Feder and GoatCounter: keep GoatCounter, check the numbers you run on.
No, Feder is not a replacement for GoatCounter. Keep GoatCounter. Feder does a different job beside it: it reads what your connected apps recorded and compares each number with your own history, so you know when one cannot be trusted.
Why would I need this?
Because the question is not what the number is. It is whether you can trust it.
Is Feder an alternative to GoatCounter?
No. GoatCounter is an open source web analytics platform available as a free donation-supported hosted service or self-hosted app. Feder does a different job: it watches the numbers your tools record and says when one cannot be trusted. Nothing here asks you to switch.
Do I need Feder if I have GoatCounter?
They do different jobs, so one does not stand in for the other. Keep GoatCounter for the job it does. Feder's job is to say when a number your tools record has gone quiet or moved outside your own history.
What does GoatCounter do better?
GoatCounter tells visits apart without storing visitors' IP addresses or browser details to its database or disk.
In GoatCounter's words:
The IP address and User-Agent are never stored to the database or disk, and there is no conceivable way to trace the random UUID back to this.
GoatCounter documentation, read 2026-11-12.GoatCounter leaves out bots and crawlers that say they are bots.
In GoatCounter's words:
all bots and crawlers that identify themselves as such are ignored.
GoatCounter documentation, read 2026-11-12.GoatCounter counts visits rather than raw page loads, so a reload or a return to the same page in one session counts once.
In GoatCounter's words:
Someone reloading the page or going to another page and then coming back is counted as one visit.
GoatCounter documentation, read 2026-11-12.
What can go wrong with GoatCounter's numbers?
Ad blockers can stop GoatCounter from counting a share of pageviews. GoatCounter's own estimate is about a third, varying a lot by site and audience, and it offers ways round it such as importing server logs.
In GoatCounter's words:
By my estimate about a third of pageviews are missed due to adblockers; but this can vary greatly on the type of site and audience.
GoatCounter documentation, read 2026-11-12.Some bots can still be counted in GoatCounter. GoatCounter notes this is a general problem with analytics, not one specific to it.
In GoatCounter's words:
unlikely that 100% of all bots are ignored (this is a general problem with analytics, and not specific to GoatCounter).
GoatCounter documentation, read 2026-11-12.GoatCounter updates its statistics in short batches for efficiency, so the newest pageviews can take a few seconds to show.
In GoatCounter's words:
For reasons of efficiency the statistics are updated once every 10 seconds.
GoatCounter documentation, read 2026-11-12.
How does Feder work with GoatCounter?
- Feder has no connection to GoatCounter today, so it reads nothing from it.
- The two can run side by side: GoatCounter keeps doing its job, and Feder checks the numbers your other tools record against your own history.
- Feder only reads. It never changes anything in a connected app.
What should I ask about my GoatCounter setup?
- Which numbers on my dashboard are counted at the source, and which are modeled or estimated?
- If this number stopped counting tomorrow, who would notice, and when?
- What does a normal week look like for this number, in my own history?
Questions owners ask
- Does Feder replace GoatCounter?
- No. Keep GoatCounter. Feder sits beside it.
- Does Feder send data into GoatCounter?
- No. Feder only reads.
- How accurate is Feder?
- We do not publish an accuracy number yet. When there is a measured one, it will be here with how it was measured.
Where do these claims come from?
Every quoted statement about GoatCounter on this page comes from GoatCounter's own pages, quoted above with the date we read them. We read them again by 2027-05-11. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.