server. |
| Best for | bare-bones visitor counts, free | open-source analytics, hosted or self-hosted |
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 Umami. 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. Umami starts at $20 a month and scores 2.7.
Umami 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 Umami 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
- Umami is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Umami also covers session replay.
At a glance
| Counter.dev | Umami | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $20 per month, with 1 million events included |
| Free plan | None | Hobby plan: 100K events a month, 1 website, 6 months of data retention and community support. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial on the Pro and Business plans |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Counter.dev | Umami Software, Inc. |
| Price read from | counter.dev | umami.is |
| 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.
Umami
- Hobby covers one website and 100K events a month, with no teams, API or email reports.
- Usage counts pageviews and every stored event property as events, so heavy tagging raises the bill.
- Replays and heatmaps start at Business ($200 a month), which includes 5,000 replays; extra replays cost $0.005 each.
- Self-hosting means you run and update the server; the docs warn to change the default admin password.
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.
Umami
- Traffic and campaign reports
- Pageviews, visitors, referrers, locations and devices on one dashboard, with UTM tracking, comparison between periods and attribution.
- Events, funnels and retention
- Custom events and properties feed goals, funnels, journeys and retention reports that show where visitors drop off or return.
- Session replays and heatmaps
- Replays and heatmaps show what visitors did on a page. On Umami Cloud they are part of the Business plan and above.
- Revenue reporting
- Values can be attached to events, and a revenue report shows which pages, campaigns and visitor segments bring in the most.
- API and MCP server
- A REST API and an official MCP server let you build your own reports or connect an AI assistant. Both are part of Pro and above.
- Cloud or self-hosted
- Run it yourself with Docker or from source, or use the hosted Umami Cloud service. Teams and boards support shared dashboards.
Plans
Counter.dev
Free$0
The vendor offers the service free to everyone and says you can start paying whenever you want.
Umami
Hobby$0
Umami Cloud with up to 100K events a month, 1 website, 6 months of retention and community support.
Pro$20
per month for 1 million events
Up to 20 websites, 10 team members, 2 years of retention, API and MCP access. Extra events cost $0.00003 each.
Business$200
per month for 10 million events
Unlimited sites and members, 5 years of retention, heatmaps, white-labeling and 5,000 replays. Extra events $0.00002 each.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds SAML single sign-on, onboarding, an uptime SLA, custom retention, invoice billing and enterprise support.
Self-hosted$0
The open-source software, which you install and run yourself from source or a Docker image.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Counter.dev or Umami?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Counter.dev is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $20 a month for Umami. Counter.dev is free, and Umami starts at $20 per month, with 1 million events included.
Which has a free plan, Counter.dev or Umami?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Counter.dev and Umami 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.