Data & Analytics
Web Analytics · Vendor profile
Statcounter logo

Statcounter

Simple real-time web analytics tracking visitor behaviour, traffic sources, and page performance.

Founded 1999· Dublin, Ireland· ~8 employees· statcounter.com ↗
Last verified 2 days ago · 19 sources · Updated automatically
Founded
1999
Headquarters
Dublin, Ireland
Employees
8
From
$9
Free tier
Yes
Script size
17.2 KB

Overview

Statcounter is a long-running web analytics service from a small Dublin-based team, in the market since 1999. It centers on a real-time visitor feed and traffic-source reporting, with a free-forever Basic plan (5,000 sessions/month, 14-day retention) and a 30-day no-card trial on paid plans.

Paid plans start at $9/month (Premium), covering 20,000 sessions per month and 36 months of data retention. The product handles the fundamentals — real-time stats, URL-based goal/conversion tracking, scheduled email reports, a public-stats option, and an API on paid plans — and adds click heatmaps on the higher Premium Plus tier. The tracking script is 17.2 KB.

It is a proprietary, cloud-only SaaS. Unlike privacy-first peers, it sets a persistent analytics cookie by default, so a consent banner is required; the vendor still claims GDPR compatibility.

Best for
  • Teams wanting a simple real-time visitor feed and traffic reporting, with a free-forever plan to start.
  • Budget-conscious sites: a $9/month Premium plan covers 20,000 sessions with 36 months of retention, plus a 30-day no-card trial.
  • Buyers who want click heatmaps and URL-based conversion goals from one vendor (heatmaps require the Premium Plus tier).
  • WordPress sites wanting an official plugin, scheduled email reports, and a no-login public stats page.
Less ideal for
  • Privacy-first teams wanting cookieless tracking with no consent banner — Statcounter sets a persistent cookie by default and needs a banner.
  • Teams needing custom event tracking, multi-step funnels, or ecommerce revenue tracking — none are supported.
  • Buyers requiring EU data residency or raw event-level export — data location isn't guaranteed and only aggregated reports export.
  • Teams wanting to self-host or run open-source analytics — it is proprietary and cloud-only.
  • Teams migrating off Google Analytics that need their history — there is no GA import path.

Pricing

Starting Monthly Price (USD)
$9 · Premium plan starts at $9/month for 20,000 sessions/month.
Offers Free Tier
Basic plan is free forever with 5,000 sessions/month and 14 days data retention.
Free Trial Length (Days)
30 days · 30-day free trial on paid plans, no credit card required.
Entry Plan Pageview Limit (Monthly)
20k · Entry Premium plan includes 20,000 sessions/month. Statcounter uses 'sessions' not pageviews.
Entry Plan Website Limit
Not tracked yet

Analytics capabilities

Real-Time Dashboard
Live visitor feed and real-time visitor updates available on all plans including free Basic.
Custom Event Tracking
Statcounter does not support user-defined custom events. Goal tracking is URL/page-based only.
Goal / Conversion Tracking
Supports URL-based conversion goal tracking; shows conversion rate from landing page to goal URL.
Funnels
No multi-step funnel analysis feature found in Statcounter's product.
Ecommerce / Revenue Tracking
No ecommerce or revenue tracking feature found; no monetary value attribution in any report.
Heatmaps
Interactive click heatmaps available on Premium Plus plan ($19/mo and above).

Privacy & compliance

Cookieless Tracking
Statcounter sets a persistent analytics cookie ('is_unique') by default. No cookieless tracking mode available.
Consent Banner Required
Statcounter sets persistent analytics cookies; a consent banner is required for EU/ePrivacy compliance.
GDPR Compliant
Statcounter claims GDPR compatibility, arguing it is anonymous tracking and IP addresses are not personal data under its use.
EU Data Residency
No first-party EU data-storage guarantee; company is Dublin-based but visitor data location is undocumented and infrastructure signals point to US providers (Cloudflare/Rackspace).

Data ownership & deployment

Open Source
Statcounter is a proprietary closed-source SaaS product.
License
proprietary · Closed-source SaaS with a proprietary license.
Self-Hostable
Cloud-only SaaS; no self-hosting or on-premises option available.
Data Retention (Months)
36 mo · Entry Premium plan retains data for 3 years (36 months).
Unlimited Data Retention
Entry Premium plan has a 3-year (36-month) data retention limit; Premium Plus is 5 years.
Google Analytics Import
No Google Analytics historical data import tool found.
Raw Data Export
Only aggregated summary reports are exportable as CSV/Excel; raw visit-level data export is not available.

Platform & integrations

Has API
Statcounter API at api.statcounter.com allows programmatic access to analytics data; requires paid plan.
Tracking Script Size (KB)
17.2 KB · Measured compressed transfer size.
Official WordPress Plugin
Official Statcounter plugin published on wordpress.org under the vendor's name.
Email Reports
Scheduled email reports available daily, weekly, or monthly with customizable stat selection.
Public Dashboard Sharing
Stats can be made publicly viewable via a 'Public Stats' option; no login required to view.

Alternatives to Statcounter

Clicky logo Clicky

Real-time, privacy-friendly web analytics with per-visitor tracking and heatmaps.

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Cloudflare Web Analytics logo Cloudflare Web Analytics

Free, privacy-first web analytics that tracks page views without cookies or fingerprinting.

View profile
Fathom Analytics logo Fathom Analytics

Privacy-first, cookieless web analytics with a simple dashboard and forever data retention.

View profile

Sources · 19 verified references

statcounter.com tracxn.com api.statcounter.com wordpress.org en.wikipedia.org

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