Get started

March 23, 2026 · View on GitHub

Ackee is a simple analytics tool that consists of two parts:

  1. A node server running on a server of your choice
  2. A tracking script that talks to that server

The node server shows you the UI and receives the request from all of your sites, while the tracking script is set up on each site you want to analyze. Since normally your site and your analytics server are running on the same machine, a subdomain is recommended to proxy all requests from that subdomain to the node server. The following guides help you to set up Ackee on an infrastructure of your choice.

With Docker Compose

1. Create the configuration

Pull the project and create a .env file in the root to store all environment variables in one file.

ACKEE_USERNAME=username
ACKEE_PASSWORD=password

Only those two are required to run Ackee with the existing docker-compose.yml. Take a look at the options for a detailed explanation.

2. Run Ackee

Run this command in the root of the project to use the predefined docker-compose.yml. It contains everything you need, including MongoDB and Ackee.

docker-compose up

💡 Add the -d flag to the Docker command to run the services in the background.

3. Open Ackee

Ackee will output the URL it's listening on once the server is running. Visit the URL with your browser and complete the final steps using the interface.

4. Get Ackee online

Ackee now runs on port 3000 and is only accessible from your local network. It's recommended to use a reverse proxy in front of Ackee. The following guides will help you through these steps.

With Docker

1. Setup MongoDB

Ackee requires a running MongoDB instance. The easiest way to install MongoDB is by using Docker. Skip this step if you have MongoDB installed or visit the website of MongoDB for alternative setups.

docker run -p 27017:27017 --name mongo mongo

For persistent storage, mount a host directory to the container directory /data/db, which is identified as a potential mount point in the mongo Dockerfile. When starting a new container, Docker will use the volume of the previous container and copy it to the new container, ensuring that no data gets lost.

docker run -p 27017:27017 -v /path/to/local/folder:/data/db --name mongo mongo

💡 Add the -d flag to the Docker command to run MongoDB in the background.

Explanation:

  • -p makes port 27017 available at port 27017 on the host
  • -v mounts /path/to/local/folder to /data/db of the container
  • --name sets the container name to mongo
  • mongo is the name of the image

2. Run Ackee

docker run -p 3000:3000 -e ACKEE_MONGODB='mongodb://mongo:27017/ackee' -e ACKEE_USERNAME='username' -e ACKEE_PASSWORD='password' --link mongo --name ackee electerious/ackee

💡 Add the -d flag to the Docker command to run Ackee in the background.

Explanation:

  • -p makes port 3000 available at port 3000 on the host
  • -e sets environment variables required by Ackee
  • --link links Ackee with the mongo container
  • --name sets the container name to ackee
  • electerious/ackee is the name of the image

3. Open Ackee

Ackee will output the URL it's listening on once the server is running. Visit the URL with your browser and complete the final steps using the interface.

4. Get Ackee online

Ackee now runs on port 3000 and is only accessible from your local network. It's recommended to use a reverse proxy in front of Ackee. The following guides will help you through these steps.

With Helm

1. Create values.yaml

Based on the default values.yaml create your own with overrides as needed.

2. Deploy with helm

helm repo add suda https://suda.github.io/charts/
helm repo update
helm install ackee-release suda/ackee -n ackee -f values.yaml

If you're using the ingress-nginx, enabling the ingress will set the necessary annotations to enable CORS.

Without Docker

1. Install dependencies

Ackee depends on …

Make sure to install and update all dependencies before you continue. The installation instructions for the individual dependencies can be found on the linked websites.

2. Create the configuration

Pull the project and configure Ackee using environment variables or create a .env file in the root of the project to store all variables in one file.

ACKEE_MONGODB=mongodb://localhost:27017/ackee
ACKEE_USERNAME=username
ACKEE_PASSWORD=password

Only those three are required to run Ackee. Take a look at the options for a detailed explanation.

The MongoDB connection string is used to connect to your MongoDB. It should also contain the username and password of your MongoDB instance when required.

The username and password variables are used to secure your Ackee interface/API.

3. Install Ackee

Install all required dependencies.

npm install

4. Run Ackee

Ackee will output the URL it's listening on once the server is running. Visit the URL with your browser and complete the final steps using the interface.

npm run start

5. Get Ackee online

Ackee now runs on port 3000 and is only accessible from your local network. It's recommended to use a reverse proxy in front of Ackee. The following guides will help you through these steps.

With Netlify

1. Deploy to Netlify

Deploy

2. Configure Ackee

  • You need to have a MongoDB instance running (e.g. MongoDB Atlas)
  • Set a username and password to protect your interface
  • Ensure that you're using the correct CORS headers by setting ACKEE_ALLOW_ORIGIN.

3. Updating Ackee

Netlify adds a forked version of Ackee to your GitHub repositories. You can always pull the newest code from the original project. Pushing those changes to your repository will automatically deploy the new version of Ackee on Netlify.

With Vercel

1. Deploy to Vercel

Deploy with Vercel

When prompted to select a directory, select the root directory.

2. Configure Ackee

  • Set the build command: npm run build
  • Set the output directory: dist
  • Set environment variables ACKEE_USERNAME, ACKEE_PASSWORD, ACKEE_MONGODB, and ACKEE_ALLOW_ORIGIN.

3. Updating Ackee

Vercel adds a forked version of Ackee to your GitHub repositories. You can always pull the newest code from the original project. Pushing those changes to your repository will automatically deploy the new version of Ackee on Vercel.

