head to head · open source
shynet vs OpenWebAnalytics
shynet has 3,156 GitHub stars, 208 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. OpenWebAnalytics has 2,689 stars, 488 forks, 115 open issues and last shipped today. shynet leads on adoption by 17% (3,156 vs 2,689 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
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 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 208 | ⑂ 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
Shynet is an open source web analytics application written in Python and built with Django. It lives in the self hosted web and product analytics ecosystem, where operators collect visit data on their own infrastructure instead of sending it to a third party service. The project is released under the Apache 2.0 license and aims to provide detailed analytics without cookies or required JavaScript.
read the full shynet overview →
About OpenWebAnalytics
Open Web Analytics is an open source web analytics server written in PHP and released under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later. It ships the OWA Server together with a first party JavaScript tracking client that can be added to web pages, and it is positioned by its maintainers as an alternative to commercial analytics tools such as Google Analytics. The project lives in the PHP ecosystem and is distributed through its GitHub repository, with a WordPress integration plugin and a PHP SDK maintained alongside it for sites and applications that want tracking wired in without hand rolling the client.…
read the full OpenWebAnalytics overview →
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Web & Product Analytics projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Web & Product Analytics field.
Frequently asked questions
Is shynet or OpenWebAnalytics more popular?
shynet has 3,156 GitHub stars and OpenWebAnalytics has 2,689. 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 (3,156 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.