Opti-Behavior is the only WordPress analytics plugin that gives you
Hotjar-level behavior analytics with
complete data privacy -- all from your own server.
See exactly how visitors interact with your website through powerful visual heatmaps, detailed click tracking, conversion funnels, and comprehensive real-time analytics. Unlike Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, or Google Analytics,
all your data stays on YOUR WordPress server. No cloud. No third-party access. No data sharing. Period.
Your Data, Your Server
Every other analytics tool sends your visitors' data to external servers:
- Microsoft Clarity is free, but Microsoft acts as an independent data controller and uses your visitors' behavioral data for advertising purposes.
- Hotjar sends all data to AWS Ireland -- you have zero control over what happens with it.
- Google Analytics uses your data for ad targeting across the web.
- Lucky Orange, Crazy Egg, Mouseflow -- your data lives on THEIR servers.
Opti-Behavior is different. Every click, scroll, and interaction is stored in YOUR WordPress database or file system. Your data never leaves your hosting. No DPA required. No cross-border transfer concerns. No cookie consent headaches.
Why Choose Opti-Behavior?
- 100% Self-Hosted - All analytics data stored locally on your WordPress server
- GDPR Compliant by Design - No cross-border data transfers, no third-party sharing
- No Cookie Consent Needed - Session-based tracking without cookies
- No Session Limits - Track every visitor, not just a sample (Hotjar free: 35/day, Mouseflow free: 500/month)
- No Monthly Bills - One-time plugin, no per-session SaaS billing
- Beautiful Visualizations - Modern UI with heatmaps, charts, and interactive maps
- Lightweight - ~15KB minified JavaScript, loads asynchronously (lighter than Hotjar)
- WordPress-Native - Built for WordPress from the ground up, not a script injection wrapper
Core Features (Free)
Visual Heatmaps
- Click heatmaps with color-coded intensity visualization
- Separate Mobile & Desktop heatmap tracking
- Configurable tracking accuracy (High, Medium, Low)
- Page-specific heatmap data with database or file-based storage
Real-Time Analytics Dashboard
- Live visitor monitoring with real-time updates
- 6 key metrics: Visitors, Sessions, Page Views, Avg Session Time, Avg Scroll Depth, Bounce Rate
- Interactive world map with visitor locations (Leaflet + OpenStreetMap)
- Top Pages, Top Engaged Users, Traffic Sources
- New vs Returning Visitors breakdown
- Device, Browser, OS, and Country analytics
- Visited Directories with depth tracking
- Flexible time periods: Today, Yesterday, 7 Days, 30 Days, Custom Range
Conversion Funnels
- Custom funnel builder with multi-step tracking
- Step-by-step conversion analysis with dropout rates
- Device-specific and country-specific funnel filtering
- Funnel status management (active/inactive)
- Visual dropout visualization
Session & Visitor Tracking
- Complete session tracking (duration, pages visited, entry/exit pages)
- Visitor journey mapping across your site
- Referrer and traffic source tracking
- Outbound link click monitoring
- Logged-in user identification
Bot Detection & Filtering
- Automatic server-side bot identification
- Search engine crawler detection (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)
- Separate bot visit tracking for transparency
- Configurable filtering options
Scheduled Email Reports
- Automated report delivery (Daily, Weekly, Monthly)
- Configurable recipient lists
- Report template selection
- Test email functionality
AI-Powered Insights (Comming Soon)
- AI analytics suggestions for optimization
- Automated behavior pattern detection
User Intent Rules
- Advanced behavior pattern analysis
- Intent categorization system
- Custom traffic classification rules
Data Export & Management
- CSV export of all analytics data
- Data retention controls with auto-cleanup
- Smart cleanup tools for database optimization
- Complete data deletion on uninstall (optional)
Privacy & Security
- IP anonymization (optional)
- No cookies required (session-based tracking)
- No third-party data sharing
- Consent management integration support
- WordPress nonce verification on all forms
- Prepared SQL statements throughout
- WP_Filesystem API for file operations
Multilingual Admin
- English (default)
- French (fr_FR)
- German (de_DE)
- Spanish (es_ES)
- Portuguese (pt_BR)
- Italian (it_IT)
Pro Features (Upgrade)
Take your analytics further with Opti-Behavior Pro:
- Session Recordings - Watch real user sessions with full playback, encryption, and privacy controls
- Error Tracking - Capture JavaScript errors, network errors, and Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS, INP, FCP)
- Friction Detection - Automatic rage click and dead click identification
- Broken Link Detection - Find and fix broken links across your site
- User Journey Analytics - Beautiful Sankey diagram visualization of visitor paths
- Form Analytics - Field-level interaction tracking (time spent, errors, refills, abandonment)
- Advanced Heatmap Filtering - Filter by country, browser, device, and date range
- Priority Support - Get help when you need it
All Pro features are also 100% self-hosted with local data storage.
