Company Overview
Open Web Analytics (OWA) was created in 2006 by Peter Adams and is an open source web analytics platform built on PHP and MySQL. Released under the GNU GPL license, OWA stands as one of the earliest self-hosted open source alternatives to Google Analytics.
OWA is one of the oldest open source projects in the web analytics space, predating even Matomo (formerly Piwik). Alongside standard website traffic statistics, it natively includes heatmaps and click tracking capabilities β advanced interaction analytics features that typically require additional tools or plugins in competing platforms.
Core Products
π Web Analytics
- OWA: Core analytics platform providing page views, unique visitors, traffic sources, bounce rate and other standard website metrics
- OWA Site Comparison: Multi-site comparison analysis for managing and comparing traffic performance across multiple websites
- OWA Visitor Profiles: Visitor profiles tracking the complete behavior history of individual visitors
- OWA API: RESTful API for integrating analytics data into third-party systems
π― User Interaction Analytics
- OWA Heatmaps: Heatmap analysis visualizing click distribution and attention areas on web pages
- OWA Click Tracking: Click tracking recording every user click behavior on pages
π Platform Integration
- OWA WordPress Plugin: Official WordPress plugin for seamless integration with WordPress sites
- OWA API: Developer API for custom data queries and integration
Core Strengths
Completely Open Source & Free: GPL licensed, fully open codebase with no licensing fees
Full Data Ownership: Self-hosted deployment, all data stored on your own servers, complete privacy control
Built-in Heatmaps & Click Tracking: Native heatmap and click analysis without extra tools or plugins
Lightweight PHP/MySQL Architecture: Low deployment barrier, compatible with mainstream shared hosting and low-spec servers
Mature and Stable: Nearly 20 years of continuous development and maintenance, reliable community support
Key Milestones
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Peter Adams released the first version of Open Web Analytics |
| 2008 | Introduced heatmaps and click tracking, leading among open source analytics tools |
| 2010s | Continuously optimized core features, released WordPress plugin |
| 2020s | Maintained open source development, updated for modern PHP and MySQL compatibility |
| 2026 | Continues maintenance updates, serving global users as a classic open source analytics solution |
Market Position
Open Web Analytics competes with the following providers in the open source self-hosted analytics market:
- Matomo: Best-known open source analytics platform (formerly Piwik), comprehensive features with more mature ecosystem
- Piwik PRO: Commercial enterprise version of Matomo, offering compliance and advanced features
- StatCounter: Free web analytics service, no self-hosting required but data not on your own server
- Clicky: Real-time analytics tool, lightweight and easy to use
- Plausible: Lightweight privacy-friendly analytics, cookie-less, but no heatmap support
- AWStats: Classic server log analysis tool, no JavaScript tracking needed
Product Data
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Created | 2006 |
| Developer | Peter Adams |
| License | GNU GPL (Open Source) |
| Tech Stack | PHP + MySQL |
| Core Focus | Self-hosted Google Analytics alternative |
| Key Features | Heatmaps, Click Tracking, Visitor Profiles |
| Deployment | Self-hosted |
