What is GoatCounter used for?

GoatCounter is a lightweight, privacy-friendly web analytics service you can use as a hosted app or self-host, aimed at replacing Google Analytics. It is a good fit for replacing Google Analytics on a blog and cookie-free statistics for small sites.

Is GoatCounter open source?

Yes. GoatCounter is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at arp242/goatcounter and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. GoatCounter is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host GoatCounter?

Yes. GoatCounter can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is GoatCounter an alternative to?

GoatCounter is an open-source alternative to Google Analytics, Simple Analytics, Fathom Analytics and StatCounter. Other open-source alternatives to Google Analytics include Plausible, Swetrix and Umami.

Is GoatCounter actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to GoatCounter was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v2.7.0, published on 15 December 2025. The project has 6k stars on GitHub.

GoatCounter: open-source alternative to Google Analytics

About GoatCounter

GoatCounter is an open-source web analytics platform that focuses on being easy to use and respecting visitor privacy. It does not track users with unique identifiers, and the README says no GDPR notice is needed. Site owners also get fine-grained control over what data is collected. The tool is written in Go.

It can be used in two ways: as a hosted service at goatcounter.com, which the README describes as free, or by running it yourself. The source is described as fully free software that may be self-hosted without restrictions, and a live demo is available. The project positions itself as an alternative to Google Analytics and Matomo and invites financial contributions to support development.

The license is listed as 'Other' on GitHub, so read the repository for the exact terms. GoatCounter suits bloggers, small sites and developers who want simple page-view statistics without cookie banners or heavy dashboards.

Key features

Privacy-aware analytics without unique identifiers
No GDPR notice required, per project
Fine-grained control over collected data
Hosted service or self-hosted deployment
Lightweight Go application
Live demo available

Good fit for

→Replacing Google Analytics on a blog
→Cookie-free statistics for small sites

Built with: Go
Tags: web-analytics; privacy; self-hosted; golang; google-analytics-alternative; gdpr; lightweight

GoatCounter: questions and answers

What is GoatCounter used for?: GoatCounter is a lightweight, privacy-friendly web analytics service you can use as a hosted app or self-host, aimed at replacing Google Analytics. It is a good fit for replacing Google Analytics on a blog and cookie-free statistics for small sites.
Is GoatCounter open source?: Yes. GoatCounter is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at arp242/goatcounter and is written mainly in Go.
Is GoatCounter free?: Yes. GoatCounter is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host GoatCounter?: Yes. GoatCounter can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is GoatCounter an alternative to?: GoatCounter is an open-source alternative to Google Analytics, Simple Analytics, Fathom Analytics and StatCounter. Other open-source alternatives to Google Analytics include Plausible, Swetrix and Umami.
Is GoatCounter actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to GoatCounter was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v2.7.0, published on 15 December 2025. The project has 6k stars on GitHub.