Learn more about Opti-Behavior Pro
How Opti-Behavior Compares
Click Heatmaps
Opti-Behavior: Yes | Hotjar: Yes | MS Clarity: Yes | Matomo: EUR 199/yr plugin
Conversion Funnels
Opti-Behavior: Yes | Hotjar: No (Scale only) | MS Clarity: No | Matomo: EUR 99/yr plugin
Real-time Dashboard
Opti-Behavior: Yes | Hotjar: No | MS Clarity: Yes | Matomo: Yes
Bot Detection
Opti-Behavior: Yes | Hotjar: No | MS Clarity: No | Matomo: Partial
Scheduled Reports
Opti-Behavior: Yes | Hotjar: No | MS Clarity: No | Matomo: Yes
AI Insights
Opti-Behavior: Yes | Hotjar: $213+/mo | MS Clarity: Yes | Matomo: No
Self-Hosted Data
Opti-Behavior:
Yes | Hotjar: No | MS Clarity: No | Matomo:
Yes
No Data Sharing
Opti-Behavior:
Yes | Hotjar: Yes | MS Clarity:
No (Microsoft) | Matomo:
Yes
Session Limits
Opti-Behavior:
None | Hotjar: 35/day | MS Clarity: Unlimited* | Matomo: None
Monthly Cost
Opti-Behavior:
$0 | Hotjar: $0-$213+ | MS Clarity: $0* | Matomo: $0 + paid plugins
*Microsoft Clarity is free but Microsoft uses your visitors' data as an independent data controller, including for advertising purposes.
Perfect For
- Privacy-Conscious Website Owners - Keep all visitor data on your own server
- EU-Based Businesses - Self-hosted means no cross-border data transfer concerns
- E-commerce Stores - Optimize checkout flows and product pages without sharing customer data
- Agencies - Provide clients with analytics without per-site SaaS subscriptions
- Healthcare, Finance & Legal Sites - Meet strict data handling requirements with self-hosted analytics
- Content Publishers - Understand reader engagement without third-party tracking
- WooCommerce Stores - Track cart behavior, analyze product pages, optimize conversions
- Small Businesses - Enterprise-grade analytics without enterprise pricing
How It Works
- Install & Activate - One-click installation, starts tracking immediately
- View Your Dashboard - Real-time visitor activity with key metrics
- Analyze Heatmaps - See where visitors click on every page
- Build Funnels - Track conversion paths and find drop-off points
- Export & Optimize - Download reports and make data-driven improvements
Technical Highlights
- WordPress Coding Standards compliant
- Secure by design: prepared SQL statements, nonce verification, capability checks
- ~15KB minified JavaScript with async loading
- File-based storage option for high-traffic sites
- Batch processing for efficient event handling
- Pre-aggregated daily statistics for fast dashboard loading
- Smart database indexing for optimized queries
- Multisite compatible
- REST API ready with hooks and filters
- Compatible with all major caching plugins (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket)
- Works with all page builders (Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, WPBakery, Gutenberg)
Automatic Installation
- Log in to your WordPress admin panel
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New
- Search for "Opti-Behavior"
- Click "Install Now" and then "Activate"
Manual Installation
- Download the plugin zip file
- Log in to your WordPress admin panel
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- Choose the downloaded zip file and click "Install Now"
- After installation, click "Activate Plugin"
After Activation
- Navigate to Opti-Behavior in your WordPress admin menu
- The plugin starts tracking automatically - no configuration required!
