Open Web Analytics vs PostHog
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted web analytics options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
PostHog
Open-source product analytics platform
| Feature | Open Web Analytics | PostHog |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Web Analytics | Web Analytics |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,690 | ★ 39,909 |
| First released | 2008 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Analytics | Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude |
What are Open Web Analytics and PostHog?
Open Web Analytics
Open Web Analytics (OWA) is a long-standing self-hosted web analytics framework that tracks visitors, click streams, and heatmaps. It can be embedded in WordPress and MediaWiki.
- Click stream tracking
- Heatmaps
- WordPress integration
- Visitor profiles
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
Open Web Analytics vs PostHog: key differences
Open Web Analytics is written in PHP, while PostHog is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Open Web Analytics versus MIT for PostHog. Open Web Analytics is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for PostHog. Open Web Analytics is the more established project (first released 2008), while PostHog arrived in 2020. PostHog has the considerably larger community, at 39,909 GitHub stars versus 2,690.
Why pick each one
Choose Open Web Analytics if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
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 Open Web Analytics or PostHog better?
Neither is universally better. PostHog has the larger community, while Open Web Analytics is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Open Web Analytics and PostHog free and open-source?
Yes. Open Web Analytics is licensed under GPL-2.0 and PostHog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Open Web Analytics and PostHog with Docker?
Open Web Analytics: yes. PostHog: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Open Web Analytics or PostHog?
Open Web Analytics has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for PostHog. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.