Medama vs Pirsch
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Medama
Privacy-focused website analytics with no cookies
VS
Pirsch
Go library and API for privacy-friendly, cookie-free web analytics
| Feature | Medama | Pirsch |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 74 · Good | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 645 | ★ 1,030 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
What are Medama and Pirsch?
Medama
Medama is a lightweight, privacy-focused website analytics tool that operates without cookies and complies with privacy regulations. It is designed to be fast and simple to self-host.
- Cookieless tracking
- SQLite storage
- Lightweight script
- Privacy compliant
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
Medama vs Pirsch: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Medama versus AGPL-3.0 for Pirsch. Medama is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pirsch. Pirsch is the more established project (first released 2020), while Medama arrived in 2024.
Why pick each one
Choose Medama if…
- Easy single-binary deploy
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- Newer project
- Smaller 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 Medama or Pirsch better?
Neither is universally better. Pirsch has the larger community, while Medama is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Medama and Pirsch free and open-source?
Yes. Medama is licensed under MIT and Pirsch under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Medama and Pirsch with Docker?
Medama: yes. Pirsch: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Medama or Pirsch?
Medama has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pirsch. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.