A tracking script of about 3.5K that records visits without personal data. GoatCounter is a lightweight, open source web analytics tool written in Go that tracks visits without personal data. The hosted service at goatcounter.com is free for reasonable public usage, and the homepage says personal sites and small to medium businesses are fine while millions of pageviews a day are not. Self-hosting has no restrictions. The tracking script is about 3.5K and there is a JavaScript-free tracking pixel option. The README says it uses no unique identifiers and needs no GDPR notice. A Reddit announcement for version 1.2 lists unique visits, events and password auth. The project is funded by donations through GitHub Sponsors. Reddit and Hacker News users call it simple and easy to set up, and some say the interface and graphs look rough. I found no G2 or Trustpilot listing.
Free tier quotas
Hosted service
Free for reasonable public usage at goatcounter.com
Fair use
The homepage says personal sites and small to medium businesses are fine, and millions of pageviews a day are not
Self-hosting
Unrestricted
Source
Open source and free software
Script size
About 3.5K
No JavaScript
A tracking pixel option works without JavaScript
Privacy
No unique identifiers, and the README says no GDPR notice is needed
Funding
Donations through GitHub Sponsors
Data tracked
The README feature list includes unique visits, location and campaigns, with control over what is collected
Last sniffed Oct 17, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+The hosted service is free for reasonable public usage, and self-hosting has no restrictions, so there is no usage tier to outgrow if you run the server yourself.
+An r/webdev commenter said it is free, open source, has good ethos and is simple to set up, and that the interface keeps everything they need on one page.
+A Hacker News commenter said they had used it on their site for more than a year and were very happy with it.
+An r/selfhosted commenter had a very good experience with it and contrasted it with self-hosted Plausible, naming missing pieces such as a stats API.
+The tracking script is about 3.5K and there is a JavaScript-free tracking pixel option, which keeps pages light.
+It uses no unique identifiers, and the README says no GDPR notice is needed, which removes a cookie banner for many sites.
+The software is open source and written in Go, so you can read it, run it on your own server and fix problems yourself.
👎 Watch out
−A Hacker News commenter who was happy overall said the interface looks a little rough in comparison with other tools.
−An r/webdev commenter said the graphics do not look very readable to them, which they considered important.
−The hosted limit is described as reasonable public usage with no fixed number. Sites with heavy traffic should plan to self-host.
−I did not find a paid plan, SLA or support tier on the pages I read, so the hosted service rests on a donation-funded project.
−There is no G2, Capterra or Trustpilot listing that I could find. The independent evidence is Reddit and Hacker News comments.
The catch
GoatCounter is free, but the hosted limit is a judgment call instead of a number. The homepage says personal sites and small to medium businesses are fine and millions of pageviews a day are not. If your traffic is heavy, run it yourself, which is unrestricted.
The project is funded by donations through GitHub Sponsors. I did not find a paid plan, a support tier or an SLA, so treat the hosted service as best-effort and keep your own backups if you self-host.
The tool is deliberately plain. The README says it uses no unique identifiers and needs no GDPR notice, and forum users like the simplicity. Some also say the interface and graphs look rough next to other tools. I could not find a statement about card requirements for signing up, so that is unknown, and I found no G2 or Trustpilot listing.
What’s included
✓Hosted service free for reasonable public usage
✓Self-hosting with no restrictions
✓Unique visit counts
✓Event tracking
✓Password auth
✓Location and campaign data
✓Control over which data is collected
✓About 3.5K tracking script
✓JavaScript-free tracking pixel
✓No unique identifiers
Free tier value
Generosity
A
Estimated value
Free hosted analytics for small sites, or unlimited self-hosting
Feature parity
No paid tiers. Self-hosting is unrestricted and the hosted service asks for reasonable use.
Screenshots
GoatCounter homepage
Paid plans
No paid plan found
The homepage and README I read describe a single free hosted service and unrestricted self-hosting. I found no paid tier.
Donations
The project accepts donations through GitHub Sponsors to fund hosting and development.
Common questions
Is GoatCounter really free?
The hosted service is free for reasonable public usage. Personal sites and small to medium businesses are fine, and millions of pageviews a day are not, per the homepage.
Can I self-host it?
Yes, with no restrictions. The source is open source and free software.
Does it need a cookie or GDPR notice?
The README says it uses no unique identifiers and that no GDPR notice is needed. Check your own legal advice for your jurisdiction.
Does it work without JavaScript?
Yes. There is a tracking pixel option that does not need JavaScript, in addition to the roughly 3.5K script.
What do users dislike?
A Hacker News commenter said the interface looks a little rough, and an r/webdev commenter said the graphs were not very readable.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Homepage and GitHub README read. No G2 or Trustpilot listing found. Forum comments read as excerpts. Card requirement for the hosted signup is not stated.
