GhostStat vs Pirsch Analytics: European, cookie-free, compared

Pirsch Analytics is a small, focused tool from Germany: cookie-free, hosted in Germany, low-priced and with unlimited data retention. GhostStat shares the cookieless approach, stores its data in the Netherlands and goes further into behaviour with heatmaps, recordings and visitor intelligence. This comparison of GhostStat vs Pirsch looks at both honestly, with every claim about Pirsch linked to pirsch.io.

Last checked: 11 October 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us.

Pirsch vs GhostStat at a glance

How both tools count without cookies

Pirsch’s privacy documentation explains that it calculates a hash from the visitor’s IP address, user agent, the date and a salt per website. The date means a visitor can be recognised for at most 24 hours, the salt means sites cannot be matched, and “the visitor’s IP address is never stored or logged”. Its cookieless tracking page says no consent banner is needed.

GhostStat works in a very similar way. GhostStat stores nothing on the visitor’s device: no cookies, no localStorage, no sessionStorage and no fingerprinting. The IP address is used in memory to look up an approximate location, then dropped; it is never written to disk. Visitors are counted with an identifier that is salted per site and rotates daily, and the data is stored in Dronten, the Netherlands. Our privacy policy lists exactly what is collected.

Features: focused reports or deep behaviour

Pirsch’s home page lists events, conversion goals, funnels, tag-based segmentation and tags for A/B testing, plus session summaries and integrations for popular CMSs, website builders and programming languages. Its pricing page puts funnels, A/B testing and segmentation on the Plus plan. Heatmaps and session recordings are not mentioned.

GhostStat covers the same reports and adds tools that show behaviour on the page. Every plugin is available on every plan, Free included:

• Heatmaps for clicks, scrolling and movement, per device.
• Session recordings with every form input masked by default.
• Funnels, goals, form analytics and A/B tests.
• Ecommerce, cohorts and retention.
• Visitor intelligence: intent, friction and attention per visit.
• Public stats pages and counters to share your numbers.

On the Free plan each plugin has a monthly view allowance; paid plans remove it. The live numbers are on the pricing page.

Price, retention and getting started

Pirsch is inexpensive. Its pricing page lists Standard at $6 a month and Plus at $12 a month at the entry tier of 10,000 monthly page views, with Enterprise on request. Standard includes 50 websites, Plus unlimited, and data retention is unlimited on every plan. The free trial lasts 30 days and needs no card.

GhostStat has a Free plan without a trial clock, with every plugin included under a monthly view allowance. Paid plans, sites and retention per plan are on our pricing page, read live from our billing system.

Installing each tool

Both tools start with a small script on your pages. Pirsch’s home page also mentions an API backend integration and plugins, libraries and tutorials for popular CMSs, website builders and programming languages, which is useful if you would rather measure from your server than from the browser.

GhostStat is installed with one snippet before </head>; the install page in the app fills in your site key for you. Plugins load only on the sites where you switch them on, and you can send your own events from code or with the built-in Tag Manager plugin. If you also want your numbers on your phone, GhostStat Guardian for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android shows your sites in an app.

Questions to ask before you choose

• Do we need to see what visitors do on a page? If yes, GhostStat’s heatmaps and recordings answer that; Pirsch does not list them.
• How long must we keep history? Pirsch’s unlimited retention on every plan is a real plus; check GhostStat’s retention per plan.
• How many sites do we run? Pirsch’s 50 sites on Standard suit agencies; compare with GhostStat’s site limits.
• Which EU country do we prefer for our data? Pirsch hosts in Germany, GhostStat in the Netherlands; both are inside the EU.

Trying GhostStat next to Pirsch

You do not have to switch in one go. Add the GhostStat snippet next to your Pirsch code, leave both running for a few weeks and compare. Numbers will differ, because each tool counts visitors in its own way, so watch the trends rather than exact totals. Switch on one or two plugins, such as heatmaps on your most important page, to see what they add. If you decide to stay with Pirsch, remove the GhostStat snippet and nothing else changes on your site. Setup help is here.

Pirsch or GhostStat: how to choose

Choose Pirsch if you want a low-cost, cookie-free traffic tool with funnels and unlimited retention, hosted in Germany.

Choose GhostStat if you want the same privacy approach plus heatmaps, recordings, form analytics and visitor intelligence on every plan, with data stored in the Netherlands. Start free.

More comparisons: GhostStat vs Simple Analytics, GhostStat vs Plausible and the best Google Analytics alternatives.

Sources

• Pirsch: Home page and Pricing
• Pirsch: Cookieless tracking and privacy documentation