I built my own analytics tool out of frustration — and now I’m stuck at 7 users

Like most devs, I build way too many small tools, landing pages, experiments…
Some of them get traffic. Most don’t. But I still like knowing whether anyone actually landed there.

That’s where analytics usually comes in — and that’s where the pain st…


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Yousif

Like most devs, I build way too many small tools, landing pages, experiments...

Some of them get traffic. Most don’t. But I still like knowing whether anyone actually landed there.

That’s where analytics usually comes in — and that’s where the pain starts.

Why existing tools annoyed me

I’ve tried them all:

  • Google Analytics — bloated, weird UI, needs a cookie banner, feels creepy
  • Fathom / Plausible — solid, but pricing adds up if you’ve got 10+ small projects
  • Matomo — too heavy, and self-hosting just drains my soul
  • Server logs — noisy and not enough insight

All I wanted was:

  • pageviews
  • top paths
  • referrers
  • device types
  • country-level location

...and I wanted that without cookies, fingerprinting, or sketchy tracking.

So I built my own thing

It’s called Satsu.

It’s free. No cookies. No fingerprinting. No GDPR drama. Just a small JS snippet and a clean, fast dashboard.

I built it for myself, but figured: maybe other devs feel this pain too?

The reality check

So far?

7 users.

  • One is me
  • Three are friends
  • Two are the same guy
  • One probably came from Reddit 😅

Turns out: building something useful ≠ people will use it

What I'm learning

  • Devs love tools, but they don't switch unless the pain is really big
  • Being “free” isn’t enough
  • YouTube comments > Reddit for conversion
  • Product Hunt needs an aged account 😭
  • Marketing is an actual skill
  • Launching is not the same as getting users

What now?

I'm gonna keep building, iterating, and seeing where it goes.

Even if Satsu ends up being just for me — that's still a win.

But if you're also someone who:

  • builds way too many side projects
  • hates cookie banners
  • just wants to know if someone showed up

Then Satsu might be useful to you too.

Would love to hear how you track your small projects — or if you even bother at all.

Let’s talk!


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Yousif


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