GoatCounter vs PostHog

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureGoatCounterPostHog
CategoryWeb AnalyticsWeb Analytics
LicenseEUPL-1.2MIT
LanguageGoPython
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM128 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerdocker, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 5,864★ 37,548
First released20192020
ReplacesGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude

Why pick each one

Choose GoatCounter if…

  • Extremely easy to run
  • Very lightweight
  • Privacy-friendly
GoatCounter details

Choose PostHog if…

  • Comprehensive product suite
  • Session replay included
  • Open-core model
PostHog details

Frequently asked questions

Is GoatCounter or PostHog better?

Neither is universally better. PostHog has the larger community, while GoatCounter is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are GoatCounter and PostHog free and open-source?

Yes. GoatCounter is licensed under EUPL-1.2 and PostHog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run GoatCounter and PostHog with Docker?

GoatCounter: yes. PostHog: yes.

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