PostHog
★ Editor's PickOpen-source product analytics + feature flags + session replay.
Need an MVP like PostHog?
We'll build it in less than 7 days. Book a free discovery call with Tiny Startup Studio.
Book free discovery call →Quick summary of PostHog
PostHog is an open-source product analytics platform founded in 2020 by James Hawkins and Tim Glaser (Y Combinator S20). What started as a Mixpanel alternative has expanded into a unified data platform covering product analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, surveys, customer data platform, error tracking, web analytics, and most recently a data warehouse. Best for indie SaaS founders and product teams who want to consolidate Mixpanel + LaunchDarkly + Hotjar + Sentry into a single open-source bill. The free tier covers 1M events, 5K session recordings, and 1M feature flag evaluations per month — generous enough that many SaaS at $1M+ ARR remain on it. Paid usage is event-based (~$0.31 per 1K events). Direct competitors: Mixpanel (analytics-only, more polished), Amplitude (enterprise-leaning), LaunchDarkly (feature flags only), Hotjar (session replay only), Sentry (errors only), Plausible/Fathom (lighter web analytics). PostHog wins on breadth, price, and open-source story; specialists win on depth in their single category.
⏱ 30-second verdict
- Replaces Mixpanel + LaunchDarkly + Hotjar + Sentry with one bill
- Free tier (1M events) covers years of indie SaaS growth
- 40+ products mean a steep learning curve and packed UI
About
Combines Mixpanel + LaunchDarkly + Hotjar. Self-hostable. Free tier covers 1M events + 5K replays + 1M flag evals.
🎯 Why it's useful
You're paying for Mixpanel, LaunchDarkly, and Fullstory separately? PostHog is one tool at a quarter the price.
💜 Our take
Session Replay + funnels in the same tool means you can watch the literal sessions of users who churned at step 3.
Key Features
Integrations
✓ Best for
Early-stage startups and indie developers who want all-in-one product analytics without vendor lock-in. Self-hosting option appeals to teams with privacy concerns or those wanting to avoid per-event pricing.
✗ Not ideal for
Companies needing dedicated customer support or those uncomfortable managing self-hosted infrastructure. Not ideal for teams requiring advanced ML features or predictive analytics.
How indie founders use PostHog
Product analytics
Track events, build funnels, analyse cohorts, measure retention. The bread and butter. Replaces Mixpanel for 95% of teams.
Session replay
Record user sessions, replay any session linked to a specific event. Watch where users get confused. Concrete UX insight beats surveys.
Feature flags and A/B tests
Roll out new features to 1%, 10%, 100% of users. Run real experiments. Free tier covers 1M evaluations per month. Plenty.
Surveys and NPS
Trigger surveys based on user behaviour. Track NPS over time. Less mature than dedicated tools but tightly integrated with product data.
PostHog is one of the most ambitious indie tools on the market right now. What started as 'open-source Mixpanel' has expanded into a single platform that covers product analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, surveys, a CDP, error tracking, web analytics, and most recently a data warehouse. That kind of breadth would be a red flag if any single piece was weak. None of them are. The maths on this is what really sells it. Instead of paying Mixpanel ($25-50/mo to start) plus LaunchDarkly ($75/mo) plus Hotjar ($32/mo) plus Sentry ($26/mo), you get all of it from PostHog for free up to genuinely useful limits. 1M events per month. 5K session recordings. 1M flag evaluations. The bill above the free tier is also gentle compared to the alternatives. I've talked to founders running $50M ARR SaaS still on the $0 tier. The session replay product is the standout for me. It's a genuine Hotjar replacement, integrated with your event data so you can replay the session of any user who hit any specific event. Feature flags are LaunchDarkly-quality. Surveys are basic but functional for NPS. Even the web analytics product (their Plausible/Fathom alternative) is now legit. The trade-off is complexity. PostHog tries to do everything and the UI shows it. There are 40-ish distinct products in the dashboard, each with its own configuration. New users get lost. The 'simple' analytics view is buried two clicks deep. If you only want pageview tracking, Plausible is easier. But if you'll use product analytics plus feature flags plus session replay, PostHog as one bill beats stitching three tools together. Also worth knowing: you can self-host the entire stack. Docker-compose, ten minutes, done. Most people won't bother because the cloud version is genuinely faster and the free tier is generous, but the option is real and rare in this category. Recommendation: use PostHog. It's the indie-friendly analytics default. Mixpanel is more polished if you only want analytics. PostHog is the better deal once you'd be using two or more of the bundled products.
Pricing
Free
- ✓1M events/month
- ✓5K session recordings
- ✓1M flag evaluations
- ✓All product features
- ✓Self-hostable
Scale
- ✓First 1M events free
- ✓Then ~$0.31 per 1K events
- ✓Volume discounts apply
- ✓Same for replays + flags
Enterprise
- ✓Volume pricing
- ✓SOC 2 + audit logs
- ✓SAML SSO
- ✓24/7 support
Free open-source self-hosted · Cloud free tier (1M events/month) · Cloud paid from $20/mo
Frequently asked questions
Is PostHog free?
Yes. The free tier includes 1M events/month, 5K session recordings, 1M feature flag evaluations, and access to every product feature. Most early-stage SaaS never exceed the free limits. Paid usage starts at ~$0.31 per 1K events.
PostHog vs Mixpanel, which should I pick?
PostHog if you'll use more than just analytics (feature flags, session replay, A/B tests). Mixpanel if you're an analytics purist who wants the most polished funnel and cohort analysis UI. PostHog wins on breadth and price; Mixpanel wins on analytics-only depth.
Can I self-host PostHog?
Yes. The entire platform is open source. docker-compose up brings the full stack online in 10 minutes. Realistically self-host only if you have strong DevOps and regulatory reasons. The cloud version handles scale better and the free tier is generous.
Does PostHog work with Next.js?
Excellently. The posthog-js and posthog-js/react packages work cleanly in App Router. There's a recipe for cookie-banner compatible loading, server-side capture in API routes, and feature flag evaluation in Server Components.
Is session replay GDPR / CCPA compliant?
Yes. PostHog automatically masks inputs, lets you blacklist DOM selectors, and respects consent flags. Recordings are stored in EU regions if you select EU Cloud. You're still responsible for the consent capture in your own UI.
Reviews
No reviews yet — be the first.
Tools like PostHog
See all Analytics →Mixpanel
Product analytics that answer "why".
Social Blade
Track social media statistics and analytics for any creator or brand.
SuperX
AI-powered analytics to grow your X (Twitter) audience faster.
Kissmetrics
Behavioral analytics that ties every action to revenue.
Datafast
Simple, privacy-focused web analytics that loads incredibly fast.
Seline
Privacy-friendly analytics that's simple and actually useful.