StatCounter vs Swetrix

Compare StatCounter and Swetrix on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: Google Analytics, Matomo

StatCounter

Ireland· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist when you want Irish-hosted, SMB-friendly analytics with real-time individual visitor feeds, optional session replay/heatmaps, and paid-traffic forensics. Skip when you need cookieless/minimal data collection, self-hosting, or published ISO/SOC and subprocessors—consider Plausible Analytics, Simple Analytics, or Piwik PRO instead.

Ireland-operated SaaSReal-time visitor feedsSession replay + heatmapsCookie + IP trackingFree Basic tierHosted only

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Swetrix

United Kingdom· Web Analytics

Needs review

Shortlist Swetrix when you want cookieless traffic plus product-oriented tools (funnels, RUM, errors, optional Cloud replays) under a UK company with Hetzner DE hosting and AGPLv3 self-host CE. Skip when you need public ISO/SOC packs, zero US-group subprocessors, multi-year cookie retention cohorts, or free forever hosted analytics—consider Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics for minimal traffic-only privacy analytics, or Matomo for heavyweight self-host control.

Cookieless trackingHetzner DE hostingOpen source (AGPLv3)Self-host CEFunnels + errors + RUMPublic DPA

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Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

StatCounter vs Swetrix: Snapshot
Feature	StatCounter	Swetrix
Country of origin	Ireland	United Kingdom
Category	Web Analytics	Web Analytics
Open source	No	Yes
Self-hosted	No	Yes
Headquarters	Ireland	United Kingdom
Legal entity	Statcounter Limited (Dublin; VAT IE 9582511F)	Swetrix Ltd (SC797389), Edinburgh, Scotland
Governing law	Republic of Ireland (venue Dublin)	Not listed
US parent / control	No known US parent	No known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Unknown	Medium
Hosting / residency	Vendor describes visitor data as stored on StatCounter servers; no public subprocessor list or named cloud regions (AWS/GCP/Azure etc.) found on primary pages at research time. Marketing site monetization references Snigel—not a documented analytics data-path subprocessor list.	Cloud analytics data: Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) per DPA/Data Policy. End User error monitoring sub-processor: Sentry / Functional Software Inc. (United States). Customer-side Privacy Policy list also includes Paddle (UK payments), Fastmail (Australia business email), AWS (US transactional/marketing email), OpenRouter (US optional AI chat). No known US parent.
Summary	Irish-hosted web analytics with real-time individual visitor feeds, session replay, heatmaps, and paid-traffic tools—cookie and IP based, not cookieless privacy analytics.	Cookieless, privacy-first web analytics from a UK company: traffic, funnels, errors, and performance on Hetzner in Germany, with AGPLv3 self-host Community Edition and optional Cloud session replays.
Tags	analytics gdpr web-analytics session-replay heatmaps ireland cookies real-time	analytics gdpr cookieless open-source privacy self-host product-analytics

At a glance: StatCounter vs Swetrix
At a glance	StatCounter	Swetrix
HQ	Dublin, Ireland	Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Legal entity	Statcounter Limited (CRO 431839)	Swetrix Ltd (SC797389)
Product since	1999 (company 2006)	Not listed
Deployment	Hosted SaaS only	Not listed
Tracking model	Cookies + IP + optional session replay	Not listed
Commercial model	Free Basic + session-volume paid tiers	Event-volume Cloud subscription; free self-host CE; timed trial
Open source	No	Yes — github.com/Swetrix/swetrix
Governing law	Not listed	Scotland (Terms)
Primary hosting	Not listed	Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany
License	Not listed	AGPLv3 (Community Edition)

Key capabilities: StatCounter vs Swetrix
Key capabilities	StatCounter	Swetrix
Ireland-operated SaaS	Yes	Not listed
Real-time visitor feeds	Yes	Not listed
Session replay + heatmaps	Yes	Not listed
Cookie + IP tracking	Yes	Not listed
Free Basic tier	Yes	Not listed
Hosted only	Yes	Not listed
Cookieless tracking	Not listed	Yes
Hetzner DE hosting	Not listed	Yes
Open source (AGPLv3)	Not listed	Yes
Self-host CE	Not listed	Yes
Funnels + errors + RUM	Not listed	Yes
Public DPA	Not listed	Yes

