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Mixpanel

Partly replaceablefree (paid options)editor verdict · 0 votes

Product analytics: tracking events, funnels, retention and session replays. Free plan with up to 1 million events a month and unlimited seats; the Growth plan is billed by usage.

For a site or a small product, measuring visits and a few key events does not need Mixpanel: Umami, free software, gives you pages, referrers and custom events without cookies. The free plan already covers 1 million events a month, so replacing it is mainly worth it for privacy or to stay in control of the data. What you lose: funnel and retention analysis, cohorts, session replays and the speed of a managed analysis tool.

What you lose

  • Funnel, retention and cohort analysis
  • Session replays
  • A managed service with no server to maintain
  • Advanced segmentation and reports

Existing alternatives to Mixpanel

  • UmamiOpen source

    Privacy-friendly web analytics, self-hostable (MIT): pages, referrers, custom events, no cookies.

  • MatomoOpen source

    Full self-hostable web analytics (GPL-3.0), an alternative to Google Analytics.

  • Lightweight cookie-free web analytics (AGPL), self-hostable version.

See all 3 alternatives

The prompt to build it yourself

Set up self-hosted web analytics to replace Mixpanel for my site.

Do not build an analytics tool: deploy Umami.

To do:
- A docker-compose.yml with Umami and PostgreSQL, volumes in ./data, automatic restart.
- Caddy in front, automatic HTTPS on a subdomain that I will give you.
- The tracking snippet added to my site, loaded asynchronously, with custom events for the 3 actions that I list (sign-up, purchase, download).
- Registration closed after my account is created.
- A nightly encrypted backup of the database, copied off the server, with restore.sh and a restore test.

Out of scope: funnels, cohorts, session replays.

README: launch, adding a site, adding an event, update, restore, and a reminder of what I no longer measure.

Frequently asked questions

Can Mixpanel be replaced by a custom-built tool?
casevibecode verdict: Partly replaceable. For a site or a small product, measuring visits and a few key events does not need Mixpanel: Umami, free software, gives you pages, referrers and custom events without cookies. The free plan already covers 1 million events a month, so replacing it is mainly worth it for privacy or to stay in control of the data. What you lose: funnel and retention analysis, cohorts, session replays and the speed of a managed analysis tool.
What is Mixpanel used for?
Product analytics: tracking events, funnels, retention and session replays. Free plan with up to 1 million events a month and unlimited seats; the Growth plan is billed by usage.
What alternatives to Mixpanel already exist?
Umami (open source), Matomo (open source), Plausible Community Edition (open source). Options to compare before committing to a custom build.

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