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Counter.dev Selfhost vs Vince Analytics

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?
CO Counter.dev Selfhost Minimalist privacy-respecting web analytics VS VI Vince Analytics Self-hosted, privacy-friendly web analytics in one binary
FeatureCounter.dev SelfhostVince Analytics
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score78 · Good42 · Fair
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 1,009★ 2,015
First released20202023
ReplacesGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics

What are Counter.dev Selfhost and Vince Analytics?

Counter.dev Selfhost

Counter.dev is a minimalist, privacy-respecting web analytics service that can be self-hosted. It records page visits without cookies and shows a compact stats view.

  • Cookie-free analytics
  • Minimal dashboard
  • Easy embed
  • Privacy respecting

Vince Analytics

Vince is a self-hosted, privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics packaged as a single small binary. It focuses on low resource usage and a simple Plausible-style dashboard.

  • Single small binary
  • Privacy-friendly tracking
  • Plausible-style dashboard
  • Low resource usage

Read the full Vince Analytics guide →

Counter.dev Selfhost vs Vince Analytics: key differences

Counter.dev Selfhost is written in JavaScript, while Vince Analytics is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Counter.dev Selfhost versus AGPL-3.0 for Vince Analytics. Counter.dev Selfhost is the more established project (first released 2020), while Vince Analytics arrived in 2023.

Why pick each one

Choose Counter.dev Selfhost if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1k GitHub stars)
Counter.dev Selfhost details

Choose Vince Analytics if…

  • Trivial to deploy
  • Lightweight

Watch out for

  • Younger project
  • Smaller community
Vince Analytics details

Frequently asked questions

Is Counter.dev Selfhost or Vince Analytics better?

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

Are Counter.dev Selfhost and Vince Analytics free and open-source?

Yes. Counter.dev Selfhost is licensed under MIT and Vince Analytics under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Counter.dev Selfhost and Vince Analytics with Docker?

Counter.dev Selfhost: yes. Vince Analytics: yes.

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