Ackee: Open-Source Analytics Platform with Privacy First Approach

What is Ackee?

Ackee is an open-source analytics platform built with privacy and simplicity as core principles. Designed as a lighter-weight alternative to Matomo and Google Analytics, Ackee enables websites to track visitor behavior while maintaining privacy compliance. Thousands of websites use Ackee to understand traffic patterns without vendor dependency or privacy concerns.

Unlike Google Analytics where visitor data is analyzed with machine learning on Google servers, Ackee keeps visitor data on your infrastructure under your control. Organizations deploy Ackee on-premises or self-hosted, maintaining complete data ownership while enabling visitor analytics.

Ackee provides essential analytics capabilities for understanding visitor behavior. Website owners track traffic sources, page views, and visitor location. Performance is monitored to identify slow pages. Results guide content and marketing strategy decisions.

Key Features and Capabilities

Traffic Analytics

Page Views: Track page views across your website
Referrers: See traffic sources including organic search, referrals, and direct
Browser and Device: Understand visitor browser and device types
Language: Detect visitor language preferences
Geographic Location: Track visitor location by country and region
Duration: Measure average time spent on pages

Event Tracking

Custom Events: Track custom events like button clicks or form submissions
Event Metadata: Attach metadata to events for detailed analysis
Event Filtering: Filter and analyze specific event types

Dashboard and Reporting

Real-Time Dashboard: Monitor live visitor activity in real-time
Charts and Graphs: Visualize data with charts and graphs
Time Range Selection: Analyze data for specific time periods
Comparison Mode: Compare metrics across different periods
Export Data: Export analytics data for further analysis

Privacy and Performance

Privacy First: No cookies, no tracking pixels, no third-party sharing
GDPR Compliant: Built-in compliance with privacy regulations
Lightweight Tracker: ~2KB JavaScript tracker for minimal performance impact
Zero Cookies: No cookies required for basic analytics
No User Identification: Visits tracked without personal identification

System Requirements and Technical Specifications

Server Requirements

Operating System: Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+, Debian 10+, CentOS 7+) or Docker
Node.js: 12+ for application runtime
MongoDB: 3.2+ or other supported database for data storage
RAM: 512MB minimum for testing, 2GB+ recommended for production
Storage: 5GB+ for application and analytics data
CPU: Single-core minimum, dual-core recommended

Client Requirements

Lightweight JavaScript tracker: ~2KB in size
Compatible with all modern browsers
Works without cookies or user consent for basic tracking

Installation and Deployment

Docker Installation

# Run Ackee with Docker
docker run -d 
  --name ackee 
  -p 3000:3000 
  -e MONGODB_URI=mongodb://mongo:27017 
  electerious/ackee

# Access at http://localhost:3000
# Add tracking code to your website

Linux Installation

# Install Node.js and MongoDB
sudo apt-get install nodejs npm mongodb

# Clone Ackee
git clone https://github.com/electerious/Ackee.git
cd Ackee

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start MongoDB
mongod --dbpath /data/db

# Run Ackee
npm start

# Access at http://localhost:3000

Integration with Website

# Add tracking code to your website

  (function() {
    const script = document.createElement('script');
    script.async = true;
    script.src = 'https://analytics.example.com/tracker.js';
    script.setAttribute('data-ackee-server', 'https://analytics.example.com');
    script.setAttribute('data-ackee-domain-id', 'your-domain-id');
    document.head.appendChild(script);
  })();

Use Cases and Real-World Applications

Privacy-Conscious Websites

Websites prioritizing visitor privacy use Ackee for analytics without visitor tracking concerns. Privacy policy simplifies with minimal data collection. Visitors appreciate transparency in analytics implementation.

GDPR-Compliant Organizations

European websites use Ackee to track analytics while meeting GDPR requirements. No cookie consent required for basic analytics. Compliance complexity decreases significantly.

Indie and Small Projects

Independent developers and small projects use Ackee to understand visitor behavior. Lightweight tracking minimizes performance impact. Simplicity enables focus on core functionality.

High-Performance Websites

Performance-focused websites use Ackee for minimal tracking overhead. ~2KB JavaScript tracker has negligible performance impact. Page load times remain optimal.