Counterscale vs Umami
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Umami
Simple, fast, privacy-focused web analytics
| Feature | Counterscale | Umami |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | one-click, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,148 | ★ 38,981 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Counterscale and Umami?
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
Umami
Umami is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics that collects no personal data and uses no cookies. It targets developers and site owners wanting easy, ethical analytics. It is deployed via Docker.
- Cookie-free privacy analytics
- Clean modern dashboard
- Multi-site and multi-user
- Tiny tracking script
Counterscale vs Umami: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Counterscale is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Umami. Umami is the more established project (first released 2020), while Counterscale arrived in 2024. Umami has the considerably larger community, at 38,981 GitHub stars versus 2,148. Umami 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 Umami if…
- Very easy to self-host
- Privacy-friendly
- Clean interface
Watch out for
- Fewer features than Matomo
- Requires a database
Frequently asked questions
Is Counterscale or Umami better?
Neither is universally better. Umami has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Counterscale and Umami free and open-source?
Yes. Counterscale is licensed under MIT and Umami under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Counterscale and Umami with Docker?
Counterscale: check the project docs for container support. Umami: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Counterscale or Umami?
Counterscale has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Umami. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.