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Open Web Analytics 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?
OP Open Web Analytics Self-hosted web analytics with click and heatmap tracking VS VI Vince Analytics Self-hosted, privacy-friendly web analytics in one binary
FeatureOpen Web AnalyticsVince Analytics
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score87 · Excellent42 · Fair
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 2,690★ 2,015
First released20082023
ReplacesGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics

What are Open Web Analytics and Vince Analytics?

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

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 →

Open Web Analytics vs Vince Analytics: key differences

Open Web Analytics is written in PHP, while Vince Analytics is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Open Web Analytics versus AGPL-3.0 for Vince Analytics. Vince Analytics is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Open Web Analytics. Open Web Analytics is the more established project (first released 2008), while Vince Analytics arrived in 2023.

Why pick each one

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

Choose Vince Analytics if…

  • Trivial to deploy
  • Lightweight

Watch out for

  • Younger project
  • Smaller community
Vince Analytics details

Frequently asked questions

Is Open Web Analytics or Vince Analytics better?

Neither is universally better. Open Web Analytics has the larger community, while Vince Analytics is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Open Web Analytics and Vince Analytics free and open-source?

Yes. Open Web Analytics is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Vince Analytics under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Open Web Analytics and Vince Analytics with Docker?

Open Web Analytics: yes. Vince Analytics: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Open Web Analytics or Vince Analytics?

Vince Analytics has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 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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