- Visit the Dashboard to see real-time visitor activity
- Go to Heatmaps to view click patterns on your pages
- Check Funnels to set up conversion tracking
- Adjust Settings to customize tracking behavior and privacy options
That's it! Opti-Behavior works out of the box with smart defaults.
1.0.9 - 2026-02-10
- Feature: Smart Data Cleanup system with bot/spam removal, quality thresholds, and scheduled auto-cleanup via WordPress cron
- Feature: Comprehensive tooltip system across all pages (Dashboard, Heatmaps, Funnels, Settings, Form Analytics, Error Tracking)
- Feature: Form Analytics upgrade page with menu integration, database table handlers, and scheduled report support
- Feature: Danger Zone redesign with horizontal sub-tabs (Full Reset, Date Range, Smart Cleanup, Auto Schedule)
- Feature: German (de_DE) language support with complete translations
- Feature: Italian (it_IT) language support with complete translations
- Feature: Spanish (es_ES) complete translation files
- Feature: Portuguese (pt_BR) complete translation files
- Enhancement: Replaced all emoji icons with Lucide SVG icons throughout the plugin for professional UI
- Enhancement: Unified page header style across all pages (Dashboard, Heatmaps, Funnels, Settings, Recordings, Errors)
- Enhancement: Country flag icons in language dropdown selector
- Enhancement: Funnel step cards made more compact with improved layout and per-funnel country filter with flag icons
- Enhancement: Heatmaps page search functionality and mobile preview mode for heatmap iframe
- Enhancement: Guest preview mode for accurate non-logged-in heatmap display
- Enhancement: Replaced Data Protection tab with Storage Stats page with improved tooltips
- Enhancement: Standardized button styles with Lucide icons and btn-danger class for destructive actions
- Enhancement: Added User Journeys and Form Analytics data to scheduled email reports
- Enhancement: Improved browser/OS detection with HarmonyOS support and better bot detection
- Enhancement: PRO feature gating with badges on menu items, heatmap tooltips, and blocked PRO heatmap types for free users
- Enhancement: Admin menu icon updated to 35x35 PNG with hover states
- Enhancement: French translations extensively improved with shortened menu labels
- Enhancement: AI Insights panel with Lucide icon styling and default message
- Fix: Move Heatmap trajectory rendering with proper coordinate scaling and adaptive colors based on website background
- Fix: Scroll Heatmap legend positioning and visibility
- Fix: Attention Heatmap legend positioning moved outside iframe with smooth gradients and base color coverage
- Fix: Bounce rate KPI mismatch with daily history chart
- Fix: Heatmaps page Mobile Traffic showing 0% - Device Split now uses sessions data
- Fix: Session count mismatch between total and device split
- Fix: Time period filter icon and dropdown functionality with correct default selection
- Fix: Traffic Overview chart layout with reduced empty space
- Fix: Funnel URL matching filters and string concatenation bug
- Fix: Conditional cleanup settings not persisting after page refresh
- Fix: Date range file deletion now includes uploads/opti-behavior-data/ directory
- Fix: Delete All Data not clearing storage properly
- Fix: Top Engaged Users widget column width for long country names
- Fix: Scheduled reports SQL error and instant stats update
- Fix: Heatmap download now includes page content with overlay
- Fix: Stat history bar charts display
- Fix: Stats inconsistency when Pro is active
- Code Quality: WordPress Plugin Check - 0 errors, 0 warnings (100% compliant)
- Code Quality: Renamed non-prefixed variables in HTML templates with opti_behavior_ prefix
- Code Quality: Complete uninstall cleanup with all database tables, cron jobs, transients, and legacy directories
1.0.8 - 2025-12-08
- Feature: User Intent Rules - Advanced system for analyzing and categorizing user behavior patterns
