PostHog
Product analytics, feature flags, replay, experiments, and surveys.
Best for
- Product analytics
- Feature flags
- Session replay
Not good for
- Teams that only need simple privacy-first aggregate metrics
Pros and cons
Pros
- Combines analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, and surveys in one account, which reduces the number of tools to run.
- Usage-based pricing with no base fee and large free allowances, so a small app can use several products for free (checked July 19, 2026).
- Open source, with EU hosting and data-collection controls that help privacy-sensitive apps.
- One SDK and dashboard, so adopting a second product is incremental rather than a new integration.
Cons
- The breadth is wasted if you only need simple event counts; a focused tool is simpler.
- Getting value depends on maintaining a clean, consistent event taxonomy.
- Usage-based pricing can become hard to predict as a high-traffic app grows across several products.
- Session replay adds data-collection and privacy considerations you must configure.
PostHog is an open-source product analytics platform that bundles event analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, and surveys into one tool. For a solo mobile developer, the appeal is getting most of a product-analytics stack from a single account, with a large free tier, instead of stitching together separate services.
It fits builders who want to understand behavior in the app, such as funnels, retention, and where users drop off, and who like the idea of running feature flags and A/B tests from the same place. If all you need is lightweight, privacy-first counts, a smaller tool such as TelemetryDeck is a simpler fit; PostHog is a larger platform that rewards actually using its breadth.
Pricing
PostHog uses usage-based pricing with no platform or base fee: each product has a monthly free allowance, and you pay per unit only above it, with the per-unit rate dropping at higher volume.
PostHog free monthly allowances (checked July 19, 2026)
| Product | Free each month | Above the free tier |
|---|---|---|
| Product analytics | 1,000,000 events | Usage-based per event, cheaper at volume |
| Session replay | 5,000 web and 2,500 mobile recordings | Usage-based per recording |
| Feature flags | 1,000,000 requests | Usage-based per request |
| Error tracking | 100,000 exceptions | Usage-based per exception |
| Surveys | 1,500 responses | Usage-based per response |
Because there is no base fee, a small app can use several products entirely inside the free tiers. A paid account adds more projects, longer data retention, and email support. Pricing last checked July 19, 2026; confirm current allowances and rates on the official pricing page.
Setup and integration
PostHog provides SDKs for iOS in Swift, plus Android, React Native, Flutter, and the web, along with a REST API. On iOS you add the posthog-ios package through Swift Package Manager, initialize it with your project API key, and start sending events; autocapture and screen tracking reduce how much you instrument by hand.
The work is mostly deciding what to track. A clean, consistent event taxonomy is what makes the funnels, retention, and replays useful later, so it is worth planning event names before you scatter them through the app. Session replay and feature flags each need their own setup steps, but they share the same SDK and dashboard, so adopting a second product is incremental rather than a fresh integration.
Frequently asked questions
Is PostHog really free?
For many small apps, yes. PostHog has no base fee and gives each product a monthly free allowance, such as 1,000,000 analytics events and 5,000 web session replays (checked July 19, 2026). You pay only for usage above those allowances, so a low-traffic app can stay free while using several products.
Is PostHog a good fit for a privacy-first app?
It can be. PostHog is open source and offers EU hosting and options to reduce data collection, which helps for privacy-sensitive apps. If you want the simplest privacy-first analytics with minimal setup, TelemetryDeck is narrower and easier; PostHog trades some simplicity for far more capability.
How is PostHog different from Mixpanel or Amplitude?
Mixpanel and Amplitude focus on event analytics. PostHog covers analytics too but adds session replay, feature flags, experiments, and surveys in one platform, and it is open source. If you only want funnels and retention, the focused tools are simpler; if you want the wider toolkit from one account, PostHog consolidates it.
Do I need a separate feature-flag tool with PostHog?
Usually not. Feature flags and experiments are built into PostHog and share its SDK, with a large free request allowance (checked July 19, 2026). For most indie apps that removes the need for a separate flagging service.