StatCounter

Real-time individual visitor feeds
Live and recent-activity views show sessions as they happen with location, system stats, referrers, and navigation paths—not only aggregate totals. Magnify drills into a single visit for ops-style investigation. Best for SMBs and agencies that react to traffic in the moment; free Basic caps monthly sessions and short retention.
Session replay and heatmaps
Optional session replay plays back clicks, taps, scrolling, mouse movement, and form interactions so teams see friction visually. Heatmaps (higher paid tier) show attention and ignored elements. Recording volume is sold as an add-on pack; treat replay as high-sensitivity processing that usually needs clear notice and lawful basis.
Paid traffic, UTM, and Google Ads session detail
Conversion tracking, UTM campaign trends, paid-traffic analysis for repeat IPs, and Google Ads integration that attaches campaign/keyword context to individual sessions. Aimed at marketers defending ad spend and spotting click fraud—not a full marketing automation suite.
Cookie-based unique-visitor tracking with optional IP mask
Official docs describe an is_unique cookie for first-time vs returning visitors plus collection of IP, browser, OS, device, and page metadata. Project settings can mask the last IP octet when you treat addresses as personal data. This is classic analytics tracking—not a cookieless, consent-light design.
Broad CMS installs, API, apps, and Global Stats
Install guides cover 70+ platforms; paid tiers add CSV export and API access; mobile apps cover on-the-go stats and visitor alerts. Separately, Statcounter Global Stats publishes public browser/OS market-share charts from the tracking network—useful industry context, not a substitute for your site's private reports.

Swetrix

Cookieless traffic analytics with hashed sessions
Lightweight script captures pageviews, referrers/UTMs, devices, and city-level geo without cookies or client-side storage. Per the Data Policy, IP and User-Agent are hashed in memory with a daily rotating salt; only a random session id is stored—so you get sessions without long-term cross-day visitor retention.
Funnels, custom events, and goals
Instrument signups, purchases, and other conversions as custom events; build multi-step funnels and goals in the dashboard. Useful for product and growth teams who need drop-off analysis without bolting on a second product-analytics SaaS.
Real-user performance and client error tracking
Records Web Performance API timings (TTFB, DNS, TLS, render, full page load) and optional JavaScript errors with stack/context by page and browser. Bridges marketing traffic views with engineering signals that pure pageview tools omit.
Opt-in Cloud session replays with privacy modes
Cloud projects can call startSessionReplay() to record DOM and interactions; default modes mask text/inputs. Replays are not created by ordinary pageviews—customers must enable them and own consent, masking, and page exclusions. Cloud-only versus Community Edition.
AGPLv3 open source with Docker self-host CE
Core platform is public on GitHub under GNU AGPLv3; Community Edition deploys via official Docker docs with MySQL, ClickHouse, and Redis. CE includes core analytics, events, sessions, funnels, performance, and errors—but not all Cloud extras (replays, some alerts/org/AI features).
Alerts, API, GA import, and team access
Configure alerts to email, Slack, Telegram, Discord, webhooks, or push; pull or push data via the API; import GA4 history; invite organisations with roles or share password-protected/public dashboards. Fits agencies and multi-site operators who outgrow single-user tools.

