Mixpanel is a popular analytics platform used by companies to understand user behavior and optimize products. However, Mixpanel is a proprietary paid solution. For developers and companies looking for open source alternatives, here are the top 15 Mixpanel alternatives in 2024.
Key Takeaways:
- Amplitude is the top open source Mixpanel alternative with detailed analytics, user segmentation, and retention reporting. It has a free plan for early startups.
- PostHog is a fully open source product analytics tool that is easy to self host and customize. It offers funnels, retention analysis, and experimentation.
- Indicative provides easy-to-use dashboards and notifications for product analytics focused on digital products. It has affordable pricing.
- Panelbear uses SQL for analysis and querying of analytics data. It has pay per query pricing and open source libraries.
- Countly is an open source mobile and web analytics platform similar to Mixpanel, with app crash reporting and user segmentation.
- Hotjar complements analytics data by providing visual representations of user behavior through heatmaps and session recordings.
Top 15 Mixpanel open source Alternatives
1. Amplitude
Amplitude is the top alternative for an open source Mixpanel alternative. Amplitude provides detailed analytics on user actions, helps segment users, and has tools to analyze impact of new features.
Key features:
- Open source SDKs for all platforms
- User segmentation tools
- Retention and engagement reporting
- Ideal for product analytics
Amplitude has a free plan for early stage startups making it easy to get started. For larger usage, it has affordable paid plans that scale with usage.
2. PostHog
PostHog is a fully open source product analytics platform great for developer teams. It is easy to self host or use their cloud offering.
Key capabilities:
- Open source under AGPL license
- Product analytics with user behavior data
- Funnels and retention analysis
- Feature flags and A/B testing
As an open source platform, PostHog is highly customizable to your specific needs. And their cloud offering provides a managed solution.
3. Indicative
Indicative focuses on product analytics and user analytics specifically for digital products. It has easy to use dashboards for analysis.
Why it’s a great alternative:
- Affordable pricing plans
- Segmentation and funnel analysis
- notifications and anomaly detection
- Open source client libraries
Indicative makes it easy for product teams to analyze metrics that matter without needing engineering resources.
4. Panelbear
Panelbear is an SQL based analytics platform that can be self hosted or used as a cloud service.
Key highlights:
- SQL based analysis and querying
- Dataset access via API
- Pay per query pricing
- Lightweight open source libraries
For developers who are comfortable with SQL and want flexibility of analysis, Panelbear is a great Mixpanel alternative.
5. Countly
Countly is an open source mobile & web analytics platform similar to Mixpanel. It can be self hosted or used as a cloud service.
Why Countly stands out:
- Open source under AGPL license
- Mobile app crash reporting
- User profiles and segmentation
- Push and in-app messaging
Countly provides analytics capabilities along with marketing tools for push notifications and messages making it an ideal open source alternative.
6. Hotjar
Hotjar focuses on understanding user behavior via heatmaps, recordings, feedback polls and surveys.
Key features
- Heatmaps showing user clicks
- Visitor recordings to see navigation
- Feedback polls and surveys
- Some open source libraries
Hotjar provides visual representation of user actions that complements analytics data for better understanding.
| Name | Open Source | Hosted Version | Usability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amplitude | Client Libraries | Yes | Easy |
| PostHog | Fully Open Source | Yes | Developer focused |
| Indicative | Client Libraries | Yes | Very Easy |
7. Ubuntu Analytics
Ubuntu Analytics is an open source analytics platform focused on Internet of Things (IoT) data. It provides capabilities for handling large volumes of time series data.
Key highlights:
- Open source platform for IoT data
- Scalable time series analytics
- Anomaly detection capabilities
- Developer focused capabilities
For IoT developers working large real time data streams, Ubuntu Analytics is a great fully open source alternative.
8.Uptime
uptime provides comprehensive monitoring for both applications and infrastructure along with analytics.
Why it stands out:
- Monitor both apps and servers
- Incident management workflows
- Status pages and reports
While uptime provides more than analytics, it can serve as an alternative for understanding applications and infrastructure.
9. Baremetrics
Baremetrics is a business analytics service focused on metrics for subscription businesses like SaaS applications.
Key metrics provided
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
- Churn rate
For developers building subscription applications, Baremetrics provides analytics tailored to key business KPIs.
10. Metabase
Metabase is an open source business intelligence tool for data exploration and visualization.
Why Metabase stands out
- Open source under AGPL license
- Intuitive UI with drag and drop interface
- Connect to SQL and NoSQL databases
- Ask questions in plain English
Metabase makes it easy to integrate analytics for both technical and non technical teams within a business.
11. Budibase
Budibase is an open source low code platform for creating internal apps with integrated analytics.
Key capabilities:
- Visually build web apps fast
- Integrated user management
- Analytics dashboard
- Open source under GPL/AGPL licenses
For smaller teams that want custom internal tools with analytics, Budibase is an all-in-one low code solution.
12. Open Web Analytics
Open Web Analytics (OWA) is a open source alternative to Google Analytics with data warehousing capabilities.
Why it stands out:
- 100% open source web analytics
- Data warehousing and ETL capabilities
- Lower resource usage the GA
- PHP/MySQL based
For an open, transparent and customizable analytics stack, OWA is great choice.
13. Fathom Analytics
Fathom is a paid analytics tool focused on privacy protection with simple and clear reports.
Key privacy capabilities
- Data minimization and anonymity
- Cookie free tracking
- GDPR compliant
- Affordable pricing
For sites where user privacy is critical, Fathom Analytics is a great choice.
14. Simple Analytics
Simple Analytics is a paid web analytics tool focused on simplicity over complex features.
Where it shines:
- Simple, easy to understand reports
- Cookie free tracking
- Affordable pricing
- Lightweight JS snippet
When easy integration and usage tops the priority list, Simple Analytics balances capabilities with simplicity.
15. GoAccess
GoAccess is a completely open source real time web log analyzer useful for analytics.
Key features:
- Fast log and analytics analysis
- Minimal memory and resource usage
- Real-time website traffic visualization
- Works with Apache, Nginx, & more
For developers needing an open source analytics solution for log files, GoAccess is quick, efficient tool.
Conclusion
While Mixpanel has been the popular closed source analytics choice, quality open source alternatives for analytics now exist across self hosted, cloud based, mobile, web, and business use cases. Amplitude and PostHog lead for product analytics while Metabase offers open source business intelligence. Indicative, Countly, Panelbear and others provide diverse analytical capabilities. For privacy focused analytics, Fathom and Simple Analytics are great choices. With the breadth of tools now available, developers have many open source analytics options depending on specific needs.
FAQs
What is the best free and open source alternative to Mixpanel?
The best fully open source alternative is PostHog. For a free plan to start, Amplitude provides free access for early stage startups.
Is there an open source alternative to Google Analytics?
Yes, Open Web Analytics (OWA) is an open source alternative to Google Analytics that also includes data warehousing capabilities.
What analytics platform has the most privacy protections?
Fathom Analytics provides strong privacy protections including data minimization, cookie free tracking, and full GDPR compliance making it a great choice.
Which analytics tools are easiest to add to my application?
Amplitude provides straightforward open source SDKs that can be easily added to web, mobile, or other applications needing analytics.
Are there open source tools for analyzing my server logs for analytics?
Yes, GoAccess is an extremely fast, resource efficient, open source analytics tool specifically aimed at parsing server logs for analytical insights into traffic.
