Counterscale vs GoatCounter

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureCounterscaleGoatCounter
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
LicenseMITEUPL-1.2
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM64 MB128 MB
Deploymentone-click, sourcebinary, docker
GitHub stars★ 2,113★ 5,864
First released20242019
ReplacesGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics

Why pick each one

Choose Counterscale if…

  • Almost free to run
  • Very easy deployment
Counterscale details

Choose GoatCounter if…

  • Extremely easy to run
  • Very lightweight
  • Privacy-friendly
GoatCounter details

Frequently asked questions

Is Counterscale or GoatCounter better?

Neither is universally better. GoatCounter has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Counterscale and GoatCounter free and open-source?

Yes. Counterscale is licensed under MIT and GoatCounter under EUPL-1.2. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Counterscale and GoatCounter with Docker?

Counterscale: check the project docs for container support. GoatCounter: yes.

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