counter.dev is a minimal web analytics server that prioritizes simplicity, speed, and privacy. The backend is designed to be resource-light while still providing the essential metrics teams care about, such as page views, referrers, and basic geography. Rather than storing everything in a monolithic database, it combines a fast in-memory store for hot data with archival to a traditional SQL store for long-term retention. The client snippet is tiny and cookieless, which helps reduce layout shift and keeps page performance high. Because it’s a small Go service with a straightforward architecture, it can be self-hosted easily and integrated into existing stacks. The philosophy is to deliver “just enough” analytics for dashboards and reporting without the overhead or tracking footprint of big-box platforms.
Features
- Tiny cookieless JS snippet tuned for low overhead on page loads
- Go server with fast in-memory metrics and SQL archival for history
- Privacy-respecting design that avoids intrusive user tracking
- Simple dashboards covering views, referrers, and basic dimensions
- Self-host friendly with minimal operational complexity
- Works well for blogs, docs sites, and lean product analytics