Rybbit is a next-generation, open-source web and product analytics platform designed to offer privacy-first, lightweight, and cookieless tracking for websites and products. It provides real-time insights without compromising user privacy or requiring complex setups.
This platform is ideal for businesses, developers, and product teams seeking powerful analytics with full data control and compliance with privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA.
Detailed User Report
From what I gathered through real user feedback, Rybbit impresses with its sleek user interface and responsive performance. Users appreciate the privacy-conscious approach and real-time data updates, which help identify user behavior clearly without the usual privacy trade-offs. However, some technical knowledge is required to set up self-hosting, and users pointed out that organizations with less technical capacity might face challenges.
Comprehensive Description
Rybbit Analytics is more than just a typical web analytics tool; it’s designed as an open-source, cookieless, and lightweight platform that fully respects user privacy. Unlike traditional analytics providers that rely on cookies, trackers, or cloud-hosted solutions, Rybbit allows you to self-host the platform or use a hosted service, keeping complete data ownership and control in your hands.
The main purpose of Rybbit is to deliver essential web and product analytics—like sessions, user journeys, funnels, and event tracking—in a privacy-compliant environment. The target audience mostly consists of developers, businesses who prioritize legal compliance such as GDPR and CCPA, and product managers who need actionable insights without sacrificing visitor privacy.
Technically, it consists of a Next.js dashboard built with React and TypeScript, a Fastify backend API, and a tracker JavaScript snippet that’s extremely lightweight (around 18KB), delivering no cookie dependence. Data is stored in high-performance databases like ClickHouse and PostgreSQL, enabling real-time dashboards and quick queries even for large datasets.
Users benefit from features including real-time analytics with live visitor counts, detailed user profiles and sessions, user flow and funnel analyses, conversion goal tracking, event monitoring, and heatmaps displaying active user times. With integrations available for frameworks like Angular, React, Vue, Shopify, and WordPress, Rybbit fits into diverse tech stacks seamlessly.
In the marketplace, Rybbit stands out against giants like Google Analytics by offering privacy superiority—it’s cookie-free and has no data sharing with third parties. While not as expansive in advanced segmentation as large providers, its transparency, self-hosting ability, and focus on core essential metrics make it a top choice for those who want analytics without privacy nightmares. Pricing is competitive, with a generous free tier for up to 3,000 monthly pageviews and a Pro paid tier expanding event limits and features.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Platform Compatibility | Self-hosted on VPS or cloud; SaaS hosted version available |
| Frontend Stack | Next.js, React, TypeScript |
| Backend | Node.js API (Fastify) |
| Databases | ClickHouse (event storage), PostgreSQL (metadata) |
| Tracker Script Size | ~18 KB JavaScript snippet (cookie-free) |
| Privacy Compliance | GDPR & CCPA compliant, no cookies or personal data collection |
| Integration | Google Tag Manager, React, Angular, Vue, Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Nuxt, Svelte, Docusaurus, Remix, others |
| API | Public API for ingestion, querying, and authentication |
| Session Replay | Available in Pro plans |
| Multi-site Support | Unlimited websites per organization |
Key Features
- Real-time analytics with live visitor activity and instant data updates
- Cookie-free, privacy-first tracking compliant with GDPR and CCPA
- Session replay for playback of user interactions
- Detailed user profiles and session timelines showing complete journeys
- User flow visualization with intuitive path analysis
- Funnel analysis with drop-off and conversion rate visualization
- Event tracking including clicks, form submissions, and custom events
- Conversion and goal tracking for measuring business objectives
- Heatmaps displaying user behavior by time of day
- Multi-site and multi-organization support with role-based access
- Seamless integration with major frontend frameworks and CMS platforms
- Open-source with self-hosting options and managed SaaS tier
Pricing and Plans
| Plan | Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Up to 3,000 pageviews/month, 1 user, 3 websites, cookieless tracking, basic features, 6-month data retention |
| Standard | $19/month | Up to 10 websites, 3 team members, web vitals, funnels, goals, error tracking, user profiles, 2-year data retention |
| Pro | $39/month | Unlimited websites and team members, session replays, 5+ year data retention, priority support |
Pros and Cons
- Extremely privacy-conscious with no reliance on cookies or personal data
- Open source and self-hostable, providing full data ownership
- Real-time analytics with detailed user journeys and session replay
- Intuitive and sleek user interface praised by users
- Supports advanced event and funnel tracking with customizable features
- Good integration options for popular frontends and CMS
- Competitive pricing with a free tier for small websites
- Strong compliance with GDPR/CCPA and privacy laws globally
- Requires technical knowledge for self-hosting and setup
- May lack some advanced segmentation depth compared to Google Analytics
- Still building enterprise-level features and ecosystem
- Self-hosting users report need for stable VPS and HTTPS setup
- Smaller community compared to legacy analytics platforms
- Limited support channels outside priority pricing tier
Real-World Use Cases
Rybbit is favored by privacy-conscious businesses such as small to medium e-commerce stores, SaaS products, and agencies who want detailed user analytics without risking compliance pitfalls. For instance, product managers leverage session replay and user flow paths to optimize onboarding and conversion funnels effectively.
