Aptabase

Aptabase is an open-source analytics platform for mobile, desktop, and web applications. It suits developers and small teams that want deliberate, privacy-conscious event measurement, especially where regional hosting or self-hosting matters. Choose it for aggregate product signals and predictable event-based bills; look elsewhere if analysis must follow individual users.

Overview

Aptabase records only the events a developer sends, rather than collecting activity automatically. Its real-time dashboard covers sessions, events, app and operating-system versions, devices, and countries. That keeps instrumentation under the team’s control, but useful reporting depends on defining and sending the right events.

The privacy model excludes device identifiers, cookies, fingerprints, and long-term user identification. This substantially reduces identity exposure, while also making monthly active-user counts and per-user retention impossible. It is a sensible trade for aggregate usage patterns, not for products whose decisions depend on following named or persistent users.

Key features

Custom events accept string or number properties, with a session timeline and live view for inspecting activity. Data can be retained for up to five years and exported to CSV. Aptabase says customers own their data and that it does not sell or use their analytics data.

Cloud customers can place data in Germany for the EU region or Virginia for the US region. The homepage also supports hosting your own server. The server uses the AGPL-3.0 licence and SDKs use MIT, giving engineering teams a route to inspect, adapt, or operate the stack themselves.

Integrations span Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, NativeScript, Electron, Tauri,.NET MAUI, web, React/Next.js, Angular, browser extensions, Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, Python, and C++. Support channels are email, Discord, and GitHub issues.

Pricing

The free plan costs nothing and permits unlimited apps, up to 20,000 events per month, EU or US residency, the built-in dashboard, live view, session timeline, and CSV export. It is a practical starting point for indie projects and low-volume prototypes, but the event ceiling can stop analytics as usage grows.

Paid plans are billed monthly in USD and retain the event-based model:

PlanMonthly priceIncluded eventsPay as you grow10.00 USD200,000/monthPay as you grow20.00 USD1,000,000/monthPay as you grow40.00 USD2,000,000/monthPay as you grow75.00 USD5,000,000/monthPay as you grow140.00 USD10,000,000/monthPay as you grow240.00 USD20,000,000/monthPay as you grow300.00 USD30,000,000/monthPay as you grow450.00 USD50,000,000/monthCustom planCustom pricingMore than 50,000,000/monthThere are no overage fees. Once a monthly event limit is exceeded, analytics are temporarily disabled until the next month, so teams near a ceiling should choose headroom rather than risk a reporting interruption.

Platforms

Aptabase supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, web, browser extensions, and self-hosted deployments. The broad SDK list makes it viable for mixed mobile, desktop, web, and game projects.

Who it's for

Indie developers, studios, open-source projects, and SaaS teams shipping apps are the natural audience. It is particularly suitable when data residency, source availability, and avoiding persistent identifiers outweigh the need for user journeys. Teams requiring funnels, cohorts, retention reports, or user-level metrics should choose a different analytics model.

Pros and cons

Pros

Privacy by design: no device IDs, cookies, fingerprints, or long-term user identification.

Deployment choice: Germany or Virginia cloud regions, plus self-hosting.

Clear cost control: free usage and published event tiers with no overage charges.

Portable ownership: CSV export, a five-year retention window, and stated customer data ownership.

Cons

No user-level analytics: monthly active users and per-user retention cannot be reported.

No funnel or cohort reporting: products built around those analyses need another tool.

Hard stop at quota: exceeding the event allowance disables analytics temporarily rather than allowing continued collection.

Alternatives

Product Analytics Tools is the broader starting point for comparing this category. Choose GameAnalytics instead when predefined and custom dashboards, funnels, cohorts, retention, real-time reporting, and no MAU limit matter. Helion is another freemium option with self-hosting and broad platform coverage. Pick Zoho Apptics when its free project, application, error, and engagement allowances fit your operation. devtodev suits teams wanting MAU-based limits and team seats. Pendo Analytics combines product analytics with in-app guides. PostHog is an open-source alternative with a MIT-licensed product. UXCam is oriented around session allowances and mobile app keys. OpenPanel offers a low-cost event tier with unlimited websites or apps and users.

Verdict

Aptabase is a strong choice for privacy-conscious developers and small teams that need real-time event and session visibility across app platforms, with regional or self-hosted deployment and transparent limits. Its decisive weakness is the absence of user-level, funnel, cohort, and retention analysis; choose a different product when those reports are central to product decisions.