Self-Hosted Analytics: How to Choose Without Becoming the Tracker

You need enough signal to improve navigation and guides — not a dossier on every visitor. Prioritize top landing pages, referrers, and device mix. Defer session replay until you have a concrete UX research question.

If you also run ads, keep analytics disclosures aligned with your cookie banner and privacy policy. Conflicting stories are a trust and compliance problem.

Score tools on install footprint, upgrade pain, retention controls, export formats, and whether collection can fail open without breaking pages.

Browse the Analytics category with Docker and license filters, then validate release cadence upstream before importing production traffic.

Ship aggregate page views first. Add events for guide CTAs later. Revisit retention quarterly and delete what you do not use.