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Pulse by Ciphera

Cookie-free web analytics with traffic, funnels, uptime and Lighthouse checks in one Belgian-operated, Swiss-hosted dashboard.

Open sourceGedeeltelijk gehost in de EUDuurzaamheid geclaimd
privacygdprcookie-freeweb-analyticsopen-sourcecookieless
Bezoek WebsiteFeedback & correcties

Pulse by Ciphera is a privacy-first web analytics product from Ciphera BV in Belgium. Site owners add a small script tag and get pageviews, unique-visitor estimates, referrers, UTM campaigns, journeys, and related traffic views without cookies or visitor fingerprinting.

It exists for teams that want usable traffic data without running a consent banner for analytics cookies, and without sending visitor telemetry to a US ad-tech stack. The managed backend stores analytics data in Switzerland; the dashboard and tracking script are published under AGPL-3.0 so you can inspect what runs in the browser.

The practical differentiator versus single-purpose cookieless counters is the combined console: traffic analytics plus uptime monitors and daily Lighthouse or Core Web Vitals checks in the same product, with a public live demo of Ciphera's own site data.

EU-operatedCookielessOpen-source clientSwiss-hosted dataNo analytics cookies

Shortlist Pulse when you want cookieless traffic analytics plus uptime and Lighthouse in one Belgian-operated, Swiss-hosted SaaS and can accept a closed managed backend. Skip when you need full self-hosting or GA-style user-level history; consider Plausible Analytics or Simple Analytics instead.

Key capabilities

Pageviews, unique-visitor estimates, referrers, UTM campaigns, device or browser splits, and country-level geo from a single script tag, without cookies or fingerprinting according to Ciphera's privacy docs.

Step-by-step path columns and multi-step funnels with drop-off analysis, filterable by page, country, device, or referrer for privacy-preserving conversion debugging.

Built-in uptime checks with downtime and recovery alerts to email, Slack, Discord, or a webhook, so availability sits beside traffic in one console.

Scheduled mobile and desktop Lighthouse runs with performance, accessibility, best-practices, SEO scores, and Core Web Vitals trends without a separate RUM product.

Dashboard and tracking script are AGPL-3.0 on GitHub; Ciphera also documents a public read API, CLI, and export paths while keeping the managed backend closed.

In één oogopslag

HQ
Diegem, Belgium (Ciphera BV)
Legal entity
Ciphera BV (KBO/BCE 1013.721.660)
Founded
18 September 2024 (CBE)
Primary data region
Switzerland (Exoscale Zurich)
License
AGPL-3.0 client; managed backend closed
Commercial model
Free Hobby tier; paid plans by traffic scale
Cookieless
Yes (vendor claim: no cookies, no fingerprinting)
Data residency regions
Switzerland (Exoscale primary; Infomaniak backups)

Best fit when

  • EU or Swiss organisations replacing GA4 primarily to remove analytics cookies and consent-banner friction
  • Teams that want traffic, funnels, uptime, and Lighthouse scores in one vendor console
  • Buyers who need a Belgian legal entity and named European subprocessors rather than a US cookieless SaaS
  • Sites that can work with aggregate and month-scoped visitor estimates instead of persistent user IDs
  • Engineering leads who want the browser script and dashboard code on GitHub under AGPL-3.0 for inspection

Poor fit when

  • Organisations that must self-host the full analytics backend (Pulse's managed core is closed)
  • Product analytics use cases that need durable cross-visit identity, cohorting, or GA4 BigQuery-style user exports
  • Buyers requiring completed ISO 27001, SOC 2, or a published independent security audit today
  • Teams that need EU/EEA soil specifically rather than Swiss residency (primary data is in Switzerland)

Consider instead when

  • When: You need a mature EU cookieless analytics product with an official full-stack self-host option

    Consider: Plausible Analytics

    Plausible (Estonia) is the common self-host plus SaaS peer; Pulse keeps the backend managed-only.

  • When: You want a minimal Dutch cookieless counter without uptime or Lighthouse bundles

    Consider: Simple Analytics

    Closer peer for strictly analytics SaaS; Pulse differentiates with ops-style panels.

  • When: You need enterprise analytics with strong EU residency controls and heavier compliance packaging

    Consider: Piwik PRO or Friendly Analytics

    Heavier Matomo-class or Swiss-hosted peers when Pulse's startup assurance set is too thin.

