=== SimpleStats – Friendly Private Website Analytics ===
Contributors: zkwarta
Tags: analytics, statistics, privacy, google analytics alternative, visitor counter
Requires at least: 5.6
Tested up to: 7.0
Stable tag: 1.0.0
Requires PHP: 7.2
License: GPL v3

Privacy focused analytics plugin. Cookieless, GDPR-ready fast website statistics with real-time visitor stats.

== Description ==

= The Simplest Privacy-Friendly Analytics Plugin for WordPress =

We believe website analytics should be simple! [SimpleStats](https://simplestats.com/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteversion) gives you beautiful, privacy-friendly statistics inside your WordPress dashboard – so you can grow your website with confidence.

No cookies. No Google Analytics. No consent banner. No code. Just install SimpleStats and instantly see the website statistics that actually matter, with full GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliance out of the box.

At SimpleStats, our #1 priority is to give you clear, actionable analytics inside WordPress – without slowing down your site, bloating your database, or putting your stats at risk.

This is why thousands of website owners are switching from Google Analytics and other analytics plugins to SimpleStats.

= Lightning-Fast Analytics – Zero Impact on Your Website =

Most WordPress analytics plugins are a hidden performance disaster. Every page view writes a new row to your WordPress database, which means:

* Your site gets **slower** as your traffic grows
* Your database gets **bloated** with millions of analytics rows
* Backups take longer and cost more
* If your site gets hacked, crashes, or migrates badly – **all your stats disappear**

SimpleStats solves all of this. Our cloud-powered analytics engine processes your visitor stats outside your WordPress database, so:

* **Your site stays fast** – no extra database writes on every page view
* **Your database stays small** – no analytics bloat, ever
* **Your stats are always safe** – kept secure even if your website goes down
* **Your historical data survives** – migrations, hacks, and crashes don't wipe your reports

This is the biggest advantage of SimpleStats over self-hosted analytics plugins. You get all the visibility, with none of the risk and none of the performance cost.

= 100% Privacy-Friendly Analytics – No Consent Banner Needed =

SimpleStats is built from the ground up to be **100% privacy-friendly**. We collect zero personal data. We use zero cookies. We never sell, share, or expose your visitor data to anyone.

This means:

* **No cookie banner required** for your analytics
* **GDPR, CCPA, PECR, and ePrivacy compliant** by default
* **No IP storage** – we anonymize before processing, then discard
* **No fingerprinting** – we don't identify individual visitors
* **No personal data collection** – only aggregated, anonymous metrics
* **No tracking IDs** to set up

Most "privacy-friendly" analytics plugins still store IP addresses, set cookies, or pad your database with identifying data. SimpleStats does none of that – making it the most private analytics plugin for WordPress.

If privacy and GDPR compliance matter to you, SimpleStats is the easiest way to get powerful website statistics without the legal headaches.

= Your Stats Survive Anything =

If your WordPress site goes down tomorrow, what happens to your analytics?

With most analytics plugins, the answer is brutal: **your stats are gone**. Self-hosted plugins store everything inside your WordPress database, so if your site crashes, gets hacked, suffers a bad migration, or your hosting account expires, every page view, visitor stat, and traffic source you've ever logged is lost.

With SimpleStats, your historical analytics are **always safe and always available**:

* **Backed up automatically** in our redundant cloud infrastructure
* **Available 24/7** – view your stats even when your site is down
* **Migration-proof** – move hosts, change domains, rebuild your site – your stats stay intact
* **Hack-proof** – an attacker on your WordPress site cannot delete or alter your historical reports
* **Faster reports** – queries run on our optimized infrastructure, not your shared hosting

It's analytics insurance, built right into the plugin.

= Beautiful Analytics Dashboard Inside WordPress =

You should never have to leave WordPress to see your visitor stats. With SimpleStats, you don't.

Our in-dashboard statistics page is designed to be **simple to read and beautiful to look at** – no PhD in analytics required.

* **Daily summary** – the most important stats at a glance
* **Page views chart** – see traffic trends over time
* **Visitor stats** – unique visitors, sessions, and engagement
* **Top pages report** – know your best-performing content
* **Top referrers report** – see every site sending you traffic
* **Search engine report** – Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and more
* **Country and city report** – know where your audience lives
* **Device report** – desktop, mobile, and tablet breakdowns
* **Browser and OS report** – understand visitor technology
* **UTM campaign tracking** – measure your marketing efforts
* **404 error report** – find and fix broken pages
* **Outbound link tracking** – see which external links visitors click

Every report is **filterable, sortable, and exportable** – so you can dive as deep as you want, then get back to running your business.

