Counterscale vs Fathom Lite
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Counterscale | Fathom Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 57 · Fair |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | one-click, source | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,147 | ★ 8,020 |
| First released | 2024 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Counterscale and Fathom Lite?
Counterscale
Counterscale is a simple, privacy-friendly web analytics tool designed to be easy to deploy and maintain on Cloudflare Workers. It tracks page views and visitors with minimal infrastructure.
- Runs on Cloudflare Workers
- Privacy-friendly tracking
- Minimal infrastructure
- Cheap to operate
Fathom Lite
Fathom Lite is the open-source edition of Fathom Analytics, providing simple, privacy-focused website analytics. It targets users who want a lightweight self-hosted analytics tool. It is deployed as a single binary or via Docker.
- Simple privacy-focused analytics
- Single-binary deployment
- No cookies
- Lightweight dashboard
Counterscale vs Fathom Lite: key differences
Counterscale is written in TypeScript, while Fathom Lite is built with Go. Counterscale is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Fathom Lite. Fathom Lite is the more established project (first released 2018), while Counterscale arrived in 2024. Fathom Lite has the considerably larger community, at 8,020 GitHub stars versus 2,147. Fathom Lite lists first-class Docker deployment; Counterscale does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Counterscale if…
- Almost free to run
- Very easy deployment
Watch out for
- Cloudflare dependency
- Basic feature set
Choose Fathom Lite if…
- Very easy to run
- Privacy-friendly
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Lite edition no longer actively developed
- Basic feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Counterscale or Fathom Lite better?
Neither is universally better. Fathom Lite has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Counterscale and Fathom Lite free and open-source?
Yes. Counterscale is licensed under MIT and Fathom Lite under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Counterscale and Fathom Lite with Docker?
Counterscale: check the project docs for container support. Fathom Lite: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Counterscale or Fathom Lite?
Counterscale has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Fathom Lite. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.