PostHog is an open source product analytics platform that replaces Mixpanel, Amplitude, and multiple separate tools with a single self-hosted suite covering event analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B experiments, and user surveys.
The Problem
Mixpanel and Amplitude charge per monthly tracked user, often costing $833 or more per month at 100,000 users on standard plans. Beyond cost, every event your users trigger flows through their servers, creating data processing agreements and GDPR obligations that require dedicated legal work. Teams managing five separate tools (analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, surveys) spend time synchronizing user data across platforms that were never designed to work together.
How PostHog Solves It
PostHog runs on your own server via Docker, so user events never leave your infrastructure. A single SDK captures events that flow into one dataset used across analytics, session replay, feature flags, and experiments. Because the data model is unified, cohorts defined in analytics carry directly into feature flag targeting without export or sync. MIT licensed; the full feature set is available in the open source edition.
Key Features
- Event analytics with funnels, retention curves, paths, and cohort analysis
- Session replay with privacy controls that mask sensitive fields automatically
- Feature flags for gradual rollouts and per-user or per-cohort targeting
- A/B experiments with statistical significance tracking built in
- In-product user surveys for qualitative feedback alongside quantitative data
- SQL access to the full event dataset for custom queries and exports
Who It's For
PostHog is best for product and engineering teams at startups and growth-stage companies who need Mixpanel-level analytics without sending user behavior data to a third-party server. It fits teams in regulated industries handling sensitive user data, or those who want to consolidate five separate SaaS tools into one self-hosted platform.
Compared to Mixpanel
Unlike Mixpanel, PostHog charges no per-user fee when self-hosted and combines analytics, session replay, and feature flags in one platform with a shared user dataset, so you stop paying for integrations between tools that should have been built together.
