head to head · open source
shynet vs OpenWebAnalytics
shynet has 3,157 GitHub stars, 212 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. OpenWebAnalytics has 2,697 stars, 488 forks, 115 open issues and last shipped yesterday. shynet leads on adoption by 17% (3,157 vs 2,697 stars). shynet is written in Python under Apache-2.0; OpenWebAnalytics is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. shynet has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, OpenWebAnalytics 18%. OpenWebAnalytics was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (privacy, web-analytics), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| shynet | OpenWebAnalytics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.2K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-03-15 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 212 | ⑂ 488 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick shynet if
- You weight community size — 3.2K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenWebAnalytics if
- You want the OpenWebAnalytics feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and OpenWebAnalytics fits your workflow better
About shynet
Modern, privacy friendly, and cookie free web analytics. Getting started » Screenshots • Features • Office Hours Motivation There are a lot of web analytics tools. Unfortunately, most of them come with the following caveats: They require handing all of your visitors' info to a third party company They use cookies to track visitors across sessions, so you need to have those annoying cookie notices They collect so much personal data that even the NSA is jealous They are closed source and/or expensive, often with limited data portability They are hard to use Shynet has none of these caveats. You host it…
read the full shynet overview →
About OpenWebAnalytics
Open Web Analytics Server Open Web Analytics is an open source alternative to commercial web analytics tools such as Google Analytics. This software allows you to stay in control of the data you collect about the user of your websites or applications. This repository installs the OWA Server and Javascript tracking client which can easily be added to web pages. To add OWA tracking to a WordPress based website install the OWA integration plugin or see this repository. To add OWA tracking to any PHP application use the OWA PHP SDK Features Track visitors, pageviews, e commerce transactions, and configurable actions…
read the full OpenWebAnalytics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is shynet or OpenWebAnalytics more popular?
shynet has 3,157 GitHub stars and OpenWebAnalytics has 2,697. shynet has the larger community by that measure.
Are shynet and OpenWebAnalytics free?
Both are open source. shynet is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenWebAnalytics under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shynet and OpenWebAnalytics?
shynet is written in Python and OpenWebAnalytics in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, shynet or OpenWebAnalytics?
Choose shynet if you want the larger community (3,157 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenWebAnalytics if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.