Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PostHog VS Matomo

Compare PostHog VS Matomo and see what are their differences

PostHog logo PostHog

An open source suite of product and data tools including product analytics, feature flags, session replay, A/B testing, surveys, and more.

Matomo logo Matomo

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform
  • PostHog Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-07-05

For developers just starting out, PostHog is a free way to understand how your product is being used, without having to send any data to 3rd parties.

For enterprise customers, one data security becomes a key concern, or B2C businesses where using a SaaS solution is unaffordable, it's typical to see teams hosting an event capture platform, a data lake, and sophisticated analytics tools. The end result is that data scientists are needed and most developers don't have easy access to product intel. PostHog solves that gap - it lets everyone understand how your product is being used, without having to send data to 3rd parties, even once you have scaled to millions of visitors.

It has a JS snippet that can autocapture events, and pre-built libraries to push backend data to. Build up full user histories, visualize product trends, funnels, and run experiments with new features.

  • Matomo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-23

PostHog features and specs

  • Self-Hosting Option
    PostHog can be self-hosted, allowing you to maintain control over your data and ensuring compliance with strict data privacy regulations.
  • Complete Analytics Suite
    Provides a complete suite of product analytics tools including feature flags, session recordings, and heatmaps, enabling comprehensive user behavior analysis.
  • Open-Source
    Being open-source, PostHog allows for high customizability and the potential to contribute to the codebase, fostering a community-driven development approach.
  • Privacy-Focused
    Designed with privacy in mind, PostHog globally complies with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy laws, reducing the risk of legal complications.
  • Event-Driven Architecture
    Its event-driven architecture provides high flexibility in tracking custom events, allowing for more detailed and tailored analytics.
  • Integrations
    PostHog integrates with a variety of tools and services such as Slack, GitHub, and Zapier, streamlining workflows and enhancing productivity.

Matomo features and specs

  • Open Source
    Matomo is an open-source platform, allowing for customization and transparency in how data is collected and processed.
  • Data Ownership
    Users have full ownership of their data, ensuring that no third-party entities have access to sensitive information.
  • Privacy Compliance
    Matomo is designed with privacy in mind, making it easier to comply with GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection regulations.
  • Self-Hosting Option
    Matomo can be self-hosted, giving users complete control over their data security and server environment.
  • Feature-Rich
    The platform offers a wide range of features, including A/B testing, heatmaps, session recording, and more.
  • Community Support
    A large community of users and developers contributes plugins, improvements, and support, enriching the ecosystem.

Possible disadvantages of Matomo

  • Complex Setup
    The initial setup, especially for self-hosted versions, can be complex and time-consuming, requiring technical expertise.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Matomo, particularly its self-hosted version, can be resource-intensive, requiring significant server capabilities.
  • Cost for Advanced Features
    While the basic version is free, advanced features and cloud hosting come at a cost, which might be expensive for small businesses.
  • Limited Integrations
    Matomo offers fewer integrations with other marketing and analytics tools compared to some other platforms like Google Analytics.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may find the interface and advanced features challenging to learn and navigate initially.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report performance issues, particularly with large volumes of data or on less powerful servers.

Analysis of PostHog

Overall verdict

  • Yes, PostHog is a robust and versatile analytics tool. Its open-source nature, coupled with a rich feature set comparable to major analytics platforms, makes it an excellent choice for teams looking for an in-depth and customizable analytics solution.

Why this product is good

  • PostHog is a full-featured analytics platform that provides powerful tools for product teams to understand user behavior without sending data to third parties. It offers features such as event tracking, session recording, feature flags, and heatmaps, making it a comprehensive solution for product analytics. The platform is open-source, allowing for customization and self-hosting, which is a significant advantage for teams with specific needs or concerns about data privacy.

Recommended for

    PostHog is particularly well-suited for product teams, developers, and startups that require deep insights into user interactions and need the flexibility of a self-hosted solution. It is also a good fit for organizations that prioritize data privacy and want to maintain full control over their data.

Analysis of Matomo

Overall verdict

  • Matomo is a good choice for those who prioritize data privacy and require a comprehensive analytics tool that can be self-hosted. It's especially suitable for organizations hesitant about sharing data with third-party services and for those looking for customizable and transparent analytics solutions.

Why this product is good

  • Matomo is a popular open-source web analytics platform that provides in-depth insights into website traffic, user behavior, conversion rates, and more. It's considered a robust alternative to Google Analytics, with a focus on data privacy, as users can host the platform on their own servers or use Matomo's cloud-based service. Matomo offers features such as heatmaps, session recordings, goal tracking, and more, which can be particularly valuable for businesses looking to gain a detailed understanding of their website performance while maintaining control over their data.

