What it does
GoatCounter records page traffic, referrers, campaigns and visitor environment details. It can receive a script, an image tracker, backend API data or imported web-server logs, with hosted and self-hosted options.
GoatCounter is a small website statistics service with a free hosted option supported by donations. The hosted offer is intended for reasonable use by small and medium sites, including business sites; a site receiving millions of pageviews a day falls outside that free arrangement.
Create a hosted account with an account name, email and password. That name becomes your dashboard address. One account can cover several domains, and Settings → sites separates their statistics. Collection can use a script, tracking image or server-log import, so the choice can fit a conventional website or a server-led setup.
The reports suit questions about popular pages, referring sites and campaign traffic. If a promotion sends people to one landing page, inspect that page and its referrers over the relevant period before attributing a wider traffic increase to the promotion. You can export collected data or use the HTTP API for another reporting tool.
Self-hosting is also available. The application uses a modified EUPL 1.2 licence, with the browser tracker separately under ISC terms. Running it yourself means providing and maintaining the installation and its SQLite or PostgreSQL storage.
Strengths
- Collection can use a script, image or server-log import.
- You can export the collected data and choose hosted or self-hosted operation.
Watch out for
- The free hosted arrangement is not intended for sites receiving millions of pageviews a day.
Best for
- Small sites wanting hosted statistics or a modest self-hosted analytics service
Sources
- GoatCounter hosted analytics (Oct 27, 2026)
- Sign up for GoatCounter (Oct 27, 2026)
- GoatCounter tracking, API and self-hosting (Oct 27, 2026)
- GoatCounter licence (Oct 27, 2026)