= Real-Time Visitor Stats =

See exactly who is on your website **right now**. Our real-time analytics dashboard updates every few seconds and shows you:

* **Live visitor counter** – know how many people are on your site this minute
* **Pages being viewed right now** – see which content is hot
* **Real-time traffic sources** – know where visitors are coming from
* **Live country and device data** – understand your audience instantly

Whether you publish a new post, run a sale, or get featured somewhere, you can watch your traffic spike in real-time.

= Built for Speed – The Lightest Analytics Plugin for WordPress =

Most WordPress analytics plugins slow down your site in two ways: a heavy tracking script on the front end, and constant analytics writes to your database on the back end. SimpleStats fixes both.

* **Tiny tracking script** – under 5KB, loads asynchronously, never blocks page rendering
* **No database writes for page views** – analytics data goes straight to our cloud, not your WordPress database
* **No database bloat** – your site stays fast and your backups stay small
* **Cache-friendly** – works perfectly with WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, and other caching plugins
* **Lazy-loaded reports** – the admin dashboard never feels sluggish

Get powerful analytics without slowing your website down – and without paying the long-term database cost that self-hosted plugins quietly rack up.

=  Google Analytics Alternative =

SimpleStats is an easy way to replace Google Analytics on your WordPress site.

* **60-second setup** instead of 30+ minutes of tracking codes and Google Tag Manager
* **No cookie banner needed** – GDPR compliant by default with our fast tracking tag
* **Zero impact on site performance** – no heavy tracking script, no database bloat
* **Stats stay safe** even if your site is hacked, crashed, or migrated
* **Reports inside WordPress** – never leave your dashboard
* **Tracking script under 5KB** – more than 90% smaller than Google's
* **Real-time visitor counter** – not stuck on yesterday's data

Whether you've outgrown Google Analytics, found it too confusing, or want to stay GDPR compliant without a cookie banner, SimpleStats is the simplest way to switch.

= Unlock Session Replays, Heatmaps & More With a SimpleStats Subscription =

The free plugin gives you the basic analytics dashboard – a SimpleStats Pro subscription shows you **why** visitors do what they do.

* **Session Replays** – watch real visitors browse your site, click by click, so you can see exactly where they get stuck or confused
* **Heatmaps** – see where visitors click, scroll, and stop reading on every page
* **Goal Tracking** – measure signups, downloads, button clicks, and any custom conversion you care about
* **Multi-Site Management** – manage analytics for up to 25 websites from one dashboard
* **Custom Domains** – run tracking on your own subdomain for maximum trust
* **User Management** – give team members and clients access to specific sites
* **API Access** – pull your statistics into custom reports, dashboards, and tools
* **Higher Pageview Limits** – up to 1 million pageviews and events per month
* **Priority Support** – get help fast from our expert team

Together, session replays and heatmaps turn your analytics from "what happened" into "why it happened and how to fix it." [Upgrade to SimpleStats Pro](https://simplestats.com/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteversion) to unlock the full picture.

= Why Website Owners Choose SimpleStats =

* **Easier to set up** – install, activate, and your visitor stats start showing up. No tracking codes, no IDs, no Google account.
* **Simpler to read** – clean, modern reports designed for humans, not data scientists.
* **More private** – no cookies, no IP storage, no fingerprinting.
* **Faster on your site** – tiny tracking script, zero database writes for page views.
* **Safer for your data** – stats survive hacks, crashes, migrations, and downtime.
* **Backed by MonsterInsights** – the same trusted team behind WPBeginner, WPForms, OptinMonster, and other popular WordPress plugins used on over 25 million websites.

= Works With Every WordPress Setup =

SimpleStats works with any WordPress theme, any page builder, and any hosting environment, including:

* Block Editor (Gutenberg)
* Elementor
* Divi
* Beaver Builder
* Bricks
* Oxygen
* Classic Editor
* WooCommerce
* Easy Digital Downloads
* MemberPress
* WordPress Multisite

No matter how your website is built, SimpleStats will track your visitor stats and page views reliably.

