Pulse Analytics adds cookie-free visitor tracking through one plugin

Its job is to track visits and selected interactions on a Joomla site and show the results in an external dashboard.

Joomla core does not include a built-in visitor analytics dashboard or a hosted event-tracking service. Site owners therefore commonly rely on server logs, add a provider’s script to the template, place code in a custom module, or install an extension that handles the insertion. A template override can put tracking markup into page output, but it does not provide collection, goals, funnels or reporting by itself. According to the listing, Pulse goes beyond that basic code insertion by sending pageviews, referrers, countries, devices, time on page and scroll depth to pulse.ciphera.net, with optional tracking for clicks, copies and form submissions.

This is aimed at site owners and small teams that want traffic reporting without maintaining their own analytics stack, particularly those seeking a cookie-free approach. It has little to offer a site that already has analytics configured, only needs server-log reporting, or does not want data sent to a third-party service. The listing says browsers sending Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control are excluded and administration pages are not tagged; those are claims from the developer, not findings from testing.

Pulse Analytics is listed as a free download, while an account and a site registered with Ciphera are required; the listing says the free plan is sufficient to start. It requires Joomla 5 or 6 and PHP 8.1 or later. The directory shows Ciphera as the developer and no reviews, but gives no broader track-record information. Before installing, check data retention, processing terms, European hosting details, account pricing beyond the free plan, export and deletion options, consent and legal-basis guidance, support arrangements, and what happens if the hosted service is unavailable.

Listed on the Joomla Extensions Directory.