Aptabase

Aptabase is a privacy‑first analytics platform engineered for mobile, desktop, and web applications. Unlike conventional solutions that rely on device identifiers or third‑party cookies, Aptabase tracks sessions without attaching any persistent user ID, thereby satisfying GDPR, CCPA, and PECR out of the box. The core product is a lightweight server that ingests event streams, aggregates metrics in real time, and serves them through a responsive dashboard. For developers, the appeal lies in its full open‑source stack, extensive SDK ecosystem, and straightforward self‑hosting workflow that gives complete data ownership.

Architecture & Technical Stack

The backend is written in Rust, chosen for its performance, memory safety, and low runtime overhead—critical when processing high‑volume event streams. Rust is paired with PostgreSQL for durable storage of raw events and aggregated counters, while Redis is used as an in‑memory cache for hot metrics and session tracking. The API layer exposes a RESTful interface, with optional GraphQL endpoints for advanced querying. Authentication is handled via JWT, allowing secure integration with existing identity providers. The frontend dashboard, built in React and Vite, consumes the API over HTTPS and renders real‑time charts using lightweight charting libraries. All components are containerized with Docker, making deployment on Kubernetes or any OCI‑compatible platform trivial.

Core Capabilities & Developer APIs

Aptabase offers a rich set of event types—page views, custom events, errors, and user‑defined metrics—exposed through SDKs that automatically batch and compress data before sending. The server side provides:

• Webhook support for real‑time notifications (e.g., when a new session starts).
• A public REST API for querying aggregated data, filtering by date range, event type, or custom properties.
• Export endpoints that stream raw events in CSV/JSON for downstream analytics pipelines or archival.
• A plugin architecture that allows developers to extend the dashboard with custom widgets or analytics modules, all compiled into a single binary.

The SDKs cover popular platforms: Swift, Kotlin, React Native, Flutter, Electron, .NET MAUI, Unity, Unreal Engine, and web‑only JavaScript. Each SDK follows a consistent pattern—initialization with an API key, automatic session handling, and optional manual event logging. Because the SDKs are open source, developers can audit or fork them to add platform‑specific instrumentation (e.g., capturing GPU usage in a game engine).

Deployment & Infrastructure

Self‑hosting is intentionally lightweight: a single Docker image (aptabase/aptabase) bundles the server, database migrations, and dashboard. The repository includes a docker-compose.yml that provisions PostgreSQL, Redis, and the Aptabase service with minimal configuration. For production workloads, the recommended approach is to run each component in its own pod on Kubernetes, leveraging Helm charts for scaling and rolling upgrades. The system scales horizontally by adding more instances of the API service behind a load balancer; PostgreSQL can be sharded or replicated for high availability, while Redis can run in a cluster mode. Storage is elastic—PostgreSQL tables grow with data, and archival policies can be scripted to move older events to cold storage or export them via the API.

Integration & Extensibility

Aptabase’s plugin system is built on Rust traits, allowing developers to write custom analytics modules that hook into the event pipeline. For example, a plugin could compute real‑time churn rates or integrate with external fraud detection services. Webhooks expose event data to third‑party systems (e.g., Slack, PagerDuty) without exposing raw user data. The SDKs expose a custom event API that lets developers send arbitrary key/value pairs, enabling deep integration with feature flags or A/B testing frameworks. Because the entire stack is open source, advanced users can fork the repository, modify the aggregation logic (e.g., add a new metric like “average session duration per user segment”), and redeploy without vendor lock‑in.

Developer Experience & Community

The documentation is organized into clear sections: quick start, SDK integration guides, self‑hosting instructions, and API reference. Each SDK repository includes a README with usage examples, unit tests, and CI pipelines. The community is active on Discord and Twitter; contributors report issues via GitHub Discussions, ensuring rapid feedback. The AGPLv3 license guarantees that any derivative work remains open source, encouraging community contributions and fostering trust. The combination of a modern tech stack, comprehensive SDKs, and an active community makes Aptabase approachable for both seasoned Rust developers and those new to backend analytics.

Use Cases

• Mobile App Analytics: Embed the Swift or Kotlin SDK to track user sessions, feature usage, and crash reports without compromising privacy.
• Desktop & Electron Apps: Use the Electron SDK to monitor usage patterns across platforms, aiding in product‑market fit analysis.
• Web Applications: Integrate the JavaScript SDK for real‑time page view metrics and custom event tracking in SPA frameworks.
• Game Development: Leverage the Unity or Unreal Engine SDKs to capture in‑game events, performance telemetry, and player engagement metrics.
• Internal Tools: Deploy Aptabase on a private Kubernetes cluster to monitor internal SaaS products while keeping all data in‑house.

Advantages Over Alternatives

• Performance: Rust’s async runtime delivers low latency and high throughput, outperforming many Node or Python‑based analytics services.
• Privacy & Compliance: No device IDs, no cookies