= Full SimpleStats Feature List =

* **One-click setup** – no tracking codes, no IDs, no Google account
* **Cookieless tracking** – 100% privacy-friendly, GDPR compliant by default
* **Cloud-powered** – zero database bloat, no site slowdown
* **Always-on stats** – your analytics survive crashes, hacks, and migrations
* **Real-time analytics** – live visitor counter and live page tracking
* **In-dashboard reports** – beautiful statistics inside WordPress, advanced reporting on our analytics website
* **Page views tracking** – total views, unique views, and historical trends
* **Visitor stats** – unique visitors, sessions, returning visitors
* **Traffic sources** – referrers, search engines, social media, direct
* **UTM campaign tracking** – measure marketing performance
* **Top pages and posts** – know your best-performing content
* **Country and city reports** – see where your audience lives
* **Device, browser, OS reports** – understand visitor technology
* **404 error tracking** – find and fix broken pages
* **Outbound link tracking** – see which external links visitors click
* **Lightweight** – tracking script under 5KB
* **Cache-friendly** – works with all major caching plugins
* **Multisite support** – works with WordPress Multisite networks
* **REST API access** – pull your statistics into other tools

= Who Should Use SimpleStats? =

SimpleStats is a great privacy-friendly analytics plugin for:
* **Bloggers** – know which posts your readers love most and engage with
* **Small business owners** – see how customers find you
* **eCommerce stores** – track top products and conversion paths
* **Agencies and freelancers** – give clients beautiful reports without slowing their sites
* **Nonprofits** – measure impact without privacy concerns
* **News and media sites** – see what stories are trending in real time
* **Membership sites** – understand your most active members
* **Course creators** – know which lessons get the most views
* **EU-based websites** – stay GDPR compliant without a cookie banner
* **High-traffic sites** – avoid the database bloat that plagues self-hosted analytics plugins

= Branding Guidelines =

SimpleStats&reg; is a registered trademark. When writing about the website analytics plugin by SimpleStats, please make sure to spell SimpleStats as one word, with the S in Simple and the S in Stats capitalized.

* SimpleStats (correct)
* Simple Stats (incorrect)
* simplestats (incorrect)
* Simple stats (incorrect)
* simple-stats (incorrect)
* Simple Analytics (incorrect)
* SimpleStat (incorrect)
* Simplestats (incorrect)

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= How is SimpleStats different from Google Analytics? =

SimpleStats is simpler, faster, and more private. You don't need a Google account, you don't need a cookie banner, and you don't have to leave WordPress to see your basic visitor stats.

= How is SimpleStats different from other WordPress analytics plugins? =

Most WordPress analytics plugins store every page view in your WordPress database. This slows your site down, bloats your backups, and means a single hack or crash can wipe out years of stats. SimpleStats processes analytics in the cloud, so your site stays fast and your stats stay safe – with the same polished in-dashboard reports you'd expect from a premium analytics tool.

= Does SimpleStats slow down my website? =

No – quite the opposite. Our tracking script is less than 50kb and loads asynchronously, and we don't write page view data into your WordPress database. Most other analytics plugins do, which silently bloats your DB and slows your site over time.

= Does SimpleStats use cookies? =

No. SimpleStats is 100% cookie-free with our simple tracking. This means you don't need a cookie consent banner, and your website is GDPR, CCPA, PECR, and ePrivacy compliant by default.

= Is SimpleStats GDPR compliant? =

Yes. SimpleStats was built privacy-first. We don't use cookies, we don't store IP addresses, we don't fingerprint visitors, and we don't sell or share your data. You can use it on any EU site without a consent banner.

= What happens to my stats if my website goes down or gets hacked? =

This is one of the biggest reasons to use SimpleStats. Your historical analytics are kept safely in our redundant cloud infrastructure, so they survive crashes, hacks, migrations, and downtime. With self-hosted analytics plugins, all that data lives in your WordPress database – one bad day and it can disappear.

= Does SimpleStats work with WooCommerce? =

Yes! SimpleStats tracks your WooCommerce store's traffic and top product pages out of the box.

= Does SimpleStats work with caching plugins? =

Yes. SimpleStats works with WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, and all other popular caching plugins.

= Does SimpleStats support WordPress Multisite? =

Yes, SimpleStats fully supports WordPress Multisite. Each site in your network can have its own statistics dashboard.

= Where can I get support? =

Free support is provided [on our website](https://simplestats.com/contact/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteversion). For priority support, [upgrade to a paid SimpleStats Plan](https://simplestats.com/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteversion).

