OpenPanel vs PostHog: which one to choose in 2026?
Both are open source alternatives to Mixpanel, Amplitude. We compare license, tech stack and features to help you decide which fits your team best.
| OpenPanel | PostHog | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| GitHub stars | ~3k | ~24k |
| Tech stack | Next.js, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse | Django, React, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL |
| Replaces | Mixpanel, Amplitude | Mixpanel, Amplitude |
PostHog has more GitHub stars, which usually indicates a larger community (not necessarily that it's the best option for your use case).
OpenPanel
Web + product analytics in a modern dashboard, an alternative to Mixpanel.
ℹ️ This single-container docker-compose doesn't match OpenPanel's real deployment: the ghcr.io/openpanel-dev/openpanel image isn't publicly pullable. The real project is 3 independent services (dashboard, api, worker — see lindesvard/openpanel-* on Docker Hub). We aren't rewriting that topology here without being able to verify each environment variable — check OpenPanel's official self-hosting docs.
Pros
- Combines web and product analytics in a single tool
Things to consider
- Young project, still small community
- This catalog's docker-compose isn't deployable as-is (see note above) — the real deployment is 3 independent services
PostHog
Product analytics + feature flags + A/B testing, all in one.
Pros
- Replaces several SaaS tools at once
Things to consider
- Large-scale self-hosted deployment needs more pieces (ClickHouse, Kafka)
Key features
OpenPanel
- Product events and funnels
- Unified user profiles
- Modern, fast dashboard
PostHog
- Session replay and heatmaps
- Feature flags and A/B experiments
- Funnels, retention and cohorts
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