GoatCounter vs Offen (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, GoatCounter grades higher than Offen: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
GoatCounter grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick GoatCounter if
- Fits if you want visitor stats with no personal data collected
- Works for personal sites and small businesses on a budget
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for funnels, heatmaps or recordings
- Skip it if your site gets millions of pageviews a day, as the hosted service is not meant for that
- Watch out: it's funded by donations, so no support commitment is published
- Not for you if you need a paid plan with guarantees
Pick Offen if
- Fits if you run your own server and want visitors to see their own data
- Works for a privacy-minded site that accepts counting only people who say yes
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a hosted service, as there isn't one
- Not for you if you can't run Docker or maintain a server
- Too light for full traffic numbers, because visitors who decline the opt-in banner aren't counted
- Watch out: it uses first-party cookies, unlike cookieless tools, and no integrations are listed
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGoatCounterGood | 2.0GPAOffenFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree for personal sites and small-to-medium businesses, or free to self-host. It's donation-supported, with no paid plan. | CFree software, but only if you host it yourself, which needs a server. There's no paid hosted plan to compare. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no cap a normal site would reach. Millions of pageviews a day are out of scope. | BNothing to pay and no page-view cap on record, though you carry the hosting cost yourself. |
| Features | CPageviews, referrers, browsers, locations, screen sizes and campaigns, plus exports and an API. It does that job fully, a smaller job than most analytics tools. | CConsent banner, operator metrics, multiple sites and teams, encryption and retention. Opt-in means declined visitors don't show up, so the numbers run low by design. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You sign up and add one script, or self-host. | DNo rating on record and it needs self-hosting with Docker, Ubuntu or Heroku, which is a command line job. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with an API and a couple of static-site tools (Gatsby, Publii). | CWeb only, with no integrations listed. The interface comes in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese. |
| Best for | free, privacy-minded visitor stats | self-hosted, opt-in analytics |
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: GoatCounter and Offen. How we grade
Price against what you get
GoatCounter has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Offen has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
GoatCounter scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, none scores higher than GoatCounter for less, and none scores higher than Offen 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
- Offen is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
At a glance
| GoatCounter | Offen | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | GoatCounter | Offen |
| Price read from | goatcounter.com | offen.dev |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
GoatCounter
- The hosted service is meant for reasonable public use; heavy traffic is pointed to self-hosting.
- Funded by donations through GitHub Sponsors, so there is no paid plan or published support commitment.
- A deliberately small feature set; the vendor presents it as a simpler alternative to Google Analytics and Matomo.
Offen
- There is no hosted service; you install it with Docker, on Ubuntu, Heroku or another option from the docs.
- Opt-in only means visitors who decline are not counted.
- Offen uses first-party cookies, per the homepage, unlike cookieless tools.
- The interface is available in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Key features
GoatCounter
- No personal-data tracking
- Visits are told apart without cookies or persistently stored personal data. The vendor says no GDPR notice is needed and lets you control what is collected.
- Light script
- The tracking script adds about 3.5KB to a page. A JavaScript-free tracking pixel is also offered.
- Several ways to send data
- Use the script tag, an image-based tracker, your application's middleware, or import server log files.
- Basic visitor statistics
- Reports show browser, location, screen size, referring sites and campaigns.
- Exports and an API
- All data can be exported, and the documentation lists CSV and JSON exports and a JSON API.
- Accessible interface
- The vendor lists accessibility as a high-priority feature, and says the interface works with screen readers.
Offen
- Opt-in consent banner
- Visitors must actively consent before data is collected. The banner can be customized in color, shape and font.
- User access to own data
- Visitors can open the Auditorium to review, and delete, the usage data collected about them.
- Operator metrics
- Pageviews, unique users and sessions, top pages and weekly retention, filtered by URL, location, referrer, UTM parameters and landing or exit pages.
- Multiple sites and teams
- One installation analyzes several websites, and accounts can be shared within teams.
- Encryption and retention
- The site says user data is encrypted end-to-end and stored for 6 months before deletion.
Plans
GoatCounter
Hosted service$0
Free for reasonable public usage, such as a personal site or a small-to-medium business. Millions of pageviews a day are out of scope.
Self-hosted$0
Run the open source app on your own server for any purpose; you pay only for your own hosting.
Offen
Self-hosted$0
Open-source software you install and run yourself; the site says it will always be free.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, GoatCounter or Offen?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both GoatCounter and Offen are free to use.
Which has a free plan, GoatCounter or Offen?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both GoatCounter and Offen 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.