PostHog vs OpenPanel
Both are alternatives to Amplitude. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as OpenPanel vs PostHog — same comparison, one verdict.
PostHog and OpenPanel are closely matched on ownership (85 vs 90) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
PostHog
TOP PICKProduct analytics, session replay, flags and experiments in one self-hostable product.
PostHog is the most complete answer here because it collapses several line items into one: product analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, surveys and a data warehouse, all in a product you can run on your own infrastructure. For teams currently paying Amplitude for analytics and LaunchDarkly for flags, that consolidation is often the real saving rather than any single rate. Around 37.4k stars and pushed to daily. The licence needs stating precisely: the core is MIT, but the `ee/` directory is licensed separately as enterprise — so it is MIT-with-a-carve-out rather than plain MIT, which is how it is usually described.
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.
| PostHog | OpenPanel | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 85 | 90 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT core, with an `ee/` enterprise directory carve-out | AGPL-3.0 |
| Pricing | Generous free tier on cloud; self-hostable at no licence cost for the MIT core. | Free and open source to self-host. Hosted plans available. |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 16 GB, and that number is not padded. ClickHouse, Kafka, Zookeeper, PostgreSQL, Redis/Valkey, Temporal with Elasticsearch, a headless Chromium and a few dozen PostHog services all share it (about 38 services in the hobby compose file). | — |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $19–25/mo for a 16 GB Hetzner cloud server in the EU (the CX43 is $18.49 before VAT and IPv4, at June 2026 prices), or about $96/mo for 16 GB at DigitalOcean. ClickHouse, Kafka, Zookeeper, Postgres, Redis and object storage all run on that one box, so there is no separate bill, but they are why it needs 16 GB. | — |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 30 minutes for the script, then 5–10 minutes for migrations and TLS. Give it a week before you trust it. | — |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Run `upgrade-hobby` often, because PostHog ships continuously from master with no tagged releases. Take a full backup before every upgrade, as the docs instruct. PostHog offers no customer support for self-hosted instances. | — |
PostHog is Macrostack's recommended Amplitude alternative, so it's our pick here.
Weighing both against staying on Amplitude? Is Amplitude free? What it actually costs →
PostHog
Strengths
- +Replaces analytics, session replay, flags and experiments with one tool
- +Self-hostable, so behavioural data never leaves your infrastructure
- +Autocapture means useful data before anyone writes a tracking plan
- +Very generous free tier if you would rather use the hosted version
Trade-offs
- −Self-hosting at volume means operating ClickHouse — a real commitment
- −The `ee/` directory is not MIT despite the project's reputation
- −Heavier and more complex than a focused analytics tool
- −Analysis depth still trails Amplitude for sophisticated cohort work
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 PostHog
if replaces analytics, session replay, flags and experiments with one tool.
Choose OpenPanel
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and sits deliberately between simple web analytics and full product analytics.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — self-hosting at volume means operating ClickHouse — a real commitment, 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.
PostHog vs OpenPanel — common questions
Is PostHog a better fit than OpenPanel for product analytics?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: OpenPanel scores 90 to PostHog's 85 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. PostHog earns its place on a different axis — replaces analytics, session replay, flags and experiments with one tool. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
PostHog 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 PostHog 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 PostHog 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.