Aptabase

Aptabase is an analytics platform for developers building mobile, desktop, and web apps. It suits indie developers and small teams that want to measure chosen events while limiting persistent tracking. Its clearest strength is pairing a privacy-oriented approach with cloud residency choices and self-hosting; the key compromise is the absence of user-level reporting.

Overview

Aptabase’s real-time dashboard covers sessions, events, app and operating-system versions, devices, and countries. Developers decide what to send: nothing is tracked automatically, and custom events can carry string or number properties. This gives teams control over instrumentation, but useful reporting depends on adding the events their product questions require.

The service says it does not use device identifiers, cookies, fingerprints, or long-term user identification. That is a clear boundary, not just a privacy setting: Aptabase cannot report monthly active users or per-user retention. Teams interested in aggregate event and session patterns may consider that a fair exchange; products that rely on individual-user behavior should choose a tool with user-level metrics.

Key features

Alongside its dashboard, Aptabase provides a live view, session timeline, and CSV export. Analytics data can be retained for up to five years. Aptabase says customers own their data and that it does not sell or use their analytics data. These controls make it easier to keep an exportable record of product activity, though the data remains event-focused rather than tied to persistent user profiles.

Cloud customers can choose Germany for EU data residency or Virginia for US residency, and Aptabase says users can host their own servers. The server is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and the SDKs under MIT. Integrations span Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, NativeScript, Electron, Tauri, .NET MAUI, web frameworks, browser extensions, game engines, Python, and C++. That breadth makes it relevant to varied app stacks; teams should still expect to instrument the events they want measured.

Funnel reports, retention analysis, and cohorts are not offered. In particular, teams needing to trace conversion through funnel stages or compare user retention will need another analytics product.

Pricing

Aptabase charges by monthly event volume. The Free plan costs nothing and allows up to 20,000 events per month, unlimited apps, EU or US data residency, a built-in dashboard, live view, session timeline, and CSV export. It is a practical starting point for small projects, but the event cap matters: once exceeded, analytics are temporarily disabled until the next month. There are no overage fees.

Paid plans are billed monthly in USD and also have no overage fees. The 200,000-event plan is $10 a month; the 1,000,000-event plan is $20 a month; the 2,000,000-event plan is $40 a month; the 5,000,000-event plan is $75 a month; the 10,000,000-event plan is $140 a month; the 20,000,000-event plan is $240 a month; the 30,000,000-event plan is $300 a month; and the 50,000,000-event plan is $450 a month. These tiers suit teams that have outgrown the free quota and can choose a capacity close to their event volume. If a team crosses its limit, collection pauses rather than generating an extra bill.

For more than 50,000,000 events per month, the Custom plan has custom pricing. Pricing is based on events, not seats; a seat allowance is not part of these plan terms.

Platforms

Aptabase supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, web, browser extensions, and self-hosted deployment. Its integrations include mobile and desktop SDKs, web frameworks, and game engines, which gives developers several routes to add event tracking across an app portfolio.

Who it's for

Aptabase is best suited to indie developers, studios, open-source projects, and SaaS teams seeking event and session analytics without persistent user identification. Regional cloud storage, CSV export, and the option to self-host will matter to teams prioritizing control over where their analytics data lives. It is a weaker fit when product decisions depend on monthly active users, per-user retention, funnels, or cohorts.

Pros and cons

• Pros: No automatic tracking and no device identifiers, cookies, fingerprints, or long-term user identification give teams a deliberately limited tracking model.
• Pros: EU or US cloud residency, self-hosting, CSV export, and up to five years of data retention give teams meaningful control over storage and portability.
• Pros: Unlimited apps on the free plan make the 20,000-event allowance usable across multiple small projects.
• Cons: No user-level metrics means teams cannot use Aptabase for monthly active users or per-user retention.
• Cons: Funnel reports, retention analysis, and cohorts are absent, narrowing its usefulness for conversion and lifecycle analysis.
• Cons: Exceeding a monthly event limit temporarily disables analytics until the next month, so a growing app must select its quota carefully.

Alternatives

PostHog is worth considering for teams comparing open-source analytics options across many of the same desktop, mobile, web, and self-hosted platforms; it has an open-source product under MIT, while Aptabase’s server uses AGPL-3.0 and its SDKs MIT.

GameAnalytics may suit teams that want game-oriented reporting with predefined and custom dashboards, funnels, cohorts, retention, and real-time reporting, as well as a free plan with no MAU limits.

Helion is another freemium alternative for teams considering a self-hosted option.

Zoho Apptics has a free-forever plan with limits of one project, five applications per project, 5K errors per month, and 25K engagements per month.

devtodev may be a better fit for teams that want a stated MAU allowance: its free plan supports up to 25k MAU, 30 custom events, five team members, and raw data storage for up to three months.

Amplio is an option for teams seeking MIT-licensed, self-hosted software with no stated usage limits.

Keentics has a free plan with up to 2M events per month, one project, one team seat, and 90-day data retention.

Klaritics offers a free starter plan with up to 1M events analyzed per month, a 30-day retention window, up to three seats, and self-hosted single-instance deployment.

For a broader comparison, see the Product Analytics Tools directory.

Verdict

Choose Aptabase if you want event-focused analytics across mobile, desktop, or web apps, with explicit control over tracking and a choice of regional cloud hosting or self-hosting. Its event-based tiers and absence of overage fees make capacity straightforward to budget, but the temporary collection pause at the cap calls for attention. Look elsewhere if user-level activity, funnels, cohorts, or retention analysis is central to your product decisions.