Self-Hosted Analytics — Why I Built What GA Won't Give You

Google Analytics is free. It is also a black box. Your data flows into someone else's servers, gets processed by someone else's algorithms, and you get back whatever dashboards they decide to give you. Want a custom metric? Good luck. Want your raw data? Export it — once. Want privacy for your users? GA4 is designed to collect as much as possible.

I built SuperInsights because I wanted the opposite: full control over my analytics data, real-time access to raw events, and zero third-party data sharing. Self-hosted, open-source, and designed for the age of AI where your analytics should feed your automation, not just your dashboard.

Raw Data, Always

Most analytics tools give you aggregated dashboards. Page views, sessions, bounce rate — pre-computed metrics you cannot drill into. SuperInsights stores every raw event. Every page view, every click, every error, every performance metric. You can query them directly via MongoDB or the API.

This matters when your analytics feeds into other systems. Want to build an AI that learns from user behavior? You need raw events, not aggregates. Want to detect anomalies in real time? You need the stream, not a daily summary.

No License Fees, No MaxMind

IP geolocation is a standard analytics feature — but most tools either pay expensive MaxMind licenses or use a third-party API that logs every request. SuperInsights bundles a free, self-contained IP-to-location database. No license fees, no external API calls, no data leaking to a third party for "enrichment."

AI Analysis Built In

Your analytics data is a goldmine for AI — but most tools lock it behind dashboards and CSV exports. SuperInsights connects directly to an LLM for natural-language analysis of your traffic patterns. Ask questions like "what changed in user behavior last week" or "which pages have the highest error rates" and get answers in plain English.

Because the data never leaves your server, you can use it with any AI provider — or with a local model. No privacy concerns, no data training clauses.

Self-Hosted in One Command

SuperInsights runs on Node.js + MongoDB. Deploy it with Docker, connect your tracking snippet, and start collecting data in minutes. The browser SDK auto-captures page views, clicks, errors, and performance metrics — no manual instrumentation needed.

For a solo founder or a small team, it replaces Google Analytics, Sentry, and a custom dashboard in one self-hosted stack.

SuperInsights on GitHub — MIT, one-command deploy, your data stays yours.

Next in this series: Machin in Production — building real products with the machine-first language.