Assurance & compliance: StatCounter vs Swetrix
Assurance & compliance	StatCounter	Swetrix
Independent security / no-logs audit	Not found No public independent security or no-logs audit PDF found on primary site.	Not found Searched marketing, DPA, privacy, and data policy; no public independent audit PDF located. Open-source code is available for review.
ISO 27001	Not found No ISO 27001 claim or certificate located on official pages.	Not found No public ISO 27001 certification claim found on primary pages.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found No SOC 2/3 report referenced on official marketing/legal pages.	Not found No public SOC 2/3 report found.
GDPR / EU data protection	Partial Irish controller/processor entity and GDPR FAQ materials exist, but tracking uses cookies + IPs + optional session replay; vendor IP-not-personal-data stance is contested. Confirm DPA, consent, and retention for your use case.	Vendor claimed UK company; public GDPR/PECR discussion in Data Policy; cookieless design with non-stored IPs for standard analytics; Hetzner DE hosting; public DPA. Optional replays may be personal data depending on configuration—customer assesses legal basis.
US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Unknown No known US parent, but subprocessors and hosting regions are not published—cannot truthfully score low/medium without that list. EuropeanStack assessment, not a vendor claim. Not legal advice.	Partial No known US parent; primary analytics on Hetzner DE. Material exception: Sentry (US) processes End User error data per DPA; Privacy Policy also lists AWS and OpenRouter (US) for customer email/AI. Indicative medium exposure—not a clean bill. Not legal advice.
Data processing agreement (B2B)	Not found No clearly published self-serve DPA found; request under contract before regulated use.	Vendor claimed Public DPA at swetrix.com/dpa incorporated by Terms; acceptance by use of Service; signed copy on request.
EU AI Act	Not applicable Classic web analytics / session recording product, not an AI-system offering.	Not applicable Core product is web analytics, not an AI system. Optional Ask AI / OpenRouter is ancillary; confirm if your deployment enables it.

Considerations & known limitations: StatCounter vs Swetrix
Considerations & known limitations	StatCounter	Swetrix
Classic cookies + IP + visitor-level detail	High Not cookieless privacy analytics. is_unique cookies, IPs, and per-visitor forensics increase ePrivacy/GDPR programme burden versus aggregate-only EU tools.	Not listed
Session replay captures rich interactions	High Official replay guide includes clicks, scrolling, and form interactions. Usually needs explicit notice/consent and careful redaction policies for sensitive fields.	Not listed
Terms claim joint ownership of visitor data	Medium Legal terms state both the site owner and StatCounter own collected visitor data—review implications for controller/processor roles and secondary use.	Not listed
No public subprocessor / region list	Medium Hosting described only as vendor servers. Without named providers/regions, transfer and CLOUD Act diligence stays incomplete.	Not listed
No public ISO/SOC/independent audit	Medium Enterprise security questionnaires will lack downloadable certs/audit reports from the public site.	Not listed
Vendor IP personal-data interpretation is contested	Medium GDPR FAQ leans on older Irish case law; many EU programmes still treat IPs/cookie IDs as personal data. Use IP masking and counsel review where needed.	Not listed
US-group subprocessors (Sentry, AWS, OpenRouter)	Not listed	Medium Primary analytics hosting is Hetzner DE, but Sentry (US) is an End User error-tracking sub-processor on the DPA, and AWS/OpenRouter appear for customer email/AI. Orgs with strict no-US-cloud rules need explicit acceptance or self-host CE to avoid those paths.
Session replay is opt-in and controller-owned	Not listed	Medium Cloud replays can capture DOM and inputs unless masked. Customers must enable startSessionReplay(), configure privacy modes/exclusions, and provide notices/consent where required—misconfiguration can reintroduce personal data risk that standard cookieless pageviews avoid.
No public ISO/SOC or third-party audit	Not listed	Medium Assurance relies on first-party policies, Hetzner infrastructure claims, and open source. Enterprise questionnaires that hard-gate on certs will stall until materials are provided under NDA or produced.
Cloud vs Community Edition feature gap	Not listed	Low Self-host CE is free and covers core analytics, but replays and several Cloud growth/ops features are limited or Cloud-only. Budget and feature planning must not assume feature parity.
Daily salt rotation limits retention metrics	Not listed	Low Cookieless design deliberately prevents classic multi-day visitor retention. Teams that need that metric class need another product or consented identity.