- Enhancement: Analytics Dashboard time filter now defaults to 30 Days for better data overview
- Fix: Improved favicon handling for referrer websites with proper fallback support
1.0.7 - 2025-12-02
- Enhancement: Added French language translations for improved internationalization
- Fix: Resolved sendPageView function issues for accurate page tracking
- Fix: Corrected Returning Visitors calculation and display
- Fix: Fixed Logged In Visitors detection and counting
- Feature: Display username for logged-in visitors in Top Engaged Users widget
- Enhancement: Extended device type support for all device categories (desktop, mobile, tablet, PC)
- Code Quality: WordPress coding standards compliance improvements
- Code Quality: Added debug logging controls via settings page
- Security: Fixed nonce verification warnings
- Security: Enhanced prepared SQL statements with proper phpcs annotations
1.0.6 - 2025-11-30
- Feature: New vs Returning Visitors analytics dashboard widget
- Feature: Visited Directories analytics with depth tracking and page views
- Feature: Visitor Authentication analytics showing logged-in vs guest users
- Fix: WordPress DB coding standards - SQL wildcards now use placeholders
- Enhancement: Improved prepared SQL statements compliance
- Code Quality: Full WordPress.DB.PreparedSQLPlaceholders compliance
1.0.5 - 2025-11-23
- Fix: Removed all debug error_log() calls from production code
- Fix: Replaced date() with gmdate() for timezone-safe date handling
- Fix: Added translator comments for i18n compliance
- Fix: Updated API URL from localhost to production endpoint
- Fix: Corrected stable tag version mismatch
- Enhancement: Improved readme with better descriptions and FAQ
- Enhancement: Added Plugin URI and updated Author URI
- Enhancement: Optimized WordPress.org directory submission compliance
- Compatibility: Full WordPress 6.8 compatibility verified
- Enhancement: Added COALESCE for better handling of NULL titles in Top Pages
- Enhancement: Improved country detection with browser language fallback when IP geolocation fails
- Enhancement: Top Pages widget now displays page views instead of clicks for better accuracy
1.0.4 - 2025-11-20
- Enhancement: Added file-based storage system for high-traffic sites
- Enhancement: Implemented automatic bot detection and filtering
- Enhancement: Added performance optimizer with automatic database indexing
- Enhancement: Separate mobile and desktop heatmap tracking and visualization
- Enhancement: Batch processing for improved performance
- Enhancement: Enhanced debug logging system with WordPress-compliant manager
- Enhancement: Added Lucide icon library (v0.554.0, ISC License) for modern UI
- Security: Replaced direct filesystem operations with WP_Filesystem API
- Security: Replaced unlink() with wp_delete_file() for file deletion
- Code Quality: WordPress coding standards compliance improvements
- Code Quality: Improved data sanitization and validation
- Compatibility: Tested up to WordPress 6.8
1.0.3
- Security: Fix Unsafe SQL calls
- Security: Fix files and directories locations use
- Security: Moved inline CSS to external stylesheet
- Security: Moved inline JS to external stylesheet
- Follows WordPress coding standards
- Plugin Check validation passed
1.0.2
Review and fix all the issues listed in the review email.
1.0.1
- Security: Enhanced sanitization for $_SERVER variables
- Security: Improved json_decode() data sanitization
- Security: Moved inline CSS to external stylesheet for WordPress compliance
- Code Quality: Added proper sanitization for all user inputs
- Code Quality: Enhanced data validation in AJAX handlers
- Compatibility: Verified all security checks are in place
1.0.0
- Initial release
- Visual heatmap tracking
- Real-time analytics dashboard
- Page performance metrics
- User journey tracking
- GDPR compliance features
- Data export functionality
- Multisite support
- Debug mode for troubleshooting