Free website visitor counter
Pick a look, paste one line into your page, and it starts counting. Take the script embed for real unique visitors and a number that updates live, or the plain image tag for the places that allow nothing else. Both keep counting whether or not you ever come back.
Check your email
We sent an activation link to . Open it and your counter is live, with the embed code waiting on the other side.
Nothing counts until that link is opened, which is the only way we can tell a real address from one typed to get past this form. No email after a couple of minutes? Check spam, then try again with a different address.
How to add a hit counter to your website
- Pick the look above. Choose a style, the number of digits, the size and the colours, and whether it counts visits, unique visitors, people online right now, or any of those over the last 7, 30 or 90 days.
- Enter your email and press the button. There is no account and no password.
- Open the link we email you. That switches the counter on and shows your code.
- Paste the line into your page where you want the number to appear. It starts counting on the next visit.
The HTML code
A hit counter, a visitor counter and a page counter for your website are all the same thing here, and it is one line. This is the one to use: it renders into your page, so your own CSS can restyle it, the number updates without a reload, and it tells your real unique visitors apart instead of guessing from the connection they arrived on:
<script src="https://cdn.provesrc.com/counter.js" data-c="YOUR-SETTINGS"></script>
Where scripts are stripped, a forum signature or a README, there is a plain image tag that works anywhere an image does. It counts by address, so an office behind one connection counts once:
<img src="https://api.provesrc.com/counter/YOUR-COUNTER-ID.svg?style=led&digits=6&label=visitors" alt="hit counter">
Paste it anywhere HTML goes
WordPress
Add a Custom HTML block, or drop it in a Text widget in your sidebar or footer.
Blogger and Tumblr
Layout, add a HTML/JavaScript gadget, paste the script. The image tag is there for a theme that strips it.
Wix and Squarespace
Use the Embed HTML element and paste the script. If the editor refuses it, the image tag goes in the same place.
Plain HTML and forums
A page of your own takes the script. A signature box that accepts nothing but an image takes the image tag.
Google Sites
Insert, Embed, Embed code, then paste the image tag. Google Sites strips scripts, so the image version is the one that works there.
Neocities and retro pages
Paste it straight into your HTML, next to the marquee. The LED and odometer styles are the ones people come here for.
What actually gets counted
People, not crawlers
Googlebot and the rest are served the image and counted nowhere. A crawler is not a visitor, and a counter that says otherwise is just measuring how often it gets indexed.
One reload is one visit
Hammering refresh moves the number once. The counter is meant to follow real pageviews, so repeats from the same visitor inside a few seconds do not stack up.
No cookies, no addresses stored
The script embed keeps one random id in your own site's storage, never a cookie and never anything read from the visitor. Our side stores only a hash of it, salted per counter, so the same person is a different row on every counter and no two can be matched up.
Real visitors, not requests
The script embed can tell two people in one office apart, because the id lives in your site's own storage rather than being guessed from an address. That is what makes unique and returning visitors mean something.
Questions
Is the visitor counter really free?
Yes. There is no paid tier of this counter and no limit on how many hits it will count. We build it because people who care what their traffic looks like tend to care what their visitors see, which is the thing we sell.
Do I need to register or give an email to use the hit counter?
An email, once. There is no account, no password and nothing to log into. You open the link we send, which switches the counter on and is also how you reach your stats page later. Most free counters skip this step. We ask because the counter runs on your site for years, and an address we can reach is what lets us tell you if anything about it changes.
Does the hit counter work on Google Sites?
Yes, with the image tag. Google Sites removes scripts from embedded code, so paste the image version under Insert, Embed, Embed code. It counts the same way; only the live updating and the per-browser unique visitor count need the script.
What is the difference between a hit counter, a visitor counter and a page counter?
Mostly the words people use. A hit counter and a page counter for a website both count pageviews, so a reload adds one. A visitor counter counts people, so the same person reading four pages is one. This tool does either: pick total hits for the first, or unique visitors for the second.
Will a visitor counter slow my site down?
The script is about two kilobytes, loaded from a CDN after your page renders, and it never blocks anything. The image embed runs no JavaScript at all if you would rather have none.
Which embed should I use?
The script, unless something stops you. It counts unique and returning visitors properly, updates without a reload, and renders into your page so your own CSS can restyle it. Use the image tag where scripts are stripped: forum signatures, some hosted page builders, a README.
Can I hide the counter and still see the number?
Yes. Set the digits colour to match your background, or use the Minimal style at a small size tucked into your footer. The count is recorded either way.
Can I start the count at a number that is not zero?
No. Every counter starts at zero and only moves when somebody actually visits, so the number on your page is one you earned. If you want a head start on a number nobody checked, a picture of a counter will do the job better than a counter will.
What is the difference between hits, unique visitors and people online?
Hits count pageviews. Unique visitors counts each person once a day. People online counts who has loaded the page in the last five minutes, and needs the live updating snippet to keep ticking without a reload.
A number in your footer is for you
Your visitors never look at it. What moves them is seeing that other people are here right now, buying, signing up, leaving reviews. That is what ProveSource puts on your page.
See how it works