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WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative

By VeronaLabs

Analytics & Reporting / Traffic & Visitor Analytics

Reviewed by Abdul Hameid

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative Review - In-Depth Analysis

WP Statistics offers privacy-friendly analytics as an alternative to Google Analytics. It provides visitor data, stunning graphs, and ensures compliance with GDPR and CCPA.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

7.21/10

User Rating

4.1/5 (based on 759+ reviews)

Active Installations

500,000+

Update Frequency

Outstanding It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

8.66 / 10 (High Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

WP Statistics is a powerful analytics tool that provides GDPR-compliant insights without the need for external accounts. It tracks unlimited visitors and ensures full data ownership by storing all information directly on your WordPress site.

This plugin features a simple analytics dashboard, allowing users to monitor live traffic in real-time and generate comprehensive reports on visitor behavior, geographic locations, and referral sources. With advanced data privacy settings, it complies with various data protection laws, ensuring user privacy.

WP Statistics also offers premium add-ons for enhanced functionality, including campaign analytics, custom post type tracking, and detailed reporting features. Upgrade your analytics toolkit with these powerful tools to make informed decisions about your website's performance.

Comparing to Alternatives

WP Statistics sits in a crowded field of privacy-focused analytics plugins. It's one of the most established and feature-rich options, but it faces strong competition from lighter, simpler tools as well as self-hosted heavyweights.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Extensive, granular data out of the box: pages, referrers, devices, locations, and trends
Cookie-free tracking that avoids consent-banner requirements in many jurisdictions
Highly configurable and programmable for developers who need custom setups
Responsive support team, including help for free users
Long track record and large install base with active development

Weaknesses

Long history of security vulnerabilities, including several critical SQL injection and XSS flaws over the years
Some users report inaccurate visitor counts, including bot traffic being counted as real visits
Premium upsell nags can feel intrusive, especially when core tracking issues surface
Heavier resource usage compared to lightweight alternatives like Koko Analytics or Statify

User Sentiment Analysis

With a 4.1/5 average from 757 ratings, sentiment is generally positive—71.7% gave 5 stars—but a notable 20.1% left 1 or 2 star reviews, signaling a polarized minority experience alongside broad satisfaction.

Positive highlights

"A really useful plugin giving a wealth of information... technical support... very helpful" — Graham Stott
"No-cookie integration makes it better than many third-party implementations, such as Matomo... Strongly recommend!" — Gennady Kurushin
"Currently I would choose this over Matomo... easy to set up and privacy-friendly" — Julia Vicentini
"I found WP Statistics... genuinely useful, in-depth visibility... without feeling like a 'lite' analytics tool" — tjoseph
"I like it, just what I wanted, you cannot expect more for free!" — kolumbus7

Common complaints

Visitor tracking failed to register views even when tested manually from different locations
Reported bugs went unresolved after being flagged to support
Hosting providers like GoDaddy have blocked the plugin for excessive resource usage
Lifetime license holders were asked to purchase a new license after a major version update changed functionality

Weaknesses

A long and substantial history of security vulnerabilities, including multiple critical SQL injection and unauthenticated XSS issues across versions
Frequent nags to upgrade to premium, which frustrates users when free-tier tracking issues exist
Occasional accuracy concerns, such as bot traffic inflating visitor statistics

Who Should Use This?

Best for

WP Statistics suits site owners who want detailed, self-hosted, privacy-friendly analytics without relying on Google Analytics or third-party cookies. It's a good fit for those comfortable managing WordPress updates promptly and who want deep configurability, developer-level insights, and cookie-free compliance.

Not ideal for

Given its extensive vulnerability history—including critical SQL injection and cross-site scripting flaws over the years—this plugin is less suitable for site owners who delay updates or manage security-sensitive sites without a strict patching routine. Users seeking a lightweight, no-fuss stats tool, or those wary of frequent premium upsells, may prefer a simpler alternative.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers a genuinely comprehensive analytics toolkit: visits, visitors, page views, referrers, entry/exit pages, device and browser breakdowns, geographic data, and trend reporting—without needing cookies or consent banners.

Pro version (59 - 159 USD / year)

Premium add-ons typically extend WP Statistics with advanced reporting, additional data views, marketing/UTM tracking enhancements, and priority support, sold as add-ons rather than a single bundled upgrade. Some reviewers note that lifetime license holders were later asked to purchase new licenses after major version changes.

Final Verdict

WP Statistics remains one of the most feature-complete privacy-friendly analytics plugins for WordPress, earning genuine praise for its depth of data, cookie-free approach, and responsive support. The majority of users are happy, and many explicitly prefer it over Matomo or Google Analytics alternatives for its balance of detail and privacy compliance.

That said, its long history of serious vulnerabilities—including critical SQL injection and XSS flaws—demands that site owners stay diligent with updates, and the recurring complaints about tracking accuracy, unresolved bugs, and premium upsells shouldn't be ignored. For users who keep plugins current and want rich self-hosted analytics, it's a strong choice; those wanting a simpler, lower-maintenance tool might be better served by Koko Analytics or Statify.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative plugin.

Analytics

Google Analytics

Visitor Insights

Screenshots

FAQ

WP Statistics is designed for website owners, bloggers, marketers, and analysts who wish to track and understand the traffic on their WordPress site. It’s user-friendly and powerful for professionals but also accessible for beginners.

Contributors and developers

“WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.