Open Web Analytics

What Open Web Analytics is

Open Web Analytics (OWA) is a free, open-source framework for tracking how people use websites and applications. It records visitors, pageviews, e-commerce transactions, and configurable actions, with event tracking, conversion funnels, and ecommerce tracking among its listed capabilities. Its reporting dashboard includes customizable reports, heatmaps, and Domstream session recordings. One server instance can track an unlimited number of websites. OWA also provides a REST API for administration and data access, documented integrations for WordPress and MediaWiki, and a PHP SDK for PHP applications. This is self-hosted software: installation requires a web server and database, and places OWA under the server's document root. Requirements include PHP 7.2 or later, the mysqli extension, and MySQL 4.1 or later or a compatible database. The maker says it should run on UNIX and most Windows operating systems, with more extensive testing on UNIX. OWA is licensed under GPLv2; support comes from its community, with documentation and issue tracking available.

Who it suits

OWA suits website or application operators who want to host their own analytics framework. It may also suit teams using WordPress, MediaWiki, or PHP applications.

Limits

The free Open Web Analytics plan is self-hosted, so you provide the web server, database, and required PHP environment. The listed plan costs nothing.

Getting started

1. Open the Open Web Analytics website
2. Prepare a web server and database
3. Use PHP 7.2 or later with the mysqli extension
4. Provide MySQL 4.1 or later or a compatible database
5. Run the installer so OWA is placed under the web server document root
6. Configure tracking for websites or applications

Verdict

OWA offers broad tracking and reporting features for a self-hosted setup. Its server and database requirements make hosting part of the implementation.