Web Analytics & Privacy
4.3/5.0
VerifiedFreeLast technical review:
Markdown for AI (.md)

AWStats

Open source log file analyzer for advanced web statistics under GNU GPL.

Pricing

$0/mo

Free
Score

4.3/5

Certifications
1
Last technical review
2026-11-02
Available plansVisit website (opens in a new tab)

Technical Overview

AWStats is a free and open source log file analyzer that generates advanced graphical statistics for web, streaming, FTP, and mail servers. Operating as a CGI script or from the command line, it parses server logs from Apache, IIS, and others to render detailed metrics in static web pages. Distributed under the GNU GPL, it runs entirely on self-hosted infrastructure.

Analyst Evaluation: Pros and Limitations

Verified Advantages

  • Free and open source software distributed under the GNU GPL license.
  • Local log processing ensures complete data privacy and compliance.
  • Compatible with a wide array of web, proxy, mail, and FTP server formats.

Technical Considerations

  • User interface and graphical layout have a traditional, dated aesthetic.
  • Requires manual server configuration and maintenance of cron jobs.

Technical Capabilities & Features

2/7
Not available:REST & GraphQL API
Not available:SSO / SAML Authentication
Included:Self-Hosted Option
Included:Full Data Export
Not available:Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Not available:Custom Domains & SSL
Not available:Immutable Audit Logs
Scorecard
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Technical Scorecard: AWStats

83/100
DX & Tech Documentation
Favorable
70/100
Pricing Fairness
Excellent
100/100
Security & Governance
Excellent
80/100
Data Portability & Sovereignty
Excellent
90/100
Performance & Reliability
Favorable
75/100

Time to Value & Fit by Segment: AWStats

Estimated Time-to-Value1 - 7 days (Agile)

Standard sprint integration without complex external dependencies.

Learning CurveModerate (Standard)

Requires consulting technical documentation and basic credentials setup.

Fit Index by Organization Size

Startup & Agile Teams1 to 50 members
8%
Mid-Market & Scaleup50 to 500 members
7%
Corporate Enterprise500+ members
6%
Pricing & TCO
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Pricing

$0.00/mo

Model: FREE.

Free Tier Verification:

  • No credit card required
  • Commercial use allowed
  • Unlimited usage with no expiration
  • No mandatory watermarks
Get AWStats (opens in a new tab)

Billing Risks & Hidden Clauses: AWStats

Free Tier Limits:

Completely free open source software with no usage limits or paywalls.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Projection: AWStats$0.00/mo
Deterministic cost estimation at 12 and 36 months based on team size, including SSO tax premiums and annual prepay discounts.
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Licensing Cost (1 to 100+ seats)
$0/forever
Unlimited team members with zero penalties
SSO Tax (SAML Enterprise)
$0no surcharge
No artificial security barriers
3-Year Investment (Software TCO)
$0total
operates under a zero-cost or open-source model. Licensing TCO is identical:
Usage Surcharges & Bill Shock Simulator: AWStatsWhat usage costs as you scale
Detect overage penalties before they impact engineering budget.
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Prototype / MVP (10 GB)

Included base quota in plan: 10 GB.
Low Risk / Predictable Bill
Base Monthly Rate
$0/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
$0/month extra
Usage covered within plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$0/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Suitable for development; verify concurrent connection limits.

Base Production (50 GB)

Included base quota in plan: 50 GB.
Low Risk / Predictable Bill
Base Monthly Rate
$0/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
$0/month extra
Usage covered within plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$0/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Implement table compression policies and temporal partitioning.

Active Growth (250 GB)

Included base quota in plan: 250 GB.
Low Risk / Predictable Bill
Base Monthly Rate
$0/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
$0/month extra
Usage covered within plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$0/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Offload cold backups to standard object storage (S3).

Large Scale (1.000 GB (1 TB))

Included base quota in plan: 1,000 GB.
Low Risk / Predictable Bill
Base Monthly Rate
$0/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
$0/month extra
Usage covered within plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$0/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Migrate to dedicated instance or self-hosted cluster to curtail I/O fees.

Security & Data Exit
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Compliance & Security Standards: AWStats

SOC 2 Type IINot reported
ISO 27001Not reported
GDPR / RGPDAudited
HIPAANot reported
PCI-DSSNot reported
Jurisdiction & Legal Sovereignty
🇫🇷France [FR]Immune to US CLOUD Act (EU Sovereign)DPA On Request
SSO Availability (SAML Enterprise)
No SSO Documented
Data Residency
SELF_HOSTED
AI Privacy Policy
Not evaluated
Data Liberation & Migration Runbook: AWStatsTXT · HTML · CSV
Actionable escape runbook and credential export guarantees to mitigate vendor lock-in.
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Supported Structured Export Formats
TXTHTMLCSV
Password Hash Portability
Locked: Proprietary Algorithm / No Export

Credential hashes are guarded under proprietary algorithms and cannot be exported.

CLI Command / Rescue Endpoint
cp -r /etc/awstats /backup/
Exit Protocol & Migration Notes

Logs and config files are stored in standard text and flat-file formats, allowing straightforward backup and manual migration.

Deployment & Infrastructure Requirements: AWStatsDocker
Hardware specs and Docker directives to run on local servers, dedicated VPS, or Kubernetes without telemetry leak to the cloud.
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Minimum Memory1 GB RAM (Recommended)
Compute CPU1 vCPU
Runtime / LanguagePerl
Code LicenseOpen Source
Docker CLI Directive
docker run -d --name awstats -p 8080:8080 awstats:latest
Companion Services & Dependencies:
PostgreSQL 15+Redis 7+
Community & Repository
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Technical Reputation of AWStats

68/100 Technical Trust

Frequent Praises in Production

  • Free and open source software distributed under the GNU GPL license.
  • Local log processing ensures complete data privacy and compliance.
  • Compatible with a wide array of web, proxy, mail, and FTP server formats.

Reported Production Frictions

  • User interface and graphical layout have a traditional, dated aesthetic.
  • Requires manual server configuration and maintenance of cron jobs.
Commercial Treatment & Vendor Lock-in:1-Click Cancellation

Immediate cancellation from account settings without phone calls or forced retention.

Open source repository activity: AWStats439
Stars, forks and release cadence
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Stars439
Forks136
Open Issues138
SPDX LicenseOpen Source
Latest Commit DetectedNov 10, 2025

Frequently Asked Technical Questions (AWStats)

What types of server logs can AWStats analyze?

AWStats can process log files from major web servers like Apache and IIS, as well as proxy servers, streaming servers, mail servers, and FTP servers using standard formats.

How is AWStats deployed and executed on a server?

AWStats runs via command-line Perl scripts or can be configured as a CGI script to render HTML statistics dynamically through a standard web server setup.

Does AWStats transmit traffic data to external third parties?

No. Because it is self-hosted and runs entirely on your own infrastructure, all analytics data and visitor logs remain strictly private within your environment.

Is AWStats free for commercial and enterprise use?

Yes, AWStats is free software distributed under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), allowing free usage for personal, commercial, and enterprise deployments.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

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