I saw this coming after its huge success at Wordpress.com. The Automattic guys have released the Automattic stats plugin for self hosted Wordpress users. The plugin is an implementation of the inbuilt stats system you find at Wordpress.com blogs.
For those of you looking for a good, simple, light on server stats system you need not look any further because this is the best you can get.
Why another stats system ?
Let the developers of the plugin answer this :
There are hundreds of plugins and services which can provide statistics about your visitors. However I found that even though something like Google Analytics provides an incredible depth of information, it can be overwhelming and doesn’t really highlight what’s most interesting to me as a writer. That’s why Automattic created its own stats system, to focus on just the most popular metrics a blogger wants to track and provide them in a clear and concise interface.
Installation
Installing this plugin is damn easy and you just require a Wordpress.com API key which you are probably using in Akismet. Once it’s running it’ll begin collecting information about your pageviews, which posts and pages are the most popular, where your traffic is coming from, and what people click on when they leave. It’ll also add a link to your dashboard which allows you to see all your stats on a single page.
The Good News
Because all of the processing and collection runs on Wordpress.com servers and not yours, it doesn’t cause any additional load on your hosting account. You get your own stats system for free. No need to depend on any other 3rd party stats services anymore. 
Also this means, that in case the developers add any more features to the system, then you do not need to go in for an upgrade. The changes will be available immediately.
The Downside Final Word
In order to see your blog’s stats you need to go to your Wordpress.com global dashboard. Now this hurts. Only if it was possible to fetch the stats from Wordpress.com and then display them in my dashboard. 
But still a great plugin to have.
8 comments ↓
Hosting the reports on WordPress.com means the UI can be updated without requiring a new plugin version. No matter where your blogs are hosted, you’ll be able to flip between the stats pages of all your blogs in one place. Is that really a downside or is it just not what you expected?
Hi Andy…
Hmm, on second thoughts it is not a downside…
But still it would be good if it is possible to fetch the data from wordpress.com and then display it on my own blog’s dashboard.
Anywayz, it is a great plugin and I using it now.
I also updated the post a bit inspired by your comment.
I have a small suggestion - Is it possible to add a link to my global dashboard at Wordpress.com so that I can get back to my own dashboard on clicking it. The link address can be derived from the site for which we are viewing stats.
Great idea! Expect to see it added within the next few days.
Cool !!!
You guys rock …. This will make the plugin even better.
That would be good. Being a stats freak, can’t wait to try this.
I am already using this …
Cool flash charts man…
Eeek! I have installed it today and it’s cool!
Good ….
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