Replace Simple Analytics?
YES · one-shottablePageview analytics, events, dashboards, and exports are very buildable; paid value is hosted privacy posture, reports, reliability, and support.
Build me privacy-first web analytics to replace Simple Analytics, self-hosted for my own
sites. Requirements:
- A Node + Express service with better-sqlite3: one /collect endpoint and a dashboard at
/dash behind basic auth (password in .env).
- A tracker snippet under 1 KB of plain JS, no cookies: sends path, referrer, screen
width, and a daily-salted hash of IP + user agent for unique counting; the salt
rotates daily so nothing is traceable across days.
- Keep raw hits 30 days; a nightly node-cron job aggregates into daily rollups per site
(pageviews, uniques, top pages, top referrers, device split), keeps rollups forever,
deletes expired raw hits.
- Custom events via sa('signup') in the snippet, counted per day.
- Dashboard per site: a 30-day chart (hand-rolled SVG, no chart library), pages and
referrers tables, a date-range picker.
- Filter obvious bots by user-agent list; ignore my own visits via a localStorage opt-
out flag.
- CSV export per site and month from the dashboard.
- No cookies and no personal data stored, GDPR-sane by construction.
- Out of scope: funnels, session replay, and multi-user access. Uptime is on me; the
collect endpoint sits behind my existing reverse proxy.
- README: the snippet to paste and the Caddy or nginx route.$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter) or copy it raw · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
They pay for low-maintenance analytics they can put in a privacy policy with confidence.
xmanaged hosting
xprivacy/legal positioning
xbot filtering
xreports
xuptime
xsupport
What does the Simple Analytics verdict mean?
The directory classifies the core job as practical to build with an AI coding agent. Use the prompt as a starting point and review the tradeoffs before relying on the result. This research record is not a hosted IVCIFY tool.
What price does this directory record show for Simple Analytics?
The directory records $20/month for Starter, checked 2026-07-30. Verify the source before making a purchase decision. This reference stays outside retail Stack Math unless current matched evidence supports the comparison.
What do I lose by replacing Simple Analytics?
Honestly: managed hosting; privacy/legal positioning; bot filtering; reports; uptime; support. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Simple Analytics?
The listed prior art includes Umami (Open-source web analytics platform for privacy-friendly tracking.). Inspect those projects before starting from a blank prompt.