Open Web Analytics

Open Web Analytics is a free framework for running website analytics on infrastructure you control. Its JavaScript tracker, PHP tools and WordPress integration collect page activity, actions and ecommerce events. A single installation can serve multiple websites, and custom modules or the REST API can extend reporting and administration.

Installation is more involved than pasting a hosted-service tag. The project's installation guide recommends a packaged release with its built assets, followed by a database and the installation wizard. Set the time zone deliberately: changing it later can make historical time-based reporting inconsistent. The setup also needs its scheduled maintenance job before you add properties and tracking integrations.

The server and tracker are distributed under GPL version 2. There is no software subscription, but your team supplies hosting, updates and maintenance. Tracking defaults include persistent cookies; the tracker offers configuration options to change persistence, so privacy settings need deliberate attention rather than assumptions based on self-hosting.

For external reporting, use the documented REST interface and the authentication method appropriate to the installed version. Current guidance distinguishes older cookie or API-key access from signed API requests introduced in later versions.