PostHog vs Mixpanel: Complete Comparison Guide
Compare PostHog and Mixpanel on product analytics, session recording, feature flags, and pricing. Discover which analytics platform best fits your product team.
PostHog
An open-source, all-in-one product analytics platform. PostHog combines product analytics, session recording, feature flags, A/B testing, and a data warehouse in one tool. The platform is fully self-hostable, offers a generous free plan, and is built with a developer-first philosophy. PostHog runs on ClickHouse for blazing-fast queries over large datasets.
Mixpanel
A leading managed product analytics platform known for its powerful event-based analytics. Mixpanel offers advanced funnel analysis, cohort analysis, retention reports, A/B testing, and a visual query builder. The platform excels at analyzing user behavior and is widely used by product and growth teams at tech companies worldwide.
Comparison table
| Feature | PostHog | Mixpanel |
|---|---|---|
| Product analytics | Event analytics, funnels, retention, trends — growing in maturity | Mature platform: funnels, cohorts, flows, impact analysis — market leader |
| Session recording | Built-in session recording — no extra tool needed | No session recording — requires separate tool like Hotjar or FullStory |
| Feature flags | Built-in feature flags with multivariate testing and rollouts | No feature flags — requires separate tool like LaunchDarkly |
| Self-hosting | Fully self-hostable via Docker/Kubernetes — data on your own infra | Managed SaaS only — no self-hosting option |
| Data warehouse | Built-in data warehouse on ClickHouse for custom queries | Data export to BigQuery/Snowflake — no own warehouse |
| Pricing | Generous free plan: 1M events/month, self-hosted completely free | Free up to 20M events/month, then usage-based pricing |
Verdict
PostHog and Mixpanel approach product analytics from different philosophies. PostHog is the all-in-one choice for developer teams: product analytics, session recording, feature flags, and A/B testing in one open-source platform. This eliminates the need for multiple tools and keeps data centralized. Mixpanel is the more specialized platform with deeper analytics functionality: funnel, cohort, and retention analyses are more mature and the UI is more polished. The choice depends on whether you want one tool for everything or the best-in-class analytics platform.
Our recommendation
At MG Software, we value PostHog for its developer-first approach and open-source nature. The combination of product analytics, session recording, and feature flags in one platform perfectly fits our full-stack workflow. We don't need to manage separate tools for each functionality. For clients with a dedicated growth team needing advanced cohort analysis and A/B testing, Mixpanel may be the better choice. In both cases, we help with implementation and setting up an effective analytics framework.
Frequently asked questions
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