Matomo vs OpenPanel
Both are alternatives to Amplitude. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as OpenPanel vs Matomo — same comparison, one verdict.
Matomo and OpenPanel are closely matched on ownership (92 vs 90) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Matomo
GPL analytics you host yourself — the compliance answer.
Matomo is the veteran of privacy-respecting analytics: GPL-3.0, self-hosted, with 100% data ownership, no sampling, and configurations that let it run without cookie consent in many jurisdictions. Around 21.7k stars and well over a decade of continuous development. It leans web analytics rather than product analytics — sessions, sources, campaigns, goals — with product-style funnels and cohorts available as paid plugins. If the reason you are on this page is a legal or procurement requirement rather than a product question, Matomo is usually the shortest route to a yes.
OpenPanel
Mixpanel-style product analytics with a web-analytics front door.
OpenPanel sets out to be the middle ground this category is missing: simple web analytics for the questions you ask daily, plus event-based product analytics with funnels and retention for the ones you ask monthly, in a single self-hostable product. It is the youngest project in this comparison by a wide margin, which is the caveat to weigh honestly — the design is good and the track record is short. Worth a look if PostHog feels like more machinery than the problem deserves and Umami is not quite enough.
Side by side
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Matomo | OpenPanel | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 92 | 90 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-3.0 (core; some plugins are paid) | AGPL-3.0 |
| Pricing | Self-hosted core free. Cloud hosting and premium plugins are paid. | Free and open source to self-host. Hosted plans available. |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 4 GB once traffic is real, and MySQL wants most of it | — |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $25–45/mo for a moderately busy site | — |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 1–2 hours | — |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Active. Archiving must be moved to cron or the site slows down. | — |
Matomo edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Matomo
Strengths
- +Full data ownership with a mature, well-trodden self-host path
- +Can be configured to run without cookie consent in many jurisdictions
- +No sampling — the numbers are the numbers
- +Over a decade of development and a large plugin ecosystem
Trade-offs
- −Web analytics first; product analytics needs paid plugins
- −Interface feels dated next to PostHog and Amplitude
- −PHP and MySQL need tuning at high traffic
- −Several of the features people expect are premium add-ons
OpenPanel
Strengths
- +Sits deliberately between simple web analytics and full product analytics
- +Self-hostable with a straightforward Docker deployment
- +AGPL-3.0 with no enterprise directory carve-out
- +Lighter to run than PostHog for a fraction of the complexity
Trade-offs
- −Youngest and least proven project on this page
- −Small community, so few answers when something breaks
- −No session replay or feature flags
- −AGPL-3.0 copyleft needs reading if you intend to modify it
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Matomo
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and full data ownership with a mature, well-trodden self-host path.
Choose OpenPanel
if sits deliberately between simple web analytics and full product analytics.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — web analytics first; product analytics needs paid plugins, and youngest and least proven project on this page. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Matomo vs OpenPanel — common questions
Is Matomo a better fit than OpenPanel for product analytics?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Matomo scores 92 to OpenPanel's 90 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. OpenPanel earns its place on a different axis — sits deliberately between simple web analytics and full product analytics. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Matomo keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. OpenPanel is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Matomo or OpenPanel?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Matomo and OpenPanel both alternatives to Amplitude?
Yes — both appear in our Amplitude comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Amplitude and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-07-31. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.