Histats vs W3Counter (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Histats grades higher than W3Counter: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Histats 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 Histats if
- Fits if you run several small sites and want free stats
- Works for people who want a visible hit counter on the page
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need support, as it is a forum or Facebook
- Watch out: the log analyzer covers only the last 20,000 hits
- Watch out: the site lists no paid tier, so no business support terms are published
- Watch out: check its privacy and cookie policies before using it where consent rules apply
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
| 2.8GPAHistatsGood | 2.2GPAW3CounterFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree for every feature, with no paid tier, and the features page says no limits up to 10 million hits a day. | 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 up to 300 sites per account and no cap a normal person would reach. | CA free plan for 1 website, but only 30 days of visitor history. |
| Features | CReal-time stats, traffic reports, tags and custom events and counters cover the basics, but the log analyzer only keeps 20,000 hits. | CLive activity, a live map, traffic reports and hit counters cover the basics, with no replay or heatmaps. |
| Ease of use | CA snippet to add to each site and a control panel to set up, and no store rating on record. | CA tracking snippet to add to each site, and no store rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no integrations or apps listed. | CWeb dashboard only, with no apps or integrations listed. |
| Best for | free hit counters and 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: Histats and W3Counter. How we grade
Price against what you get
Histats 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 Histats starts $12.42 a month lower. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, none scores higher than Histats 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
At a glance
| Histats | W3Counter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $149 per year for 3 websites, billed annually ($19 per month billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Everything is free: the features page says there are no service limits up to 10 million hits a day and keeps statistics for 10+ years. | 1 website, 30 days of visitor history, the analytics dashboard, Live Activity and Live Map. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | wisecode srl unipersonale | Awio Web Services LLC |
| Price read from | histats.com | w3counter.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Histats
- Support is through a forum or Facebook, per the features page.
- The log analyzer covers the last 20,000 hits.
- The service is web-only and the site lists no paid tier, so no business-level support terms are published.
- The site shows a widget opt-out and policy page, so check its privacy and cookie policies before using it where consent rules apply.
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
Histats
- Real-time statistics
- Online visitors, recent and most active visits, popular pages and referrers, and geolocation update as traffic arrives.
- Log analyzer
- Covers the last 20,000 hits with IP tags, visitor paths and segmentation by IP, country, city, referrer, search keyword, entry page and hardware. Saved filters can be reloaded.
- Traffic reports
- Hourly, daily and monthly analytics for referring sites, search engines, social networks, browsers, operating systems, languages and visited URLs.
- Tags and custom events
- Page titles and tags, custom events and variables, and downloads or clicks can be tracked.
- Counter styles
- A hidden tracker, or a visible counter chosen from 500 or more styles, with configurable starting values.
- Multi-site control panel
- One account manages up to 300 sites, with user access management and privacy settings for each site's stats page.
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
Histats
Free$0
All features, up to 300 sites per account, with no service limits up to 10 million hits a day.
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
Histats
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, Histats or W3Counter?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Histats is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $12.42 a month when paid by the year for W3Counter. Histats is free, and W3Counter starts at $149 per year for 3 websites, billed annually ($19 per month billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Histats or W3Counter?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Histats 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.