Aptabase

Built specifically for mobile, desktop, and web applications, Aptabase offers itself as an alternative to Firebase and Google Analytics. It removes the tradeoff where getting usage numbers means adopting an identifier-driven tracking stack and the compliance work that trails behind it.

Instead of using unique identifiers, Aptabase prioritizes user privacy and collects minimal usage data, focusing on monitoring sessions, which is what keeps it compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR. A built-in dashboard covers the essential metrics with no configuration to grasp how an app is being used. The project says it is highly inspired by Plausible, which does the same job for website analytics.

An SDK exists for most places an app gets written.

• Apple platforms: a Swift SDK for iOS and the rest of the Apple ecosystem.
• Android and cross-platform: Kotlin for Android, with React Native and Flutter alongside.
• Desktop shells: Electron and Tauri plugins, plus .NET MAUI and NativeScript.
• Game engines: SDKs for Unreal Engine and Unity Engine.
• Web: a JavaScript SDK for web apps, and a wiki guide for writing your own when a platform is missing.

A managed cloud runs the service for you, with updates and patches handled by the people who wrote it, while self-hosting is free and leaves maintenance to you, documented in a separate repository. The server is AGPLv3, so changes to it must be shared, while the SDKs are MIT and carry no such condition once embedded in an app.