With Heroku

1. Deploy to Heroku

Deploy to Heroku by clicking this button:

Deploy

2. Configure Ackee

  • You need to have a MongoDB instance running, either hosting it yourself, using MongoDB Atlas or by using a (paid) add-on like ObjectRocket MongoDB. This is as simple as typing heroku addons:create ormongo:2-wt --app <YOUR_APP_NAME> using the CLI, or using the web dashboard; more details at the official documentation. You'll need to provide connection details to Ackee dyno, either from the web dashboard or via command line, e.g. heroku config:add "ACKEE_MONGODB=mongodb://<host>:<port>/<db>"
  • Ensure that you're using the correct CORS headers by setting ACKEE_ALLOW_ORIGIN.

3. Updating Ackee

The easiest way to update Ackee once hosted on Heroku is to clone the repo down, pull the latest changes from Ackee, and then push them back up to Heroku. You'll need the Heroku CLI and Git for this to work.

In your application view, you'll find instructions under the Deploy tab on how to clone down the project. It should look something like below:

heroku login
heroku git:clone -a <your ackee application name>

You'll then want to add the Ackee repo as origin, pull the latest changes, and push it back up to Heroku.

git remote add origin https://github.com/electerious/Ackee.git
git pull origin master
git push heroku master

After your application re-deploys you'll have the latest version of Ackee!

With Qovery

Qovery is a fully-managed cloud platform that runs on your AWS, GCP, Azure and Digital Ocean account where you can host static sites, backend APIs, databases, cron jobs, and all your other apps in one place.

1. Create a Qovery account.

Visit the Qovery dashboard to create an account if you don't already have one.

2. Create a project

Click on "Create a new project" and give a name to your project.

3. Add an application

Click on "Create an application" then choose "I have an application" and select your GitHub or GitLab repository where your Ackee app is located.

Select "MongoDB" service then choose a version. Give the database a name and continue with "Next".

Click on "Deploy".

Chat with Qovery developers on Discord if you need help.

With Render

You can use Render's one-click deploy button to get up and running with Ackee in minutes.

Click Deploy to Render below and follow the prompts to set up Ackee on Render.

Deploy to Render

Once your deploy has finished, you are ready to start using Ackee! Visit the URL for your service to login. You can get your login credentials from the ACKEE_USERNAME and ACKEE_PASSWORD environment variables in the Environment tab of your service. By default, your username will be render and your password will be a randomly generated string.

With Railway

You can use the button below for a one-click deployment and have Ackee running within minutes. Make sure you are logged into your Railway account, then follow the steps below.

1. Launch the Template

Launch the Ackee template on Railway by clicking this button: Deploy on Railway

2. Configure and Deploy

Upon launching the template, you will be prompted to configure the Ackee and MongoDB services.

  • Click Configure on the Ackee service and enter your desired username in the ACKEE_USERNAME environment variable input. Click Save Config.
    • Note: A password will be automatically generated for you which you can retrieve from within the Ackee service's variables tab after deployment.
  • Click Configure on the MongoDB service. You do not need to set any variable configurations, simply click Save Config.
  • Click Deploy

Upon deployment, everything should just work on its own. Railway will automatically provision the MongoDB database for you and link it to your Ackee service!

With Koyeb

Koyeb is a developer-friendly serverless platform to deploy apps globally. The platform lets you seamlessly run Docker containers, web apps, and APIs with git-based deployment, native autoscaling, free SSL, a global edge network, and built-in service mesh and discovery.

1. Configure Ackee

  • You need to have a MongoDB instance running (e.g. MongoDB Atlas)
  • Ensure that you're using the correct CORS headers by setting ACKEE_ALLOW_ORIGIN
  • Have the Koyeb CLI installed which is the fastest way to deploy Ackee

2. Deploy Ackee

Before deploying Ackee on Koyeb, create three secrets to securely store your Ackee username, password, and your MongoDB URL. In your terminal execute the following to create the secrets:

$ koyeb secret create mongodb-url
✔ Enter your secret: mongodb://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<db>

$ koyeb secret create ackee-username
✔ Enter your secret: <ackee_username>

$ koyeb secret create ackee-password
✔ Enter your secret: <ackee_password>

Once you’ve created the secrets, you can deploy Ackee. In your terminal run the following command to create a new Koyeb App and deploy the Ackee service.

koyeb app init ackee --docker electerious/ackee --ports 3000:http --routes /:3000 --env ACKEE_USERNAME=@ackee-username --env ACKEE_PASSWORD=@ackee-password --env ACKEE_MONGODB=@mongodb-url --env ACKEE_ALLOW_ORIGIN="https://example.com"

Your Ackee service is being deployed. To retrieve the Ackee URL run:

$ koyeb app get ackee
ID                                  	NAME     	DOMAINS                         	UPDATED AT
30de8301-05b1-4131-a842-28e608900000	ackee   	ackee-<YOUR_KOYEB_ORG>.koyeb.app	2021-07-06 11:58:01.143967 +0000 UTC

Open the URL to access Ackee.

With Zeabur

You can use the Zeabur button for a one-click deployment and have Ackee running within minutes.

Deploy to Zeabur

Upon clicking the button, you will be asked to set the ACKEE_USERNAME environment variables. Once you do that, everything should just work on its own. Zeabur will automatically provision the MongoDB database for you and also link it to your Ackee deployment!