Developers appreciate the open-source nature and seamless integration with frameworks like React and Vue, enabling tailored analytics deployment within their web apps. Various digital marketing teams have reported improved decision-making based on real-time behavioral heatmaps and event tracking.
One company cited using Rybbit’s funnels and goal tracking to identify bottlenecks in user registration, resulting in a 15% uplift in conversion rates after optimization. Another case highlights a media website achieving compliance without losing analytics insight by switching from Google Analytics to Rybbit’s cookieless platform.
Overall, Rybbit suits organizations needing a balance of privacy, performance, and actionable data. Its self-hosting option appeals particularly where data sovereignty is a priority or regulatory environments demand stringent control over analytics data.
User Experience and Interface
Users consistently comment on Rybbit’s clean and modern interface, making complex data approachable. The dashboard’s responsiveness and real-time updates provide a satisfying experience for users monitoring live traffic and engagement.
Most users find the learning curve moderate; while the UI is intuitive, understanding all advanced features—especially in self-hosted setups—can require some prior analytics or tech background. Mobile access is functional but best suited for desktop or tablet use due to visual complexity.
The ability to drill down through events, user profiles, and session replays within the same interface provides fluid navigation. Users also praise the visualizations like Sankey diagrams for user flows and interactive heatmaps, which add to usability in interpreting user behavior quickly.
Comparison with Alternatives
| Feature/Aspect | Rybbit | Google Analytics | Matomo | PostHog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy | Cookie-free, GDPR & CCPA compliant, self-hostable | Requires cookie consent, cloud-based, US data transfer | Self-hosted, privacy-centric | Open-source, privacy features with some cookies |
| Hosting | Self-hosted or SaaS | Cloud only | Self-hosted or cloud | Self-hosted or cloud |
| Real-time Analytics | Yes | Yes (sampled data) | Yes | Yes |
| Session Replay | Yes (Pro) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Ease of Setup | Technical knowledge needed for self-host | Simple tracking code | Moderate | Moderate |
| Pricing | Free tier + Pro $39/mo | Free/$150k+ for GA360 | Free/self-host | Free/Paid tiers |
| Customization | High, open source with API | Limited | High | High |
Q&A Section
Q: Does Rybbit require cookies for tracking?
A: No, Rybbit uses a cookieless tracking mechanism ensuring user privacy and compliance with GDPR and CCPA.
Q: Can I self-host Rybbit on my own server?
A: Yes, Rybbit is designed to be self-hosted with Docker Compose or manual deployment on any VPS or cloud infrastructure.
Q: Is there a free version of Rybbit?
A: Yes, there is a free plan that supports up to 3,000 monthly pageviews across 3 websites.
Q: Does Rybbit support session replay?
A: Yes, session replays are available in the Pro plan for detailed user journey playback.
Q: What integrations does Rybbit offer?
A: Rybbit supports integration with popular frameworks and CMS platforms including React, Angular, Vue, Shopify, WordPress, and more.
Q: How does Rybbit compare to Google Analytics in terms of data control?
A: Unlike Google Analytics which is cloud-hosted with data sent to Google servers, Rybbit allows full data control through self-hosting or private SaaS options.
Q: What kind of support is available for Rybbit users?
A: Support is available via email for free users, with priority support offered in paid Pro plans.
Q: Can Rybbit track custom events?
A: Yes, Rybbit offers unlimited custom event tracking with JSON-based payloads.
Performance Metrics
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Script Size | ~18 KB (lightweight tracking) |
| Real-time Update Latency | Seconds |
| Uptime | 99.9%+ (self-hosted dependent) |
| Data Retention | 6 months (free) to 5+ years (Pro) |
| Pageviews in Free Tier | Up to 3,000/month |
Scoring
| Indicator | Score (0.00–5.00) |
|---|---|
| Feature Completeness | 4.30 |
| Ease of Use | 3.80 |
| Performance | 4.50 |
| Value for Money | 4.00 |
| Customer Support | 3.50 |
| Documentation Quality | 3.90 |
| Reliability | 4.20 |
| Innovation | 4.40 |
| Community/Ecosystem | 3.20 |
Overall Score and Final Thoughts
Overall Score: 3.97. Rybbit is a compelling analytics platform that successfully combines privacy-first tracking with modern analytics features. While it requires some technical skill to maximize its potential, it offers excellent performance, competitive pricing, and important compliance advantages over traditional tools. The user-friendly interface and strong feature set satisfy most business and developer needs. Some areas for growth include expanding community support and easing self-hosting setup. Overall, Rybbit is an excellent choice for organizations prioritizing data privacy alongside actionable web analytics.
