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Simple Analytics simpleanalytics.com

Can AI replace Simple Analytics?

Pageview analytics, events, dashboards, and exports are very buildable; paid value is hosted privacy posture, reports, reliability, and support.

Verdict: Bot · AI can build you a working versionBuild time: weekend
Bot

01What it costs

$20/moStarter, monthly
$240per year at that price

Checked Aug 11, 2026 · source: simpleanalytics.com. Free for one user and 5 websites with 30 days of history; paid keeps data longer.

PlanMonthlyBilled yearlyWhat you get
FreeFreeFree1 user, 5 websites, 30 days of history and unlimited pageviews under fair use; badge required.
Simple (100k monthly data points)$20$16.67/mo100,000 monthly pageviews/data points and 1 included user; website count is not numerically capped on the plan card.
Enterprise——Custom traffic, users and service terms; numeric limits and price not public.

Hidden costs: Paid pricing rises automatically with traffic: monthly plans use the current month then a 3-month average; annual plans can auto-increase after a 1-week warning. Each extra user costs $20/month. Bitcoin payment is annual-only and adds 10%; bank-transfer invoices of at least $500 add 10%.

02Could AI build it for you?

The core job: Add JS tracker, record anonymous pageviews/events, aggregate by dimensions, and expose dashboard/API.

What a working version needs:

  • server
  • database
  • tracker script
  • domain/SSL
  • backups
  • optional email reports

Another strong yes; helps cluster analytics apps on the site.

03What you'd give up

  • managed hosting
  • privacy/legal positioning
  • bot filtering
  • reports
  • uptime
  • support

They pay for low-maintenance analytics they can put in a privacy policy with confidence.

04Free and cheaper alternatives

GoatCounteropen-source

The spartan version: useful traffic numbers and very little else to argue about.

Versus paying: It is much more spartan and lacks Simple Analytics' polished reports, automations and privacy-focused workflow conveniences.

goatcounter.com →
Plausible Community Editionopen-source

A nearly identical promise, delivered from a Compose file you own.

Versus paying: The core promise is similar, but the user operates the stack and Community Edition does not include every hosted-cloud extra.

plausible.io →
Umamiopen-source

Privacy analytics without cookies, personal profiles or a monthly invoice.

Versus paying: It exposes more configuration and dashboard complexity while offering fewer of Simple Analytics' reporting conveniences.

umami.is →

05The build prompt

Paste this into an AI coding tool (such as Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable or Replit) to build your own version.

prompt.txt
Build me privacy-first web analytics to replace Simple Analytics, self-hosted for my own
sites. Requirements:

- A Node + Express service with better-sqlite3: one /collect endpoint and a dashboard at
  /dash behind basic auth (password in .env).
- A tracker snippet under 1 KB of plain JS, no cookies: sends path, referrer, screen
  width, and a daily-salted hash of IP + user agent for unique counting; the salt
  rotates daily so nothing is traceable across days.
- Keep raw hits 30 days; a nightly node-cron job aggregates into daily rollups per site
  (pageviews, uniques, top pages, top referrers, device split), keeps rollups forever,
  deletes expired raw hits.
- Custom events via sa('signup') in the snippet, counted per day.
- Dashboard per site: a 30-day chart (hand-rolled SVG, no chart library), pages and
  referrers tables, a date-range picker.
- Filter obvious bots by user-agent list; ignore my own visits via a localStorage opt-
  out flag.
- CSV export per site and month from the dashboard.
- No cookies and no personal data stored, GDPR-sane by construction.
- Out of scope: funnels, session replay, and multi-user access. Uptime is on me; the
  collect endpoint sits behind my existing reverse proxy.
- README: the snippet to paste and the Caddy or nginx route.

06Open-source starting points

  • Umami: Open-source web analytics platform for privacy-friendly tracking.
Sponsor slot · openFeatured alternative to Simple Analytics. A labeled card for one relevant tool.
Book this spot →

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App prices, verdicts, alternatives and build prompts are adapted from Can I Vibecode It? (MIT License, © 2026 Rob Hallam). Each price shows the date it was checked and its source. Prices change; confirm on the vendor's site before you decide.