I Built an Open-Source Alternative to Google Analytics + Hotjar

Source: Dev.to

Core Features

Script size – 10 s on PostgreSQL runs in ~50 ms on ClickHouse—even with millions of rows.

• PostgreSQL stores non‑time‑series data: user accounts, site configurations, goals, automation rules.
• Script size stays under 1 KB (compare GA4 45 KB+, Hotjar 100 KB+). No cookies, no fingerprinting, no PII collection.

Installation

# Requires Docker
git clone https://github.com/Seentics/seentics.git
cd seentics
docker compose up -d --build

Open the application and you have a full analytics platform running.

High‑level data flow

Browser --> Tracking Script --> Go Backend API (:3002)
                                     |
               +---------------------+---------------------+
               |                     |                     |
          ClickHouse            PostgreSQL            MinIO
          (events)               (metadata)          (replays)

• The tracking script is served by the Go backend and sends events directly to it.
• Events are buffered in memory and batch‑inserted into ClickHouse.
• Session replay data goes to S3‑compatible storage (MinIO for self‑hosted, any S3 for cloud).
• PostgreSQL stores user accounts, site configs, goals, and automation rules.

Getting Started on Your Site

Add the following snippet once to your HTML (replace YOUR_SITE_ID):

Custom Event Tracking

// Basic event
seentics.track('signup_click')

// With properties
seentics.track('purchase', {
  value: 49.99,
  plan: 'pro'
})

Roadmap

• AI‑powered insights (anomaly detection, natural‑language queries)
• Custom dashboards & email reports
• WordPress plugin

Try It

• Cloud version:
• Self‑host: GitHub repo – star it if you find it useful!

I’d love feedback — what features would make you switch from your current analytics setup? What’s missing?

Thanks for reading!