Head-to-Head
Plausible Analytics vs PostHog (2026)
Plausible Analytics
Paid★ 4.7
PostHog
Freemium★ 4.5
Plausible vs PostHog covers two of the most popular privacy-respecting analytics alternatives for companies that want to move beyond Google Analytics. Plausible is deliberately simple: web traffic, referrers, and top pages in one clean dashboard with no cookies and minimal script weight. PostHog is comprehensive: product analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, and surveys - all open-source and self-hostable. Plausible is the right choice for content sites and marketing teams who want honest traffic data with zero configuration. PostHog is the right choice for product teams who need to understand in-app user behaviour and want a full experimentation platform alongside analytics.
Feature Comparison
Privacy compliance out of the box
Plausible requires no cookies and no consent banner - GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant by design. PostHog can be configured for privacy compliance but requires more deliberate setup.
Script performance impact
Plausible's script is 45x smaller than Google Analytics. PostHog's script is lightweight but larger than Plausible due to its broader feature set.
Product analytics depth
PostHog provides full funnel analysis, retention cohorts, user paths, and session replay for in-app behaviour. Plausible is page-level web traffic only.
Feature flags and A/B testing
PostHog has built-in feature flags and experimentation. Plausible has no feature flag or A/B testing capability.
Self-hosting option
Both can be self-hosted. PostHog's self-hosted version has no event limits and is the most capable open-source analytics suite available. Plausible's self-hosted version is simpler but fully functional.
Ease of setup
Plausible is the fastest analytics setup available - one script tag and you are done. PostHog requires SDK integration for product analytics beyond basic pageviews.
Pricing for web-only use
PostHog cloud is free for up to 1 million events/month - covers most content sites at no cost. Plausible starts at $9/month with no free tier.
Verdict
This comparison is context-dependent. Plausible Analytics scores 25/35 and PostHog scores 31/35. Choose based on your specific workflow needs.
Bottom Line
Plausible and PostHog occupy adjacent niches with very different scopes. Plausible is the privacy-first, lightweight web analytics tool: simple dashboards, no cookies, GDPR-friendly, and a one-page setup. PostHog is the full product analytics suite: events, funnels, retention, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, and a broader product-led growth toolkit. Plausible costs $9-69/mo by traffic. PostHog has a generous free tier (1M events, 5K replays free) then usage-based pricing that climbs at scale. Pick Plausible if you want privacy-friendly page analytics for a marketing site or blog. Pick PostHog if you are a SaaS product team that needs funnels, replay, and feature flags in one tool.
Pick Plausible Analytics
You run a marketing site, blog, or content business and want privacy-friendly analytics without cookie banners. Plausible is dead-simple to set up, the dashboard is shareable, and the GDPR story is clean. Best for indie creators, content businesses, and any team that values privacy posture.
Pick PostHog
You build a product and need product-led growth tooling: events, funnels, retention curves, session replay, feature flags, A/B tests. PostHog single dashboard is what most SaaS teams replace Mixpanel, FullStory, LaunchDarkly, and Optimizely with. Best for SaaS product teams of any size.
Frequently asked
Can Plausible do funnels and retention?
No, not in any meaningful way. Plausible is page-level analytics and does not track user-level events for funnel or cohort analysis. For product analytics, you need PostHog, Mixpanel, or Amplitude.
Does PostHog work for marketing sites?
It can but is overkill. PostHog will track marketing-site events fine, but the simple page-views story is cleaner in Plausible and you avoid the privacy footprint of session replay on a marketing site.
Which is more privacy-friendly?
Plausible, by a clear margin. No cookies, IP-anonymised, GDPR-by-default, and small data footprint. PostHog can be configured for privacy compliance but is not privacy-first by design.
Is PostHog free tier really enough?
For most early-stage SaaS, yes. PostHog free tier covers 1M events and 5K session replays per month, which is enough for products under a few thousand active users. The economics get tight after that and the bill scales with growth.