GoatCounter vs W3Counter (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GoatCounter grades higher than W3Counter: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
GoatCounter grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
W3Counter
Website analytics with live visitor tracking and hit counters
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 W3Counter if
- Fits if you run one small site and want a live visitor view
- Works for people who still want a hit counter on the page
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you track several sites, as the free plan covers 1
- Tight if you need history, as free keeps 30 days and Plus 6 months
- Watch out: email reports and conversion tracking need Plus or Pro
- Not for you if your site gets 1 million page views a month or more
- Skip it if you want mobile or desktop apps, as it is web only
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGoatCounterGood | 2.2GPAW3CounterFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BPlus is $149 a year for 3 sites, about $12 a month, just inside the cheaper quarter of analytics tools. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no cap a normal site would reach. Millions of pageviews a day are out of scope. | CA free plan for 1 website, but only 30 days of visitor history. |
| 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. | CLive activity, a live map, traffic reports and hit counters cover the basics, with no replay or heatmaps. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You sign up and add one script, or self-host. | CA tracking snippet to add to each site, and no store rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with an API and a couple of static-site tools (Gatsby, Publii). | CWeb dashboard only, with no apps or integrations listed. |
| Best for | free, privacy-minded visitor stats | live visitor stats and hit counters for a small site |
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 W3Counter. 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. W3Counter starts at $12.42 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and GoatCounter starts $12.42 a month lower. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, none scores higher than GoatCounter for less, and 17 score higher than W3Counter 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
- GoatCounter is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- W3Counter also covers reports.
At a glance
| GoatCounter | W3Counter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $149 per year for 3 websites, billed annually ($19 per month billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | 1 website, 30 days of visitor history, the analytics dashboard, Live Activity and Live Map. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | GoatCounter | Awio Web Services LLC |
| Price read from | goatcounter.com | w3counter.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
W3Counter
- Only available for websites receiving fewer than 1 million page views per month.
- The Free plan covers 1 website and keeps 30 days of visitor history; Plus keeps 6 months and Pro 12 months.
- Email reports and conversion tracking need Plus or Pro.
- Web dashboard only, with no mobile or desktop apps listed.
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.
W3Counter
- Live Activity
- Visits appear as they arrive, and each one can be opened to see the referral source and the path through your pages. Included on every plan.
- Live Map
- New visits show up on a world map at approximate locations. Included on every plan.
- Traffic reports
- Referral sources, search traffic, campaigns, popular landing pages, locations, devices and browsers.
- Conversion tracking
- An optional conversion code records signups, sales or other goals you define. Available on Plus and Pro.
- Email reports
- Daily, weekly or monthly summaries of visits, page views and conversions, with top referrers and pages. Available on Plus and Pro.
- Hit counters
- Classic visitor counter badges in dozens of retro designs that you can color and place on a page.
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.
W3Counter
Free$0
1 website with 30 days of visitor history, the analytics dashboard, Live Activity and Live Map.
Plus$149
per year for 3 websites, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
6 months of visitor history, the Active Now dashboard, email reports and conversion tracking.
Pro$399
per year for 10 websites, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
12 months of visitor history, plus the Active Now dashboard, email reports and conversion tracking.
Ways to pay less
GoatCounter
No public discounts listed.
W3Counter
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves $79 to $189 a year
The pricing section states that annual billing saves $79 a year on Plus ($149 against $19 a month) and $189 a year on Pro ($399 against $49 a month).
Common questions
Which is cheaper, GoatCounter or W3Counter?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GoatCounter is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $12.42 a month when paid by the year for W3Counter. GoatCounter is free, and W3Counter starts at $149 per year for 3 websites, billed annually ($19 per month billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, GoatCounter or W3Counter?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both GoatCounter and W3Counter 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.