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You could just use GoatCounter <https://www.goatcounter.com/ https://www.goatcounter.com/>; it's simple to deploy it yourself (it's open-source), but it's also

You could just use GoatCounter <https://www.goatcounter.com/ https://www.goatcounter.com/>; it's simple to deploy it yourself (it's open-source), but it's also free to use it hosted, and it seems to be quite privacy friendly (if one could call a web analytics solution as such). If you are already using CloudFlare, they have a (free and) simple enough web analytics solution. (They say they are also privacy friendly, but given it's not open-source you can't check.) As with static hosts that provide HTTP logs, perhaps they are, but certainly they won't be for free, as log shipping (from the edge where most hosted solutions cache things to the aggregator) and then storing those isn't quite that cheap...

schemescape 4y ago
I forgot to specify my goal when asking about HTTP logs: I want to get some basic analytics without adding anything to my HTML. I love Goat Counter, but I still have to add a tracker (a privacy friendly one, but a tracker nonetheless). Cloudflare looks like it might actually provide what I'm looking for, but the price is a bit too high for my low traffic hobby projects (looks like it starts at $20/month). I could just host my site on a VPS for cheaper than that (although I'd prefer some sort of managed/hosted offering under $10/month, if I can find one).
- ciprian_craciun 4y ago
  No, with Cloudflare you can use for free the "web analytics" product; you can even use it for any site, not only those hosted at CloudFlare. (Perhaps what you've seen is the "cache analytics" or "traffic analytics" which indeed are payed.) (I use it "web analytics" on my own site thus I can confirm that it's free.)
  - schemescape 4y ago
    Their site indicates that the free tier requires adding a JavaScript beacon (which is what I’m trying to avoid). Is that what you’re using? Or did I misread their offering (which seemed to clearly indicate a paid plan was required for the non-JavaScript analytics)? See at the bottom how it says “sign up for a paid plan” in the section that says “there is no code to add”: https://www.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/ https://www.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/ Edit: Oh, you're the OP! Just checked out your site and you are indeed using their JavaScript beacon. I know I'm being unreasonable, but in my case, I'm going for no JavaScript, and no trackers (so some sort of request logging on the server or proxy side is likely my only option). It's my attempt to "be the change you want to see in the world".
    - ciprian_craciun 4y ago
      Yes, the Cloudflare web-analytics does require JavaScript. With regard to no-JavaScript sites I understand; and for example the only JS on my site is the one for GoatCounter and Cloudflare web-analytics. GoatCounter does fallback nicely in case of no-JavaScript, meanwhile Cloudflare just doesn't work. However, with regard to Cloudflare web-analytics, given that I already serve my site through them, there is no privacy lost by also using their analytics. GoatCounter is good for assessing a long-term picture regarding readership, meanwhile CloudFlare is good for assessing performance issues. Also note that if one registers a domain with Google for their webmaster tools (previously called Search Console?), although one doesn't use any of the Google services on the site, just because your visitors are using Chrome you can get performance metrics that way... So that's that about privacy... :)

schemescape 4y ago

I forgot to specify my goal when asking about HTTP logs: I want to get some basic analytics without adding anything to my HTML. I love Goat Counter, but I still have to add a tracker (a privacy friendly one, but a tracker nonetheless). Cloudflare looks like it might actually provide what I'm looking for, but the price is a bit too high for my low traffic hobby projects (looks like it starts at $20/month). I could just host my site on a VPS for cheaper than that (although I'd prefer some sort of managed/hosted offering under $10/month, if I can find one).

ciprian_craciun 4y ago
No, with Cloudflare you can use for free the "web analytics" product; you can even use it for any site, not only those hosted at CloudFlare. (Perhaps what you've seen is the "cache analytics" or "traffic analytics" which indeed are payed.) (I use it "web analytics" on my own site thus I can confirm that it's free.)
- schemescape 4y ago
  Their site indicates that the free tier requires adding a JavaScript beacon (which is what I’m trying to avoid). Is that what you’re using? Or did I misread their offering (which seemed to clearly indicate a paid plan was required for the non-JavaScript analytics)? See at the bottom how it says “sign up for a paid plan” in the section that says “there is no code to add”: https://www.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/ https://www.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/ Edit: Oh, you're the OP! Just checked out your site and you are indeed using their JavaScript beacon. I know I'm being unreasonable, but in my case, I'm going for no JavaScript, and no trackers (so some sort of request logging on the server or proxy side is likely my only option). It's my attempt to "be the change you want to see in the world".
  - ciprian_craciun 4y ago
    Yes, the Cloudflare web-analytics does require JavaScript. With regard to no-JavaScript sites I understand; and for example the only JS on my site is the one for GoatCounter and Cloudflare web-analytics. GoatCounter does fallback nicely in case of no-JavaScript, meanwhile Cloudflare just doesn't work. However, with regard to Cloudflare web-analytics, given that I already serve my site through them, there is no privacy lost by also using their analytics. GoatCounter is good for assessing a long-term picture regarding readership, meanwhile CloudFlare is good for assessing performance issues. Also note that if one registers a domain with Google for their webmaster tools (previously called Search Console?), although one doesn't use any of the Google services on the site, just because your visitors are using Chrome you can get performance metrics that way... So that's that about privacy... :)