Recommended for

  • Privacy-conscious businesses
  • Web developers
  • Data analysts
  • E-commerce sites
  • Organizations with in-house IT capabilities
  • Government and educational institutions
  • Non-profits looking for cost-effective solutions

PostHog videos

PostHog Walk Through

More videos:

  • Review - Open Source Product Analytics With PostHog

Matomo videos

WP-Matomo (WP-Piwik) Review: Open Source Analytics For WordPress

More videos:

  • Review - Matomo Analytics - Dashboards
  • Review - AMU WEBD122 - Spohnholtz Piwik Analytics Review
  • Review - What are the differences between Matomo Analytics and Google Analytics
  • Review - Matomo On-Premise installation overview

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PostHog and Matomo)
Analytics
26 26%
74% 74
Web Analytics
25 25%
75% 75
Marketing Analytics
100 100%
0% 0
Privacy
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using PostHog and Matomo. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PostHog and Matomo

PostHog Reviews

The best Hotjar alternatives & competitors, compared
According to BuiltWith, as of February 2024, PostHog is used on 5,169 (0.52%) of the top 1 million websites. Hotjar is used by 72,048 of the top 1 million websites. Typical PostHog users are engineers and product managers at startups and mid-size companies, such as Webshare, AssemblyAI, and Purplewave.
Source: posthog.com
The 8 best free and open-source feature flag services
BlogBackSign inBlogThe 8 best free and open-source feature flag servicesPosted byThe best open-source feature flag tools1. PostHogWhat is PostHog?Supported librariesHow much does it cost?2. UnleashWhat is Unleash?Supported SDKsHow much does it cost?3. GrowthBookWhat is GrowthBook?Supported SDKsHow much does it cost?4. FlagsmithWhat is Flagsmith?Supported SDKsHow much does it...
Source: posthog.com

Matomo Reviews

Top 5 Plausible Analytics Alternatives in 2024
With advanced web analytics Matomo Analytics also provides eCommerce analytics capabilities.
Source: www.putler.com
Top 9 Plausible Analytics alternatives in 2024
Matomo, one of the best Plausible analytics alternatives, an open-source analytics platform, prioritizes data ownership and customization. It allows users to host analytics on their servers, ensuring complete control over collected data.
Source: usermaven.com
Top 5 Self-Hosted, Open Source Alternatives to Google Analytics
Use Case Example: A healthcare website uses Matomo to securely track user interactions while maintaining strict compliance with health data privacy regulations.
Source: zeabur.com
Unleashing Alternatives: 15 Advanced Tools for Web Analytics Just Like Google Analytics(Brief and Crisp)
Piwik PRO offers similar if not same benefits as mentioned above and makret themselves a tool for โ€œTechnical Marketersโ€. If you did not know then let me tell you that Matomo and Piwik PRO both these products emerged from the humble beginnings of the Piwik project but have since charted a slightly different paths.
Unleashing Alternatives: 15 Advanced Tools for Web Analytics Just Like Google Analytics(Brief and Crisp)
Piwik PRO offers similar if not same benefits as mentioned above and makret themselves a tool for โ€œTechnical Marketersโ€. If you did not know then let me tell you that Matomo and Piwik PRO both these products emerged from the humble beginnings of the Piwik project but have since charted a slightly different paths.
Source: medium.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Matomo might be a bit more popular than PostHog. We know about 86 links to it since March 2021 and only 62 links to PostHog. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PostHog mentions (62)

  • MCP Builder Breakfast: Toast and Tools
    Yesterday, we hosted an MCP Builder Breakfast with PostHog at our office โ€” a space where developers can connect and exchange ideas on the latest trends in MCP development. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Smarter Apps with PostHog: Feature Flags & Analytics
    This is why I've been so impressed with PostHog. Itโ€™s a platform built for product engineers that combines analytics, feature flags, and session replay into a single, cohesive solution. For a Django developer, this means you can spend less time integrating tools and more time building what matters, backed by real data. - Source: dev.to / 22 days ago
  • How Iโ€™d scale a side project to 1 million users (without melting my server)
    PostHog analytics you can self-host (great for privacy). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • AI: Introduction to Ollama for local LLM launch
    For monitoring, there are separate full-fledged monitoring solutions like Opik, PostHog, Langfuse or OpenLLMetry, maybe will try some next time. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Posthog/.cursorrules
    I'm unable to see their website https://posthog.com Is it just me? - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
View more

Matomo mentions (86)

  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Another case involves a duo launching an eco-friendly e-commerce website. Using WordPress paired with WooCommerce, they built a fully featured site with a sustainable operational model. Enhanced analytics from Matomo brought data-driven insights and growth strategies to life. This project highlights the benefits of cost-effective, community-driven solutions in the competitive e-commerce landscape. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • 10 of the Best Web Analytics Tools for React Websites
    As an open-source cloud and on-premise tool, Matomo gives users complete control over their data, allowing them to host it on their servers and comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Analytical tools like Matomo provide critical insights into user behavior and site performance. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Show HN: Vince โ€“ A self hosted alternative to Google Analytics
    Matomo is another oneโ€ฆ https://matomo.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • ๐Ÿ”ฅMatomo 5 UPGRADE - A step-by-step GUIDE ๐ŸคŒ
    Matomo just released their major v5 upgrade with following key improvements:. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PostHog and Matomo, you can also consider the following products

Plausible.io - Plausible Analytics is a simple, open-source, lightweight (< 1 KB) and privacy-friendly web analytics alternative to Google Analytics. Made and hosted in the EU, powered by European-owned cloud infrastructure ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ

Google Analytics - Improve your website to increase conversions, improve the user experience, and make more money using Google Analytics. Measure, understand and quantify engagement on your site with customized and in-depth reports.

Mixpanel - Mixpanel is the most advanced analytics platform in the world for mobile & web.

Fathom Analytics - Simple, trustworthy website analytics (finally)

Glass Analytics - Google Analytics alternative that shows you exactly how visitors become customers.

Open Web Analytics - Open Web Analytics - Web Analytics โ€“ Open Source Web Analytics Framework