Free website analytics: six free tools, and what each one shows you
You can measure a website for free. Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Cloudflare Web Analytics cost nothing; Matomo and GoatCounter are open source and free to host yourself; Convertlyft is free up to 5,000 visits a month. They do not show the same things. Some count traffic, some show how people behave on a page, and the price of "free" differs: a quota, a server to run, or a visit limit. Below, each one with what its own pages say, and how to choose.
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Six free website analytics tools at a glance
| Tool | What is free | What it shows | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | The tools, “free of charge”[1] | Website and app performance, with your Google Ads data beside it[9] | Reports may be sampled past a quota of 10 million events in a standard property[2]; user-level data can be kept 2 or 14 months[3] |
| Microsoft Clarity | “A free service forever”, with no traffic limits[5] | Recordings (session recordings) and heatmaps[4] | Its FAQ says it does no sampling[5]; it is about behaviour on the page, not a full traffic report |
| Cloudflare Web Analytics | “Web analytics—for free”[6] | Top pages, number of views and top referrers[6] | Uses no cookies or localStorage to collect its metrics[6] |
| Matomo On-Premise | Free to download, open source[7] | Web analytics on your own servers[7] | The software is free; the server and its upkeep are yours |
| GoatCounter | A free, donation-supported hosted service, or self-hosted[8] | Pages, referring sites, campaigns, browsers, location and screen size[8] | Open source; it says it does no tracking of personal data[8] |
| Convertlyft Free | Up to 5,000 visits a month, with every feature | Funnels, every visit recorded, heatmaps, errors, page speed and SEO | One website per workspace; go over your visits and every visit is still counted and shown |
Facts about other tools as of 31 October 2026, from each tool's own pages; each number in brackets links to the source below. Products and plans change, so check their pages before you decide.
Three kinds of free
- Free with no visit limit. Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity. You pay nothing; with Google Analytics, very large reports may be sampled.[2]
- Free if you host it. Matomo On-Premise and self-hosted GoatCounter. The software costs nothing; a server, updates and backups are yours to run.
- Free up to a limit. Convertlyft is free up to 5,000 visits a month with every feature, and no feature is held back for a bigger plan. The plans above that are on the pricing page.
Which free tool for which question
| Your question | Start with |
|---|---|
| How many people came, and from where? | Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics or GoatCounter |
| What did people do on one page? | Microsoft Clarity's recordings and heatmaps, or Convertlyft's |
| I want the data on my own server | Matomo On-Premise or self-hosted GoatCounter |
| Why don't visitors buy, and what should I change first? | Convertlyft: funnels, recordings, errors and speed in one place, with a to-do for each leak |
Compared in detail: Google Analytics alternative, Microsoft Clarity alternative.
What Convertlyft's free plan includes
- Every visit counted and recorded. Reports count every visit, none skipped. Every visit is recorded on every plan, up to a safety limit of 50,000 new recordings per site per day. Replays are kept 90 days and what visitors did 24 months.
- Funnels. Your main funnel is set up from your site's type; add your own of up to 6 steps. See funnel analysis.
- Why people leave. Heatmaps, clicks that did nothing and repeated clicks, JavaScript errors grouped into issues, and Core Web Vitals from real visits.
- What to change. What to do names one change at a time with the numbers behind it, and a report arrives every Monday at 07:30, your time.
- SEO beside the visits. Rankings, a site audit by our own crawler and your Search Console searches. On Free: 50 tracked keywords and 5 SEO content briefs a month.
- Your AI tools can read it. An MCP server and an API, on every plan.
A new account starts on Pro at 10,000 visits a month, free for 14 days. No card needed. After that it stays on Free unless you choose Pro.
Running two free tools at once
Free tools can sit side by side. Convertlyft's line runs beside the Google Analytics tag and does not change it, so you can keep your traffic reports and add the why. Paste one line before </head>, or install the Convertlyft plugin from WordPress.org. Then open Live: the people on your site now, refreshed every 10 seconds.
Weighing paid platforms too? See our guide to web analytics platforms. Measuring an app rather than a website? See product analytics tools.
Questions
Is there a free website analytics tool?
Yes, several. Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Cloudflare Web Analytics are free; Matomo On-Premise and GoatCounter are open source and free to host yourself; Convertlyft is free up to 5,000 visits a month.
Is Google Analytics really free?
Google says it gives its Analytics tools free of charge. Its help pages say reports may be sampled when they need more than the quota of 10 million events in a standard property.
What is the best free analytics tool for a small website?
It depends on the question. To count visits and sources, Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics or GoatCounter. To watch what people do on a page, Microsoft Clarity or Convertlyft. To see why visitors don't buy and what to change first, Convertlyft.
Does Convertlyft have a free plan?
Yes. Free up to 5,000 visits a month, with every feature. Go over your visits and every visit is still counted and shown. The plans above that are on the pricing page.
Do I need a card to start?
No. Start free. No card needed.
Sources
- Google Marketing Platform, Analytics overview, marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/, as of 31 October 2026.
- Google Analytics Help, “About data sampling”, support.google.com/analytics/answer/13331292, as of 31 October 2026.
- Google Analytics Help, “Data retention”, support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196, as of 31 October 2026.
- Microsoft Clarity, home page, clarity.microsoft.com, as of 31 October 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, “Clarity FAQ”, learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/faq, as of 31 October 2026.
- Cloudflare, Web Analytics, cloudflare.com/web-analytics/, as of 31 October 2026.
- Matomo, “Matomo On-Premise”, matomo.org/matomo-on-premise/, as of 31 October 2026.
- GoatCounter, home page, goatcounter.com, as of 31 October 2026.
- Google Marketing Platform, Analytics features list, marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/features/, as of 31 October 2026.
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