Jurisdictie & eigendom

Juridische entiteit
Ciphera BV
Toepasselijk recht
Belgian law (GDPR); Swiss FADP for infrastructure location
VS-moeder / zeggenschap
Geen bekende VS-moeder
CLOUD Act-blootstelling (indicatief)
Low
Hosting / residentie
Domein / dienstRolOperatorStatusBewijs
pulse.ciphera.net / analytics API and storageCore app and analytics dataExoscale (Zurich, Switzerland) · ExoscaleGedeeltelijkTrust subprocessors table + sustainability page naming Exoscale CH-DK-2 Zurich (retrieved 2026-09-10)
js.ciphera.net / CDN and DNS edgeCDN, DNS, DDoS, edge routingBunny (Slovenia) · Bunny.netGedeeltelijkTrust subprocessors + Ciphera blog on Bunny edge (global edge network for transient IPs)
off-site backupsEncrypted backups / domain registrationInfomaniak (Switzerland) · InfomaniakGedeeltelijkTrust subprocessors table (Switzerland)

Belgian operating company with no known US parent. Primary data is in Switzerland (adequacy), not EU/EEA soil, so euHostedStatus is partial rather than eu_hosted. Exoscale is Swiss and part of A1 Digital / A1 Telekom Austria Group. Bunny global edge and GitHub (code only) are the main non-Swiss paths disclosed.

Duurzaamheid

Door leverancier geclaimd

Ciphera publishes Boavizta-based LCA figures for its Exoscale Swiss footprint and states hosting on the Swiss grid (~12 gCO2e/kWh). Independent verification of the numbers was not re-audited here.

  • Independent security / no-logs auditNot found
  • ISO 27001Not found
  • SOC 2 / SOC 3Not found
  • GDPR / EU data protectionVendor claimed
  • +3

Considerations & known limitations

  • MediumManaged backend is not open source

    You can audit the browser script and dashboard code, but not the operated ingestion and storage service. Procurement that requires full-stack self-host or full server auditability should look elsewhere.

  • MediumNo ISO/SOC or independent audit yet

    Ciphera publishes threat models, a warrant canary, and a subprocessor list, but explicitly has no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 and no completed independent audit. Enterprise security reviews will need questionnaires and a signed DPA.

  • LowPrimary data residency is Switzerland, not EU/EEA

    Swiss adequacy covers many GDPR transfer questions, but policies that hard-require EU/EEA datacenter soil will classify this as partial rather than EU-hosted.

  • LowMarketing vs privacy wording conflicts

    Product FAQ pages disagree on whether custom events ship today and whether a DPA is needed. Prefer privacy@ and the privacy policy for legal commitments until Ciphera aligns the FAQs.

Open questions for due diligence

  • Will Ciphera sign your standard DPA and return the full registered-address subprocessor appendix on request?
  • What is the retention and deletion SLA for a single customer's Pulse project data after contract end?
  • When is the planned independent security audit scheduled, and will the report be public?
  • Are Google Search Console, Bing, or CDN analytics panels generally available, or only mentioned in some marketing copy?
Request vendor DPA / enterprise contact
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Veelgestelde Vragen

No. Ciphera's GitHub README positions Pulse as a commercial hosted service, and the product FAQ states the managed cloud backend is closed. What is open under AGPL-3.0 is the client side: dashboard, tracking script, CLI, and API types for inspection and contribution, not a turnkey self-hosted backend.

Ciphera states primary Pulse analytics data is processed and stored in Switzerland on Exoscale, with Infomaniak used for encrypted off-site backups in Switzerland. Bunny provides CDN, DNS and edge routing (global edge for transient IPs). Mollie handles billing in the Netherlands. GitHub hosts public source code in the US and is described as not storing personal user data.

Ciphera claims Pulse sets no analytics cookies and does not use browser fingerprinting, and therefore does not require an ePrivacy cookie consent banner for the analytics script. That is a vendor legal position; your counsel should still review custom events, other tags on the page, and national ePrivacy guidance.

Ciphera says Pulse is not a drop-in GA replacement and does not import GA user-level history, because it lacks durable cross-visit identity beyond month-scoped hashes. Teams typically run both in parallel during cutover and accept a clean break for historical user paths.

Yes, according to the privacy policy: when you use Pulse on your websites, Ciphera BV acts as a processor under GDPR Article 28 and offers a Data Processing Agreement on request via privacy@ciphera.net. Some marketing FAQ lines say no DPA is required; use the privacy policy for procurement.