Vince: A Self-Hosted, Privacy-Friendly Alternative to Google Analytics

Introduction

Vince is an open-source, self-hosted web analytics platform designed as a privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. Built with Go, it offers a lean, zero-dependency solution for tracking website metrics, emphasizing data ownership and ease of operation. Vince provides a robust option for those seeking full control over their analytics data, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and PECR by operating without cookies. It's ideal for individuals and organizations looking for a simple, yet powerful, analytics tool that respects user privacy.

Installation

Vince ships as a single executable without any external dependencies, making installation straightforward across various environments.

MacOS and Linux

To install Vince on MacOS or Linux, simply run the following command in your terminal:

curl -fsSL https://vinceanalytics.com/install.sh | bash

Docker

For containerized deployments, Vince is available as a Docker image:

docker pull ghcr.io/vinceanalytics/vince

Helm

If you're managing applications with Kubernetes, you can deploy Vince using Helm:

helm repo add vince http://vinceanalytics.com/charts
helm install vince vince/vince

Download

Alternatively, you can download the latest release directly from the GitHub releases page:

See release page

Examples

After installation, you can quickly get Vince up and running.

Checking Installation

Verify your installation by checking the Vince version:

vince --version

Create Admin User

Before starting the server, create an administrator user:

vince admin --name acme --password 1234

Start Server

Once the admin user is created, you can start the Vince server:

vince serve

This will typically start the server on addr=:8080.

Why use Vince?

Vince stands out as a compelling choice for web analytics due to several key advantages:

Privacy-Friendly: It operates without cookies and is fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR, ensuring your visitors' privacy is respected.
Self-Hosted & Data Ownership: You maintain 100% ownership and control over your data, hosted on your infrastructure.
Zero Dependency: Vince ships as a single binary, eliminating the need for complex runtime dependencies like databases or other services, simplifying deployment and maintenance.
Scalability: Manage an unlimited number of sites and track unlimited events, scaling according to your available resources.
Key Features: Includes automatic TLS with Let's Encrypt, tracking for outbound links, file downloads, and 404 pages, custom event tracking, and time period comparisons.
Flexible Dashboards: Offers public dashboards and unique shared access links that can be password protected.
Lean Alternative: While inspired by Plausible Analytics, Vince focuses on core self-hosting features, providing a streamlined experience without enterprise-level complexities.