GoatCounter review (2026): is it any good?
Open source web analytics, free and donation-supported
GoatCounter report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for free, privacy-minded visitor stats
GoatCounter is open-source web analytics with a free hosted service and a self-hosted version, and it doesn't track personal data. It's free for reasonable public use. The feature set is deliberately small, and heavy traffic gets pointed to self-hosting.
Who GoatCounter is for
- Fits if you want visitor stats with no personal data collected
- Works for personal sites and small businesses on a budget
Who GoatCounter is not for
- 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
Why GoatCounter gets a 2.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for moneyFree for personal sites and small-to-medium businesses, or free to self-host. It's donation-supported, with no paid plan.
- AFree plan and trialFree outright, with no cap a normal site would reach. Millions of pageviews a day are out of scope.
- CFeaturesPageviews, referrers, browsers, locations, screen sizes and campaigns, plus exports and an API. It does that job fully, a smaller job than most analytics tools.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You sign up and add one script, or self-host.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with an API and a couple of static-site tools (Gatsby, Publii).
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from GoatCounter's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/goatcounter#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/goatcounter.svg" alt="GoatCounter: 2.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where GoatCounter stands among website and product analytics tools
GoatCounter's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 49 of the 58 other website and product analytics tools we grade, and level with 3.
It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 55 of 58) and worst on platforms and integrations (C, above 0).
GoatCounter has no paid plan.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 59 website and product analytics tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. GoatCounter’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 50 of 58, level with 8
- AFree plan and trialAbove 55 of 58, level with 3
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 58, level with 31
- CEase of useAbove 3 of 58, level with 49
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 58, level with 19
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 38 website and product analytics tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep GoatCounter, or make your own?
Keep it
GoatCounter is free, so making your own would save you nothing.
And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 49 of the 58 other website and product analytics tools we grade.
What you could not
- A tracking script and a database that counts every visit.
- It plugs into other products, Gatsby and Publii among them, and has an API.
What this rests on. GoatCounter’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is GoatCounter?
GoatCounter is an open source web analytics tool offered as a free, donation-supported hosted service or as an app you host yourself. It counts visits without unique identifiers, adds about 3.5KB to a page, and can also take data from a tracking pixel, middleware or log files.
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
GoatCounter pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, GoatCounter is free to use.
- Starts at
- Free
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
Read from goatcounter.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with GoatCounter before you buy.
Works with
- Gatsby
- Publii
GoatCounter alternatives
- GoatCounter vs Umami
Free plan · from $20/mo
- GoatCounter vs Plausible
Free plan · from $7.50/mo
- GoatCounter vs Koko Analytics
Free plan · from €59/yr
Common questions
Does GoatCounter have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. GoatCounter is listed for Web.
Does GoatCounter have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. GoatCounter is listed for Web.
Is GoatCounter open source?
Yes. GoatCounter is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Does GoatCounter have an API?
Yes. GoatCounter offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.