Lightweight Web & App Analytics

Analytics covers the dominant tools (PostHog, Plausible, Umami, Mixpanel, Amplitude). This page covers the smaller, niche, or emerging analytics tools — most of them are open source, generous on free tiers, or specifically designed for tiny / privacy-sensitive deployments. For the event-collection layer feeding warehouses, see Event Tracking & CDP.

Privacy-first hosted

• ★ Pirsch — German-built; GDPR-friendly; tiny script; free tier 5k pageviews/month. The "Plausible alternative if Plausible feels heavy" pick.
• ★ GoatCounter — open-source (EUPL-1.2); free hosted plan (up to 100k pageviews/month for personal sites). The best zero-cost option for a personal site or small SaaS.
• Simple Analytics — paid; very polished; small free trial.
• TelemetryDeck — Swift / iOS-focused; generous free tier; great for indie apps.
• Tinylytics, MicroAnalytics, Litlyx — micro-SaaS in this space; tiny free tiers.
• Vercel Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics — see Analytics; free if you're already on the platform.

Self-hostable lightweight

• ★ Counterscale — Cloudflare Workers + Analytics Engine; MIT. Effectively free if you have a Cloudflare account. Best zero-cost self-host in 2026.
• GoatCounter (self-host) — single Go binary + SQLite or Postgres; EUPL-1.2.
• Shynet — Django app, AGPLv3; small.
• Ackee — Node + MongoDB; MIT; less active in 2026.
• Plausible (self-host) / Umami — see Analytics.

Desktop / mobile / OSS-app telemetry

• ★ Aptabase — open-source product analytics for desktop, mobile, web; AGPLv3; free hosted tier. The default for "I'm an OSS app and need some telemetry."
• PostHog — works for mobile / desktop too; see Analytics.
• Sentry — see Observability for app crash + perf telemetry; not analytics but adjacent.
• Adjust / AppsFlyer / Branch — paid mobile attribution; outside scope.

SQL-defined / "build your own" analytics

• ★ Tinybird Web Analytics Starter Kit — ClickHouse-on-Tinybird template that gives you dashboards from raw events. Small free tier on Tinybird.
• PostHog "events table" mode — query your own ClickHouse-backed events table directly in SQL.
• DuckDB / ClickHouse + your own collector script — ~100 lines of code if you control the frontend; pairs with Data Warehouses.

Specialized

• Microsoft Clarity — totally free; heatmaps + session replay; data goes to Microsoft. Best free heatmap tool by far.
• OpenReplay — open-source session replay; AGPLv3; see Analytics.
• Hotjar / FullStory / LogRocket — paid; see Surveys & Feedback for the feedback overlap.

Pick this if…

• Smallest possible hosted footprint, free: GoatCounter or Cloudflare Web Analytics.
• Tiny self-host on a free Cloudflare account: Counterscale.
• GDPR-friendly, paid SaaS: Pirsch.
• OSS desktop / mobile app needs telemetry: Aptabase.
• Heatmaps, totally free: Microsoft Clarity.
• You want to own the events table: Tinybird Starter Kit or roll your own ClickHouse.
• You want product analytics + replay + flags in one: PostHog (see Analytics).