PostHog vs Mixpanel vs Amplitude Pricing 2026: Cost Compared

PostHog, Mixpanel, and Amplitude are the three product-analytics tools a micro-SaaS founder weighs most, and the comparison is unusual: at small scale they are all free, so the question is less "which is cheapest now" and more "which billing unit scales in my favor." This article anchors on the free tiers that cover most small products, works the event-versus-MTU split that decides cost past the free tier, shows where analytics actually sits in a real stack, and ends with decision guidance.

1. The free tiers most micro-SaaS never exceed

Free-tier allowances verified against each vendor's pricing page as of May 25, 2026:

Tool	Free allowance	Billing unit	Bundled on free
PostHog[1]	1M events/mo	Per event	Session replay (5K), flags (1M req), surveys
Mixpanel[2]	1M events/mo	Per event	Core funnels, retention
Amplitude[3]	10K MTUs / up to 2M events	Per MTU	Core product analytics

The structural point: 1M events a month, or 10,000 monthly tracked users, is more than most micro-SaaS products generate. For a product with a few hundred to a few thousand users, all three are realistically free, and the choice is about features and the billing unit you will eventually scale into, not today's bill. PostHog bundles the most into its free tier (replay, flags, surveys on the same allowance); Mixpanel's draw is mature funnel and retention reporting; Amplitude's free tier is MTU-denominated, which matters once you grow.

2. The split that matters: events vs MTUs

The real divergence is the denominator. PostHog and Mixpanel bill per tracked event; Amplitude bills per monthly tracked user. These scale on different things:

• Per event (PostHog, Mixpanel): cost grows with instrumentation chattiness. A product that fires many custom events per session — deep funnels, granular tracking — burns through an event allowance fast even with few users.
• Per MTU (Amplitude): cost grows with active-user count, not event volume. A heavily-instrumented product with a modest user base pays for the users, not the events, which can be far cheaper.

The consequence is that the cheapest tool is not fixed — it depends on your events-per-user ratio. A high ratio (lots of events, few users) tilts toward Amplitude's MTU model; a low ratio (many users, few events each) tilts toward per-event tools. This is why a headline rate comparison misleads, and why the right move is to estimate your monthly events and your monthly tracked users separately, then price each model.

3. Where the paid rates land

Past the free tier, the published rates:

Tool	Paid model	Rate
PostHog[1]	Usage-based, scales down with volume	~$0.00005/event at first paid band
Mixpanel[2]	Growth: 1M events free, then per-event	$0.28 per 1,000 events
Amplitude[3]	Plus from $49/mo (annual), then per-MTU	~$0.049 per MTU, up to 300K MTUs

On a like-for-like event basis, PostHog's per-event rate scales down as volume grows, while Mixpanel's Growth plan is a flat $0.28 per 1,000 events above the 1M free. Amplitude's $49/month Plus floor buys an MTU allowance rather than events, so a direct rate comparison only makes sense once you convert your usage into both denominators. Growth and Enterprise tiers on Mixpanel and Amplitude are custom-priced and add experimentation and advanced features; PostHog stays usage-based with a paid plan unlocking more projects and longer retention.

4. Where analytics sits in a real stack

For a micro-SaaS, the more useful question than "which analytics tool is cheapest" is usually "where does my real cost actually go" — because analytics is typically free at this scale. The AI Stack Cost Calculator projects the whole stack across user-growth tiers and names the dominant driver, so you can see whether analytics is even worth optimizing yet. The run below prices a representative early solo stack:

The engine returns the per-tier breakdown and flags the dominant driver. The read for the analytics decision: at the user counts where PostHog, Mixpanel, and Amplitude are all free, analytics contributes nothing to the bill, and the AI API and hosting dominate. So choose analytics on fit and billing unit, not on a cost you are not yet paying — and revisit only when you approach a free-tier ceiling. The full cross-tool roundup is in best analytics tools for micro-SaaS.

5. Decision guidance

• Want one free tool covering analytics, replay, and flags: PostHog (most bundled into the 1M-events free tier).
• Want mature funnels and retention reporting: Mixpanel (1M events free, $0.28/1K after).
• Heavily-instrumented app, modest user base: Amplitude (MTU pricing does not bill the heavy per-user events).
• Many users firing few events each: a per-event tool (PostHog or Mixpanel) tends to be cheaper at scale.

Re-verify each vendor's pricing page before committing; usage-based analytics rates and free-tier limits change. The decision that matters is the billing unit you will scale into, so estimate both your monthly events and your monthly tracked users before choosing.

All pricing figures verified against official pricing pages as of 2026-05-25.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheapest for product analytics in 2026: PostHog, Mixpanel, or Amplitude?

At micro-SaaS scale they are usually all free. PostHog and Mixpanel each include 1M events a month at no cost, and Amplitude's free Starter tier covers 10,000 monthly tracked users or up to 2M events. Most small products never exceed those allowances, so the realistic cost on any of the three is often zero. Past the free tiers the answer depends on your billing unit: PostHog and Mixpanel bill per event (PostHog usage-based from about $0.00005/event, Mixpanel $0.28 per 1,000 events on Growth), while Amplitude bills per monthly tracked user at about $0.049/MTU. The cheapest tool flips depending on whether your app fires many events per user or has many users firing few events each. All figures verified on each vendor's pricing page as of May 2026.

What is the difference between event-based and MTU-based analytics pricing?

Event-based pricing (PostHog, Mixpanel) charges per tracked event — every click, pageview, or custom action you instrument. Cost grows with how chatty your instrumentation is, so a heavily-instrumented app firing many events per user gets expensive fast. MTU-based pricing (Amplitude) charges per monthly tracked user regardless of how many events each user fires, so cost grows with active-user count rather than event volume. The practical effect: a product with a modest user base but heavy per-user instrumentation tends to be cheaper on Amplitude's MTU model, while a product with many users firing few events each tends to be cheaper on a per-event tool. Model both against your real events-per-user before committing.

Does PostHog or Mixpanel have the better free tier?

Both give 1M product-analytics events a month free, so on the headline event allowance they tie. The difference is what else the free tier bundles. PostHog's free tier includes session replay (5,000 recordings), feature flags (1M requests), surveys, and more on the same allowance, which makes it more of an all-in-one free product suite. Mixpanel's free plan focuses on core product analytics with mature funnel and retention reporting. If you want one free tool that covers analytics plus replay and flags, PostHog bundles more; if you want polished funnels and retention specifically, Mixpanel's reporting is the draw. Both are genuinely free at 1M events, which most micro-SaaS products stay under.