Why PostHog Is the Smarter Alternative to Google Analytics and Mixpanel

Your website gets traffic. People click around. Some buy, most don't. But why? Google Analytics tells you that people left. PostHog tells you why.

That distinction matters more than you think.

The Problem with Traditional Analytics

Google Analytics is like a security camera that only records headcounts. You know 500 people walked into your store today. You know 12 bought something. But you have no idea what the other 488 did before leaving.

Mixpanel and Amplitude promised to solve this. They track user behavior, show you funnels, let you segment users. The catch? Enterprise pricing that starts around $1,000/month and scales with your data volume. For a growing business, that bill can quickly become your largest software expense.

What PostHog Actually Does

PostHog is product analytics that you can self-host. It tracks what users do inside your application or website, not just page views.

Here's what that means in practice:

Session Replays: Watch recordings of real user sessions. See exactly where someone gets confused, rage-clicks, or abandons their cart. This alone replaces tools like Hotjar or FullStory.

Event Tracking: Every button click, form submission, and page scroll gets captured. You define which events matter for your business, then build reports around them.

Funnel Analysis: See where users drop off in your signup flow, checkout process, or onboarding sequence. Identify the exact step that loses customers.

Feature Flags: Roll out new features to 10% of users first. If something breaks, disable it instantly. No deployment required.

A/B Testing: Test two versions of your landing page and see which converts better. Real data, not opinions.

Real Business Use Cases

E-commerce Store: Track the journey from landing page to purchase. Discover that 60% of users abandon their cart on the shipping page. Watch session replays to see they're confused by delivery options. Fix the UX, increase conversions by 15%.

SaaS Application: Identify that users who complete onboarding within 24 hours have 3x better retention. Set up automated emails for users who stall at step 3.

Content Platform: See which articles lead to subscriptions vs which lead to bounces. Double down on content that converts.

The Cost Comparison

Let's break down what you'd actually pay:

The self-hosted option is where things get interesting. For around $29/month on a 4-core server with Elestio, you get unlimited event tracking, session replays, feature flags, and A/B testing. No per-event billing that punishes you for growth.

Why Self-Hosting Makes Sense

Three reasons businesses choose self-hosted PostHog:

Data Ownership: Your analytics data never leaves your servers. For companies handling sensitive user information, or operating in regulated industries, this isn't optional.

GDPR Compliance: When data stays on your infrastructure, compliance becomes simpler. No third-party data processing agreements needed.

Predictable Costs: SaaS analytics tools charge by data volume. Self-hosted means fixed infrastructure costs regardless of how much you track.

What PostHog Won't Tell You

It's not magic. You still need someone who understands what questions to ask. "Why are users leaving?" requires knowing which events to track and how to interpret the data.

The interface takes time to learn. It's more complex than Google Analytics because it does more. Budget a few hours for your team to get comfortable.

And if you're a tiny blog with 100 visitors a month, Google Analytics is probably fine. PostHog shines when you have enough users to spot patterns and enough features to optimize.

Getting Started

The fastest path to trying PostHog:

1. Cloud Version: Sign up at posthog.com, add a JavaScript snippet to your site, and start seeing data within minutes. Free tier includes 1 million events per month.
2. Self-Hosted on Elestio: Deploy a managed PostHog instance on Elestio. You get the full platform with automated updates, backups, and SSL, starting at around $29/month for infrastructure.

The Bottom Line

Google Analytics answers "how many." Mixpanel and Amplitude answer "what happened" but cost a fortune. PostHog answers the same questions at a fraction of the price, with the option to own your data completely.

For growing businesses that want to understand user behavior without signing enterprise contracts, it's the obvious choice.

The question isn't whether you need product analytics. It's whether you want to pay $15,000/year for it or $350/year.

Thanks for reading!