What is Urchin?
Urchin is an open-source web analytics application that allows website owners to track and report on traffic to their sites. It was originally developed by Urchin Software Corporation before being acquired by Google in 2005.
Some key features of Urchin include:
- Tracking pageviews, visits, referrers, keywords and more
- Advanced segmentation and custom reporting
- Visualization tools like graphs and charts
- Customizable dashboards
- Exporting data to CSV/Excel
- Able to process large amounts of data
- Completely self-hosted, so you retain control and ownership of your analytics data
As an open-source application, Urchin gives site owners full control and flexibility over their analytics solution. It can be installed on a server or virtual private server running Linux or Windows. The source code is available for customization as needed.
While not as fully-featured as some paid solutions like Google Analytics, Urchin provides a free and transparent site analytics option for sites that want to own and control their website data.