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Offen Fair Web Analytics vs Open Web 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?
OF Offen Fair Web Analytics Transparent, fair web analytics that respects users VS OP Open Web Analytics Self-hosted web analytics with click and heatmap tracking
FeatureOffen Fair Web AnalyticsOpen Web Analytics
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score46 · Fair87 · Excellent
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageJavaScriptPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 981★ 2,690
First released20192008
ReplacesGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics

What are Offen Fair Web Analytics and Open Web Analytics?

Offen Fair Web Analytics

Offen Fair Web Analytics is a privacy-focused analytics tool that gives website operators insights while letting visitors see and delete their own data. It is transparent and consent-based.

  • Visitor data transparency
  • End-to-end encrypted data
  • Consent-based tracking
  • Users can delete their data

Open Web Analytics

Open Web Analytics (OWA) is a long-standing self-hosted web analytics framework that tracks visitors, click streams, and heatmaps. It can be embedded in WordPress and MediaWiki.

  • Click stream tracking
  • Heatmaps
  • WordPress integration
  • Visitor profiles

Offen Fair Web Analytics vs Open Web Analytics: key differences

Offen Fair Web Analytics is written in JavaScript, while Open Web Analytics is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Offen Fair Web Analytics versus GPL-2.0 for Open Web Analytics. Offen Fair Web Analytics is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Open Web Analytics. Open Web Analytics is the more established project (first released 2008), while Offen Fair Web Analytics arrived in 2019. Open Web Analytics has the considerably larger community, at 2,690 GitHub stars versus 981.

Why pick each one

Choose Offen Fair Web Analytics if…

  • Exceptionally privacy-respecting
  • Builds visitor trust

Watch out for

  • Less mainstream
  • Consent UI changes metrics
Offen Fair Web Analytics details

Choose Open Web Analytics if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in PHP
Open Web Analytics details

Frequently asked questions

Is Offen Fair Web Analytics or Open Web Analytics better?

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

Are Offen Fair Web Analytics and Open Web Analytics free and open-source?

Yes. Offen Fair Web Analytics is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Open Web Analytics under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Offen Fair Web Analytics and Open Web Analytics with Docker?

Offen Fair Web Analytics: yes. Open Web Analytics: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Offen Fair Web Analytics or Open Web Analytics?

Offen Fair Web Analytics has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Open Web Analytics. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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