diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a714719..aed209c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ A fast, edge-deployed link shortening service built with [Hono](https://hono.dev
 - **Custom short paths** — define your own paths or let them auto-generate (`/abc12`, `/your-brand/campaign`)
 - **Namespaces** — organize links under a namespace prefix
 - **QR codes** — append `/qr` to any short link for SVG, PNG, or HTML output
-- **Analytics** — per-link redirect stats with bot detection, grouped by hour or day
+- **Analytics** (optional, requires [Workers Paid plan](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/platform/pricing/)) — per-link redirect stats with bot detection, grouped by hour or day
 - **Password protection** — optionally require a password before redirecting
 - **Link scheduling** — set a go-live date so the link only activates at a specific time
 - **Link expiration** — optional TTL-based expiry with automatic cleanup
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ A fast, edge-deployed link shortening service built with [Hono](https://hono.dev
 
 ### One-Click Deploy
 
-Click the button above to deploy to Cloudflare. The deploy flow will automatically create KV, D1, and Analytics Engine resources and prompt you for secrets.
+Click the button above to deploy to Cloudflare. The deploy flow will automatically create KV and D1 resources and prompt you for secrets. Analytics is optional — see [Enabling Analytics](#enabling-analytics) below.
 
 ### Local Development
 
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ curl https://your-domain/api/link/abc12/stats/day \
 | Variable                   | Required | Description                                              |
 | -------------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
 | `API_KEY`                  | Yes      | Secret key for authenticating API requests               |
-| `ANALYTICS_API_TOKEN`      | Yes      | Cloudflare API token for querying Analytics Engine        |
-| `ACCOUNT_ID`               | Yes      | Your Cloudflare Account ID                               |
+| `ANALYTICS_API_TOKEN`      | No       | Cloudflare API token for querying Analytics Engine (see [Enabling Analytics](#enabling-analytics)) |
+| `ACCOUNT_ID`               | No       | Your Cloudflare Account ID (required for analytics)      |
 | `DEFAULT_SHORT_PATH_LENGTH`| No       | Length of auto-generated short paths (default: `5`)      |
 | `MAX_SHORT_ID_RETRIES`     | No       | Max retries on ID collision (default: `5`)               |
 | `SLACK_BOT_TOKEN`          | No       | Slack Bot User OAuth Token (`xoxb-...`) for notifications |
@@ -138,6 +138,22 @@ curl https://your-domain/api/link/abc12/stats/day \
 
 Set secrets locally in `.dev.vars` and via `wrangler secret put` for deployed environments.
 
+## Enabling Analytics
+
+Analytics requires the [Workers Paid plan](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/platform/pricing/) ($5/mo) for Analytics Engine access. To enable:
+
+1. Add the Analytics Engine binding to `wrangler.jsonc`:
+
+```jsonc
+"analytics_engine_datasets": [
+  { "binding": "REDIRECTS", "dataset": "ishere-redirects" }
+],
+```
+
+2. Set the `ACCOUNT_ID` and `ANALYTICS_API_TOKEN` secrets (via `wrangler secret put` or `.dev.vars`).
+
+Without these, the link shortener works normally — analytics tracking and the stats endpoint are simply disabled.
+
 ## Slack App Setup
 
 The Slack integration lets you create, look up, and manage short links via a slash command and global shortcuts, with optional bot notifications when links are created or updated.
@@ -225,7 +241,7 @@ Routes (src/routes/) → Actions (src/actions/) → KV (src/kv/) + D1 (src/db/)
 - **Actions** contain business logic, decoupled from HTTP concerns
 - **D1** is the source of truth; **KV** serves as a global edge cache for fast reads
 - Reads try KV first, falling back to D1 on cache miss — this means links are available immediately after creation, avoiding the ~60s propagation delay that KV-only link shorteners suffer from
-- Analytics are tracked via Cloudflare Analytics Engine on each redirect
+- Analytics are optionally tracked via Cloudflare Analytics Engine on each redirect (requires Workers Paid plan)
 - A cron trigger runs hourly to clean up expired links
 
 ## Testing
diff --git a/src/analytics/track-link-redirect.ts b/src/analytics/track-link-redirect.ts
index 93545f3..6281022 100644
--- a/src/analytics/track-link-redirect.ts
+++ b/src/analytics/track-link-redirect.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ const parseCoordinate = (coord: string | undefined): number =>
 	coord ? parseFloat(coord) : 0;
 
 const trackLinkRedirect = async (id: string, { cf: cfProps, headers }: Request, env: Env) => {
+	if (!env.REDIRECTS) return;
+
 	const cf = cfProps || {};
 	const userAgent = headers.get('user-agent') || 'unknown';
 
diff --git a/src/env-secrets.d.ts b/src/env-secrets.d.ts
index f7d5a8a..337e7ac 100644
--- a/src/env-secrets.d.ts
+++ b/src/env-secrets.d.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 interface Env {
+	REDIRECTS?: AnalyticsEngineDataset;
 	ANALYTICS_API_TOKEN?: string;
 	API_KEY: string;
 	DEFAULT_SHORT_PATH_LENGTH?: string;
diff --git a/test/analytics/track-link-redirect.spec.ts b/test/analytics/track-link-redirect.spec.ts
index ed265b3..84c2a67 100644
--- a/test/analytics/track-link-redirect.spec.ts
+++ b/test/analytics/track-link-redirect.spec.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,16 @@ describe('trackLinkRedirect', () => {
 		expect(args.blobs[0]).toBe('unknown');
 	});
 
+	it('should silently skip tracking when REDIRECTS binding is not configured', async () => {
+		const consoleSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
+		const env = { } as unknown as Env;
+
+		await trackLinkRedirect('no-analytics', makeRequest(), env);
+
+		expect(consoleSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+		consoleSpy.mockRestore();
+	});
+
 	it('should catch and log write errors', async () => {
 		const consoleSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
 		const env = {
diff --git a/worker-configuration.d.ts b/worker-configuration.d.ts
index db0d996..361f1e3 100644
--- a/worker-configuration.d.ts
+++ b/worker-configuration.d.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ declare namespace Cloudflare {
 		ACCOUNT_ID: "TODO";
 		API_TOKEN: string;
 		D1: D1Database;
-		REDIRECTS: AnalyticsEngineDataset;
 	}
 }
 interface Env extends Cloudflare.Env {}
diff --git a/wrangler.jsonc b/wrangler.jsonc
index 4a24e41..6afcf74 100644
--- a/wrangler.jsonc
+++ b/wrangler.jsonc
@@ -30,10 +30,6 @@
 		}
   ],
 
-  "analytics_engine_datasets": [
-    { "binding": "REDIRECTS", "dataset": "ishere-redirects" }
-  ],
-
   "triggers": {
     "crons": [ "0 * * * *" ]
   }