Counterscale vs Pirsch
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Counterscale | Pirsch |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | one-click, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,148 | ★ 1,030 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Counterscale and Pirsch?
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
Pirsch
Pirsch is a Go library for server-side, cookie-free web analytics. The open-source repository provides the tracking and statistics code you embed in your own application; the hosted pirsch.io dashboard is a separate commercial product.
- Cookie-free tracking
- No personal data collected
- Lightweight tracking script
- Go analytics engine
Counterscale vs Pirsch: key differences
Counterscale is written in TypeScript, while Pirsch is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Counterscale versus AGPL-3.0 for Pirsch. Counterscale is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pirsch. Pirsch is the more established project (first released 2020), while Counterscale arrived in 2024. Counterscale has the considerably larger community, at 2,148 GitHub stars versus 1,030. Pirsch 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 Pirsch if…
- GDPR-friendly by design
- Fast and efficient
Watch out for
- Self-hosting needs assembly
- Smaller ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is Counterscale or Pirsch better?
Counterscale is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pirsch if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Counterscale and Pirsch free and open-source?
Yes. Counterscale is licensed under MIT and Pirsch under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Counterscale and Pirsch with Docker?
Counterscale: check the project docs for container support. Pirsch: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Counterscale or Pirsch?
Counterscale has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pirsch. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.