Fit

StatCounter

Best fit when

SMBs, freelancers, and agencies that want simple dashboards plus per-visitor detail without GA complexity
Marketers who need session-level paid-traffic and Google Ads context to investigate click patterns
Teams that value live visitor feeds, alerts, mobile apps, and human support on paid plans
Buyers preferring an independent Irish commercial analytics vendor over US ad-tech defaults
Sites already prepared to run classic analytics cookies and document processing in privacy notices

Poor fit when

Cookieless or consent-light privacy programmes (CNIL-style minimal analytics)
Organisations that require self-hosting or full infrastructure control
Procurement that mandates public ISO 27001/SOC 2 and a published subprocessor list before shortlist
Use cases that must avoid session recording or individual IP-level visitor inspection
Enterprise product analytics needing deep funnel/experimentation stacks beyond SMB web stats

Consider instead when

When: You need cookieless, aggregate-only metrics with a lighter ePrivacy consent story
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics
Both are EU-hosted privacy-oriented analytics; far less per-visitor forensics than StatCounter.
When: You need enterprise privacy packaging, stronger controller tooling, or optional self-host paths
Consider: Piwik PRO (or self-hosted Matomo-class stacks)
Heavier setup and product surface; better when DPA/hosting artefacts are mandatory.
When: You are deep in Google's marketing stack and need free default reporting at huge scale
Consider: Google Analytics (with full transfer/risk review)
US-group processing and steeper UX; stronger ecosystem integrations.

Swetrix

Best fit when

SMEs, agencies, and product teams replacing GA4 who need cookieless traffic stats without a cookie banner driven only by analytics
Engineering-minded buyers who want error tracking and real-user performance in the same privacy-first dashboard as pageviews
Teams that may enable Cloud session replays later but can treat them as explicit opt-in with their own legal basis
Operators willing to run Docker Community Edition (MySQL/ClickHouse/Redis) when Cloud commercial terms or feature limits do not fit
Buyers who need a public B2B DPA, API access, GA4 import, and multi-channel alerts under a UK legal entity

Poor fit when

Enterprises that require published ISO 27001 / SOC 2 certificates or independent audit PDFs before shortlist
Policies that forbid any US-group subprocessors (Sentry is listed for End User error data; AWS/OpenRouter appear for customer services)
Use cases that depend on long-term cookie-based retention or cross-device identity graphs
Buyers who only want free hosted analytics with no paid Cloud tier and no self-host operations burden
Sites that will run session replays on sensitive flows without capacity to configure masking, exclusions, and consent

Consider instead when

When: You only need minimal cookieless pageviews/referrers with the smallest possible product surface
Consider: Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics
Swetrix adds funnels, errors, RUM, and Cloud replays; peers stay closer to pure traffic analytics.
When: You need deep on-prem control, plugins, and mature enterprise self-host packaging
Consider: Matomo (self-host or managed EU hosts such as Matomo by Stackhero)
Heavier ops and optional cookies; stronger fit for large controlled deployments.
When: You must stay inside Google advertising measurement and free GA4 ecosystem tooling
Consider: Google Analytics
Trade privacy, consent, and transfer complexity for ads integration and zero software fee.

Open questions for due diligence

StatCounter

Will StatCounter sign a GDPR DPA and name all subprocessors and hosting regions in writing?
Where exactly is customer analytics data stored and backed up (country and provider)?
What field-redaction / exclusion controls exist for session replay on password and payment forms?
Is there any ISO 27001, SOC 2, or independent penetration-test summary available under NDA?
How should controllers interpret joint ownership wording in the terms relative to controller/processor roles?

Swetrix

Can Enterprise contracts exclude or replace Sentry (and other US-group subprocessors) for End User data paths?
Are ISO 27001, SOC 2, or pen-test summaries available under NDA?
What is the exact backup/DR location topology beyond “secure backups” wording on the DPA?
Which Cloud-only features remain permanently out of CE versus delayed open-source release?
For session replay at your traffic volumes, what retention defaults and export/delete SLAs apply on your plan?