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Web Analytics

Self-Hosted Google Analytics Alternatives: Pick & Deploy

A self-hosted Google Analytics alternative is a web analytics tool you run on your own server — your VPS, your database, your data — instead of pushing visitor…

Jul 24, 2026
Tracking

Where to Put Analytics Tracking Code in HTML: Head or Body

Short answer: the tag goes in <head>, as high as you can get it — after <meta charset> and the viewport tag, before your stylesheets. The vendors agree,…

Jul 15, 2026
Recipes

GoatCounter on a €4 VPS: Minimal Self-Hosted Analytics

// AUTHOR Rajeev Sharma — tested this setup on a Hetzner CX22 in Helsinki, April 2026. // TESTED ON GoatCounter v2.7.0 · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS · nginx 1.24…

Jul 8, 2026
Web Analytics

Self-Hosted Analytics Backup: Plausible, Matomo, Umami

// AUTHOR Rajeev Sharma — recovering data from a botched MariaDB upgrade, so yes, this one is personal. // COVERS Plausible CE 2.x · Matomo CE 5.x ·…

Jun 22, 2026
Tracking

Bounce Rate, Time on Page, Sessions: How Plausible, Matomo, Umami & PostHog Calculate Them Differently

“Bounce rate is 47%.” Compared to what? Calculated how? In which tool? The same visitor doing the same thing on the same page can register as a bounce…

May 21, 2026
Recipes

Self-Hosted Server-Side Tracking 2026: SSGTM, Cloudflare Worker, Nginx Proxy Compared

Server-side tracking sounded like a luxury three years ago. Now it’s table stakes: ad blockers eat 30-40% of client-side hits in technical audiences, browser ITP truncates first-party cookies…

May 13, 2026
Cookieless

Consent Mode v2 Without Google: Self-Hosted Analytics Patterns That Pass CNIL (2026)

Google Consent Mode v2 became mandatory for any site sending data to Google Ads or Google Analytics from the EU on March 6, 2024. If you’ve already moved…

May 5, 2026
Tracking

Plausible Custom Events, Revenue & Funnels: Self-Hosted CE (2026)

Self-hosted Plausible custom events plus Stripe/Paddle revenue tracking. Webhook payloads, ClickHouse SQL funnels, refund handling. The $19/mo Cloud Funnels bypass.

May 2, 2026
Tracking

7 Self-Hosted GTM Alternatives That Actually Work

Compare 7 self-hosted tag manager alternatives to Google Tag Manager: Matomo TM, Cloudflare Zaraz, sGTM container, Piwik PRO, Stape, Adobe Launch, Snowplow. With install costs, server-side support, and a 60-second decision wizard.

May 2, 2026
Tracking

Matomo Ecommerce Tracking 2026: WooCommerce + Shopify Self-Hosted

Self-host Matomo CE for WooCommerce and Shopify revenue tracking. Four tracking calls, three log tables, refund workarounds, abandoned-cart SQL. Production code with idempotency baked in.

May 2, 2026