Medama vs PostHog
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Medama
Privacy-focused website analytics with no cookies
VS
PostHog
Open-source product analytics platform
| Feature | Medama | PostHog |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 74 · Good | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 645 | ★ 39,909 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude |
What are Medama and PostHog?
Medama
Medama is a lightweight, privacy-focused website analytics tool that operates without cookies and complies with privacy regulations. It is designed to be fast and simple to self-host.
- Cookieless tracking
- SQLite storage
- Lightweight script
- Privacy compliant
PostHog
PostHog is an open-source product analytics platform with event tracking, session replay, feature flags, and A/B testing. It targets product teams wanting an all-in-one analytics suite. It is deployed via Docker or Kubernetes.
- Product analytics and funnels
- Session replay
- Feature flags and experiments
- Self-hostable all-in-one
Medama vs PostHog: key differences
Medama is written in Go, while PostHog is built with Python. Medama is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for PostHog. PostHog is the more established project (first released 2020), while Medama arrived in 2024. PostHog has the considerably larger community, at 39,909 GitHub stars versus 645.
Why pick each one
Choose Medama if…
- Easy single-binary deploy
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- Newer project
- Smaller feature set
Choose PostHog if…
- Comprehensive product suite
- Session replay included
- Open-core model
Watch out for
- Heavy to self-host
- Self-host edition is scaled down
Frequently asked questions
Is Medama or PostHog better?
Neither is universally better. PostHog has the larger community, while Medama is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Medama and PostHog free and open-source?
Yes. Medama is licensed under MIT and PostHog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Medama and PostHog with Docker?
Medama: yes. PostHog: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Medama or PostHog?
Medama has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for PostHog. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.