Open Web Analytics
About Open Web Analytics
Open Web Analytics (OWA) is an open-source web analytics framework released under GPL-2.0. You install it on your own server (PHP 8.2 or later, MySQL 5.7 or later, a cron job) and use it to track and analyze traffic on your websites and applications. It tracks visitors, pageviews, e-commerce transactions and configurable actions, and includes heatmaps, Domstream session recordings, geolocation, a multi-user dashboard and a REST API.
OWA can be added to pages with a JavaScript tracker. A WordPress plugin and a PHP SDK are available separately. The project is still maintained: version 1.14.2 was released on 23 October 2026.
What makes Open Web Analytics unique?
With Open Web Analytics you have first-party control, you can extend it with custom modules, and it costs nothing to license. The tracker uses first-party cookies, whose lifetimes you can shorten or set to session-only.
An overview of Open Web Analytics
Wrap up: what do we think?
Overall, if you value privacy, Open Web Analytics is a great option. It gives you complete ownership of your data, is open-source, and has flexible reports. Installation can be tricky if you are not very technical, and you are responsible for hosting, security and consent compliance. But it’s well worth the effort.
- The software is open source
- It is very customizable
- Ecommerce reporting
- Privacy friendly
- The script is lightweight
- Limited reporting features
- Technical skill required
- Comply with data privacy regulations
- You need a secure server
Software type
We classified Open Web Analytics as Web Analytics. In addition, Open Web Analytics is open source software.
Software details
Founded in 2006
Open Web Analytics Pricing
There are no pricing plans to display for Open Web Analytics at the moment.
Support
Because Open Web Analytics is open source, all documentation is found on GitHub. Apart from the community, there are no support options available.
Support options
Support languages
English
Account Management
Trackable Items
User Seats
User Roles
Account Security
Data Processing
Data Center Locations
- Not applicable
Software Hosting
- On-Premise
Data Ownership
Data Freshness
Data Retention
Data Sampling
Data Import
Data Export
Compliance
- GDPR
- CCPA
Cookieless
Platform
Alerts & Automation
Custom Alerts
Email Reports
Integrations
Reporting
Trend Reporting
Device Reporting
Funnel Reporting
User Flow Reporting
Segmentation
Cohort Reports
Retention Reporting
Attribution Reporting
Ecommerce Reporting
User Experience features
Heatmaps
Session Recordings
A/B Testing
User Feedback
Customizability
Custom Properties
Custom Metrics
Custom Reports
Custom Events
Annotations
FAQ
Is Open Web Analytics free?
Yes, Open Web Analytics is open-source and free to use.
Who created Open Web Analytics?
Open Web Analytics (OWA) is open-source web analytics software created by Peter Adams.
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