How to self-host your Mixpanel alternative
Self-hosted product analytics has two decision axes that a plain "Mixpanel alternatives" search doesn't resolve: do you need analytics only, or a broader product platform? And, operationally, which database engine are you willing to maintain?
Tools that meet this intent
Alternative to Mixpanel, Amplitude
Product analytics + feature flags + A/B testing, all in one.
Alternative to Mixpanel
Web and mobile product analytics, an alternative to Mixpanel.
Alternative to Mixpanel, Amplitude
Web + product analytics in a modern dashboard, an alternative to Mixpanel.
Real server requirements
Between 1GB and 2GB of RAM depending on the tool — never a single number.
PostHog goes beyond pure analytics — the project itself describes it as product analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing and surveys in one platform, on PostgreSQL + ClickHouse. OpenPanel combines web and product analytics in a simpler dashboard, also on PostgreSQL + ClickHouse, though it's a considerably younger project with a still-small community. Countly uses a completely different engine — MongoDB instead of PostgreSQL/ClickHouse — and has the strongest native mobile-SDK support in the group.
The choice of data engine isn't just technical: running a ClickHouse (PostHog, OpenPanel) involves a different kind of backup and expertise than running a MongoDB (Countly) — neither is better in the abstract, they're different operations depending on what your team already knows how to run. On licensing: PostHog and Countly are Open-Core — Countly's own listing states its community edition has fewer features than the paid (Enterprise) one, though we can't pin down exactly which ones here without checking its official edition comparison. OpenPanel is the only 100% FOSS one of the 3.
What you gain and lose versus the SaaS
If all you need from Mixpanel is product analytics and nothing else, Countly or OpenPanel cover that without the rest of PostHog's scope. If you also want feature flags and A/B experiments in the same tool, PostHog is the only one that ships them out of the box — but that also means operating a larger platform, not just "analytics with more RAM."