GoatCounter

It builds a non-identifiable hash from data such as the IP address, User-Agent, and site, then throws the underlying values away. The hash rotates on a schedule, so a returning visitor is not tracked across days and no durable identifier exists on the client. Sessions work the same way, which is why the dashboard reports visits without ever exposing an individual person.

Add data-goatcounter-click to any element and its clicks are recorded as events; leave the value empty and GoatCounter falls back to the element's name or id. From JavaScript, call window.goatcounter.count with event set to true, using the path as the event name. Campaigns need no setup at all: they are read from utm_campaign or campaign, with an optional source from utm_source, ref, src, or source. Add data-goatcounter-no-session to count every click rather than one per session.

Yes, in three ways. There is an image-based tracking pixel for environments where scripts are not allowed, a JSON API that your backend middleware can call directly, and a logfile importer that parses nginx, Apache, Caddy, or CloudFront logs. The importer works on the hosted service as well as on a self-hosted instance, which makes it practical to backfill history from servers you already run.

One statically compiled binary and either a SQLite file or a PostgreSQL connection. SQLite is the default and is fine for most small sites, while PostgreSQL performs better when pageviews are spread across a very large number of distinct pages. Docker images, Podman, and a compose file with SQLite and PostgreSQL variants are provided, and the server can handle TLS with automatic ACME certificates. Building from source needs Go 1.21 or newer, and /status is available for health checks.

Yes. API tokens can be created per site and used against the JSON API, which is also how backend middleware and scripts submit pageviews. Full data can be exported as JSON or CSV at any time, so leaving the hosted service does not strand your history. A small visitor counter endpoint is available too, for embedding a live hit count on a page.