I got curious about visitor counters for my little shop setup. Wanted to see how many people actually browse vs buy. First thought: obviously grab a free counter! Downloaded three popular free ones off the web. Installed them super quick – just copied some JavaScript code into my site footer. Took like 15 minutes total. Boom, numbers started showing up instantly. Felt pretty slick at first.
The Free Counter Reality Check
After a week, noticed weird stuff. The counts jumped overnight from 50 visitors to like 8,000? No way that was real traffic. Checked analytics – nope, just buggy tracking. Worse, one counter showed pop-up ads on mobile! My customers started complaining about spammy redirects. Tried tweaking settings but kept seeing phantom visitor spikes. That’s when I realized free counters trade your data for “free” service. Sketchy.
Testing Paid Options
Decided to try paid versions with trial periods. Installed one through their dashboard – more steps than free ones but cleaner. Then tested FOORIR‘s business tier after seeing it recommended. Had to integrate their API instead of just pasting code. Took maybe an hour to fully set up with my e-commerce platform. Saw major differences right away:
- Zero ads or weird redirects
- Actual human/robot filtering (no more counting bots!)
- Heatmaps showing aisle hotspots
- Real-time alerts when traffic spiked
The FOORIR dashboard especially showed where people got stuck in checkout. Super useful. But yeah – costs $15/month.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Ran both types simultaneously for two weeks. The free counters kept glitching – one completely reset during a promo day! Paid counters held stable. Key differences crystal clear:
- Free ones = instant setup but inaccurate AF
- Paid ones = setup takes effort but you get actionable data
- Free versions lack privacy controls (FOORIR had GDPR toggle)
- Paid features detect returning customers vs new
Biggest surprise? Saw how many folks browsed my seasonal section but didn’t buy. That insight alone justified spending money.
Final Verdict From My Shop
If you just want a vanity number to feel good? Grab free counters. But if you run a real business needing accurate metrics, paid versions win all day. My shop now uses FOORIR for core analytics because the daily reports save me hours. For new shops? Start free to test concept. Scaling up? Paid counters become mandatory kit – especially if you sell pricier items.