My personal site had Google Analytics for years. One day I checked the report size: GA was loading 73KB of JavaScript on every page. For a blog with 500-word posts, the analytics weighed more than the content.
I switched to Umami. 2KB script. Same data I actually use. Self-hosted on a free Vercel instance.
What You Get Free
Umami is open-source (MIT license):
- No cookies — GDPR compliant by default
- 2KB script — lightweight, doesn't slow your site
- Real-time data — visitors, page views, events
- Multiple websites — track unlimited sites
- Custom events — track button clicks, form submissions
- User journey — see how visitors navigate your site
- Teams — share access with collaborators
- API — full REST API for custom integrations
- Dark mode — beautiful dashboard out of the box
- Data retention — keep data forever (self-hosted)
Quick Start
# Clone and deploy
git clone https://github.com/umami-software/umami
cd umami
# Configure database (PostgreSQL or MySQL)
echo "DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/umami" > .env
# Install and build
npm install
npm run build
npm start
Or one-click deploy to Vercel/Railway/Netlify with their provided buttons.
Add tracking:
<script defer src="https://your-umami.vercel.app/script.js"
data-website-id="your-website-id"></script>
What You Can Build
1. Client analytics portal — white-label dashboards for each client.
2. E-commerce tracking — custom events for add-to-cart, purchase, checkout.
3. Content analytics — which articles perform? What's the read-through rate?
4. Team dashboard — shared analytics for your dev team.
5. API-powered reports — pull data into Slack/Discord bots or email digests.
Umami vs Plausible
Both are excellent. Umami is MIT licensed (vs AGPL for Plausible). Umami has a more developer-friendly API. Plausible has better goal/revenue tracking. Pick based on your needs.
Need analytics automation? Email spinov001@gmail.com
More free tiers: 48+ Free APIs Every Developer Should Bookmark
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