== Installation ==

1. Install SimpleStats either via the WordPress.org plugin repository or by uploading the files to your server. (See instructions on [how to install a WordPress plugin](https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/step-by-step-guide-to-install-a-wordpress-plugin-for-beginners/))
2. Activate SimpleStats.
3. Navigate to the SimpleStats tab in your WordPress admin menu to see your website statistics.
4. Want more features? [Purchase a SimpleStats Subscription](https://simplestats.com/?utm_source=wprepo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liteversion)!

== External services ==

SimpleStats is a connector for **SimpleStats**, a cloud-based, privacy-friendly website analytics service operated by the plugin author. Because your analytics are processed in the cloud (and never written to your WordPress database), the plugin communicates with the SimpleStats service. The service, and the data exchanged with it, are described below.

* Service provider: SimpleStats — [https://simplestats.com](https://simplestats.com)
* Terms of Service: [https://simplestats.com/terms-of-service/](https://simplestats.com/terms-of-service/)
* Privacy Policy: [https://simplestats.com/privacy-policy/](https://simplestats.com/privacy-policy/)

The plugin only contacts the SimpleStats API (app.simplestats.com) in the following situations, and sends nothing until you connect your site:

1. **Connecting your site (sign-up, sign-in, password reset).** When a logged-in administrator connects the site from the SimpleStats admin screen, the plugin sends a request to `app.simplestats.com/wp-connector/*`. Data sent: the email address you enter (and, for sign-in only, your password, which is forwarded to the service and never stored by the plugin), your site URL, your admin URL, the plugin version, your site's timezone, a randomly generated installation ID, and the IP address of the administrator performing the action (used only to geolocate the account being created). Sent only when an administrator submits the connect / sign-in / sign-up / forgot-password form.

2. **Loading the tracking script in visitors' browsers.** Once your site is connected, a lightweight tracking script is loaded from `app.simplestats.com/pixel/<your-site-key>` on your public pages. It records anonymous, aggregated visit data such as the page URL, referrer, and device/browser type. No personally identifiable information is collected. Sent on front-end page views of a connected site.

3. **Displaying your reports in the WordPress dashboard.** When an administrator opens the SimpleStats dashboard, dashboard widget, or admin-bar indicator, the plugin requests your analytics reports (including real-time data) from `app.simplestats.com/wp-connector/*` using your site's stored API key. Data sent: your site/API key and the date range being viewed.

4. **Recording conversions (e-commerce and form submissions).** If you use WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, or track form submissions, the plugin sends the corresponding event (add-to-cart, checkout, purchase, or form submit) to `app.simplestats.com/pixel-track/<your-site-key>`. Data sent: the event type, order/product or form identifiers, the conversion value, the page URL, and the visitor's anonymous session identifiers. Sent only when the relevant store or form event occurs on a connected site.

== Source code ==

The SimpleStats admin dashboard and connection screens are built with [Vue 3](https://vuejs.org/) and bundled with [Vite](https://vitejs.dev/). The minified JavaScript and CSS in `assets/vue/` are generated from human-readable source that is included in this plugin (it is not obfuscated, only minified for production).

* Uncompiled source (Vue single-file components, JavaScript, and SCSS): the `vue/` directory.
* Build configuration: `vite.config.js` and `package.json`.
* Build output loaded at runtime: `assets/vue/`.

To rebuild the assets from source, run the following from the plugin directory:

`npm install`
`npm run build`

`npm install` installs the build dependencies declared in `package.json`; `npm run build` runs Vite, which compiles the `vue/` source (entry points `vue/dashboard.js` and `vue/authentication.js`) and writes the minified bundles to `assets/vue/`.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.0: 6/18/2026 =
* Initial release of SimpleStats – the simplest privacy-friendly analytics plugin for WordPress
* Cloud-powered analytics – zero impact on site performance, no database bloat
* Cookieless tracking – GDPR, CCPA, PECR, and ePrivacy compliant by default
* Stats survive site crashes, hacks, and migrations
* Real-time analytics with live visitor counter and active page tracking
* Beautiful in-dashboard reports for page views, visitors, and traffic sources
* Country, city, device, browser, OS, and search engine reports
* UTM campaign tracking
* 404 error and outbound link tracking
* Weekly and monthly email reports
* PDF and CSV exports
* Lightweight 5KB tracking script
* Works with WordPress Multisite and all major caching plugins
