Open-Source Web Analytics

Matomo is free open-source software

What is Free Software?

Free software is software that gives you the user the freedom to share, study and modify it. We call this free software because the user is free.

To use free software is to make a political and ethical choice asserting the right to learn, and share what we learn with others. Free software has become the foundation of a learning society where we share our knowledge in a way that others can build upon and enjoy.

Currently, many people use proprietary software that denies users these freedoms and benefits. If we make a copy and give it to a friend, if we try to figure out how the program works, if we put a copy on more than one of our own computers in our own home, we could be caught and fined or put in jail. That’s what’s in the fine print of the license agreement you accept when using proprietary software. The corporations behind proprietary software will often spy on your activities and restrict you from sharing with others. And because our computers have access to so much of our personal information and daily activities, proprietary software represents an unacceptable danger to a free society.

Matomo is Free Software

For Matomo (Piwik), the “free” in “free software” is used primarily in reference to freedom and not to price – although Matomo is free of charge. The most important thing about Matomo is not that it is available free of charge, but that it confers rights of software freedom on the people who install and use it. It is those freedoms that enable the Matomo community to grow, sharing its collective experience and expertise to improve Matomo.

Quoting the Free Software Foundation’s “What is Free Software”, the freedoms at the core of free software such as Matomo (Piwik) are defined as:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others.
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that everyone benefits.

Free software has been a coherent social movement for more than two decades. This movement has produced millions of lines of code, documentation, and a vibrant community of which Matomo (Piwik) is proud to be a part.

Libraries Packaged with Matomo

Matomo (Piwik) uses many other great libraries written in PHP (Twig, PclZip, Tcpdf, pChart, PEAR, Zend, cssmin, jsmin, sparkline, PEAR, etc.) and in JavaScript (jquery, Jqplot, json2, sprintf, jquery plugins, etc).

These libraries are Free/Libre and open source software. A list of libraries used by Matomo (Piwik) and their respective licenses can be found in the file LEGALNOTICE

Related FAQs and Docs

You may be interested in the following FAQs:

• FAQ: Can I rebrand or sell or reuse or re-license or include Matomo (Piwik) in my product, company, or website?
• FAQ: Can I use Matomo (Piwik) and provide analytics hosting services to my customers?
• FAQ: How much does Matomo (Piwik) cost?
• FAQ: Does the Matomo (Piwik) team work on other free/libre software projects?
• FAQ: How do Premium plugins differ from open source/free plugins?
• Data Privacy: Web Analytics Data & Visitors Privacy

Free Software Foundation

Don’t you wish all software came with these freedoms? So do we!

The FSF advocates for free software ideals as outlined in the Free Software Definition, works for the adoption of free software and free media formats and organizes activist campaigns against threats to user freedoms such as Windows 7, Apple’s iPhone and OS X, DRM on ebooks and movies, and software patents.

Piwik.org is a proud member of the FSF.

Matomo integrates with other free softwares

Matomo (Piwik) also integrates with most of the popular free/libre web publishing platforms, web framework and ecommerce shops. Click on the image to learn more!