Counter.dev

Active

Counter.dev is an open-source web analytics tool under the AGPL-3.0 license, offered as a free hosted service funded by voluntary payments, with data stored in Frankfurt; an official self-hosting guide also exists. It sets no cookies and tells new from returning visitors through session storage and the browser cache.

  • Web analytics
  • Cloud or self-hosted
  • Based in Germany
  • Founded 2020
  • Checked 17 Sep 2026

Tracking script

0.43 KB compressed

1.09 KB uncompressed · measured 17 Sep 2026

0.5 KB1 KB5 KB10 KB50 KB100 KBAckee: 8.08 KBAdobe Analytics: 52.0 KBAmplitude: 64.0 KBAptabase: 1.27 KBCabin: 1.17 KBCountly: 36.4 KBCrazy Egg: 2.65 KBDataFast: 5.13 KBDatabuddy: 11.0 KBFathom Analytics: 2.04 KBFullstory: 93.7 KBGoatCounter: 3.24 KBGoogle Analytics 4: 145.9 KBHeap: 6.01 KB (loader file)Humblytics: 16.2 KBKoko Analytics: 0.81 KBLite Analytics: 1.09 KBLitlyx: 1.17 KBMatomo: 21.6 KBMicroanalytics: 1.15 KBMicrosoft Clarity: 0.51 KB (loader file)Mixpanel: 32.7 KBOpenPanel: 3.20 KBOvertracking: 4.80 KBPendo: 233.1 KBPirsch: 3.42 KBPiwik PRO: 22.9 KBPlausible: 2.43 KBPostHog: 95.3 KBPretty Insights: 6.83 KBRybbit: 10.6 KBSeline: 1.89 KBSentinelPro: 5.19 KBSimple Analytics: 3.74 KBStatable: 2.18 KBSwetrix: 6.05 KBTelemetryDeck: 0.47 KBTinyAnalytics: 6.99 KBUmami: 2.26 KBVemetric: 2.71 KBVisitors: 6.99 KBCounter.dev: 0.43 KB0.43 KB
Lighter than 39 of the 39 other measured scripts. Each line is one tool; hover to see which.

Price

FromFree
At 100k pageviewsFree

Billed by pageviews · checked 17 Sep 2026

  • Free (pay when ready)Free

Privacy and data

Cookies
None
no cookies or stored ID by default
Data location
EU
Cloud or self-hosted
Self-hosting
Available
Source code
Open source

Plans

Free plan
Yes
no fixed limit published
Billing unit
Pageviews
Sites on entry plan
Unlimited
Data retention
Unlimited

Strengths

  • Sets no cookies: the README says unique visitors are counted through session storage, the browser cache and the referrer, and the homepage states that IP addresses are not used for fingerprinting.
  • The dashboard refreshes live and lists recent visits with their time, country, device, operating system and referrer next to the aggregated reports.
  • The hosted service stores data with Linode in Frankfurt, Germany, according to the privacy policy, and the imprint names an operator in Berlin.
  • The current dashboard view can be downloaded as a CSV file, and date ranges run from today to all time, including custom ranges.
  • Help pages explain how to add the tracking code in WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly and Backdrop CMS.

Watch-outs

  • There are no custom events, goals, funnels, UTM campaign reports, bounce rate or visit duration, and locations are shown by country only.
  • The README says the author does not know whether a cookie banner can be avoided, and that the ePrivacy Directive appears to require consent for all hosted web analytics, including Counter.dev.
  • The official self-hosting package is marked beta, lacks the archiving function of the hosted service and needs Redis. Its most recent release dates from September 2023.
  • There is no WordPress plugin: the guide has you paste the tracking code into the theme’s header.php file in the WordPress editor.
  • No API is documented, and the dashboard loads its data through internal endpoints that the help pages do not describe.

Who it suits

Counter.dev is a hosted web analytics service that you can use for free: the vendor does not enforce payments and asks users to pay what they want. Signing up needs only a username and a password, and an email address is optional.

The dashboard shows daily unique visitors, sources, countries, devices, platforms, browsers, languages, screen sizes and page views. There are no custom events, goals, UTM campaign reports or visit durations, so it fits sites where counting visitors and their sources is enough.

The code is published under AGPL-3.0, and an official self-hosting package, marked as beta, is available; see open-source tools you can self-host.

Setup

After you sign up, open the settings with the gear icon on the dashboard and copy the tracking code, a script tag that carries your account ID and time zone offset. Paste it just before the closing head tag of every page; the help pages cover WordPress and several site builders.

To run Counter.dev yourself, the official self-hosting repository provides a single Linux binary, cntr, which needs a Redis server. Create the first user with cntr createuser, start the server with cntr serve and follow the integration steps in its interface.

  • Single snippet
  • Public API (partly)
  • Data export
  • Public dashboard

Features

As documented on the vendor’s own pages. “Partly” means the feature has limits or is only on some plans.

Tracking & Reporting

  • Pageviews & visitors: yes
  • Live visitor countPartly
  • Top pages report: yes
  • Top referrers: yes
  • UTM campaign tracking: no
  • Country & city breakdownPartly
  • Device, browser, OS: yes
  • Bounce / engagement: no
  • Time on site: no
  • Custom events: no
  • Goals / conversions: no
  • Funnels: no
  • Outbound link tracking: no
  • File download tracking: no
  • 404 / error tracking: no

Pricing & Plans

  • Unlimited sites on entry plan: yes

Privacy & Compliance

  • Cookieless by default: yes
  • No personal data collected (vendor’s position): yes
  • No consent banner needed (vendor’s position)Partly
  • Data hosted in EU: yes
  • Data hosted in US: no
  • Self-hostable: yes
  • Open source: yes
  • Data retentionUnlimited
  • Bot & spam filteringPartly

Setup & Integrations

  • Single-snippet install: yes
  • WordPress plugin: no
  • Proxy / first-party domain: no
  • Public APIPartly
  • Data export (CSV/JSON): yes
  • Google Search Console connector: no
  • Email digests: no
  • Slack / webhook alerts: no
  • Public shareable dashboard: yes

Platforms & frameworks

What the vendor documents. A platform that is not listed has no guide, plugin or package from the vendor.

  • Shopify: yes
  • Squarespace: yes
  • Wix: yes

Questions and answers

Does Counter.dev use cookies?

No. The tracking script sets no cookies and keeps only a flag in session storage, while the browser cache and the referrer help count unique visitors. The author writes that he does not know whether this removes the need for a cookie banner, so check the rules that apply to your site.

Is Counter.dev free?

Yes. The hosted service does not enforce payments and suggests voluntary monthly amounts, grouped from Starter to High Traffic and paid through PayPal, and no traffic limit is published. The code can also be self-hosted under the AGPL-3.0 license.

Where does Counter.dev store data?

In Germany. The privacy policy says the hosted service uses Linode servers in Frankfurt and names Cloudflare as its content delivery network. A self-hosted installation keeps its data in the Redis database you run.

Can I run Counter.dev on my own server?

Yes, with limits. The official package is a single Linux binary that needs Redis, and its README marks it as beta and says the archiving function is not implemented. The most recent release of the package dates from September 2023.

Sources and checks

Status
Active, checked 17 Sep 2026
Prices
Checked 17 Sep 2026 on the vendor’s pricing page ↗
Tracking script
Measured 17 Sep 2026: downloaded and compressed the same way for every tool
Features
From the vendor’s pages, checked 18 Sep 2026
This page
Text updated 17 Sep 2026

How each value is collected: methodology. Why tools get no overall score: our reasoning.

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