Best Analytics Tools Compared 2026: Mixpanel vs Amplitude vs Plausible vs PostHog vs Hotjar
Plausible takes the overall top spot (4.2/5) for paid privacy-first pageviews, while Hotjar owns the free tier with 200K sessions/mo — and it is the only one here that watches visitors instead of counting events.
| Tool | Rating | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixpanel Best for teams | 4.1/5 | Free $24/mo | Mixpanel is product analytics built around events and funnels, with a free plan sized for … |
| Amplitude | 4.0/5 | Free Usage-based | Amplitude is enterprise product analytics with behavioral cohorts and path analysis, and a… |
| Plausible Best overall | 4.2/5 | $9/mo | Plausible is lightweight, privacy-first website analytics without cookies and built for co… |
| PostHog Best free | 4.0/5 | Free Usage-based | PostHog is an open-source product analytics suite with session replay, feature flags and s… |
| Hotjar | 3.9/5 | Free $39/mo | Hotjar is the behaviour-analytics layer — heatmaps, session replays, funnels and surveys —… |
Bottom line: Plausible if you just want honest web stats without cookie banners; PostHog for product teams that want analytics, replay, flags and experiments in one free-to-start stack; Mixpanel for deep funnel/cohort work; Amplitude when enterprise-scale product analysis is the budget discussion New to the set: Hotjar (3.9/5) adds the behaviour layer — heatmaps, session replays and surveys at a free 200K sessions/mo, Growth from $39/mo annual — measured in sessions rather than events or pageviews, so it stacks with the others instead of replacing them.
Pricing and details
Mixpanel · 4.1/5
Free plan available · $24/mo
Growth; event-based pricing, first 1M events/mo free then $0.28/1K; annual ~20% off
Mixpanel is product analytics built around events and funnels, with a free plan sized for early teams.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Best dimension: Core features at 5/5 — backed by verification against the official site & pricing.
- Second strong point: Stability at 5/5.
- Pricing: free tier, paid from $24/mo — Growth; event-based pricing, first 1M events/mo free then $0.28/1K; annual ~20% off
- Positioning: Mixpanel is product analytics built around events and funnels, with a free plan sized for early teams.
Cons
- Weakest dimension: Ease of use at 4/5.
- Weigh the learning curve for advanced workflows before committing.
Pricing verified 2026-08-31
Amplitude · 4.0/5
Free plan available · Usage-based
Plus; re-based 2026 to usage billing from $0 (first 2M events/mo free, scales to 70M events/mo); free tier 2M events/mo forever
Amplitude is enterprise product analytics with behavioral cohorts and path analysis, and a capable free version.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Best dimension: Core features at 5/5 — backed by verification against the official site & pricing.
- Second strong point: Stability at 5/5.
- Pricing: free tier, Plus from $0 (usage-based) — Plus; re-based 2026 to usage billing from $0 (first 2M events/mo free, scales to 70M events/mo); free tier 2M events/mo forever
- Positioning: Amplitude is enterprise product analytics with behavioral cohorts and path analysis, and a capable free version.
Cons
- Weakest dimension: Value for money at 3/5.
- Weigh integration depth compared with enterprise suites before committing.
Pricing verified 2026-09-12
Plausible · 4.2/5
30-day free trial · $9/mo
Starter $9/mo (10k pageviews; $14 Growth 100k, $19 Business 1M); yearly = 10x monthly (2 months free); 30-day trial; free self-hosted edition (AGPL)
Plausible is lightweight, privacy-first website analytics without cookies and built for compliance.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Best dimension: Ease of use at 5/5 — backed by verification against the official site & pricing.
- Second strong point: Stability at 5/5.
- Pricing: paid-only, paid from $9/mo — Starter (10k pageviews); yearly = 10x monthly; free self-hosted edition (AGPL)
- Positioning: Plausible is lightweight, privacy-first website analytics without cookies and built for compliance.
Cons
- Weakest dimension: Collaboration at 2/5.
- No free tier — budget teams must plan around the paid entry.
- Weigh collaboration features for larger teams before committing.
Pricing verified 2026-08-31
PostHog · 4.0/5
Free plan available · Usage-based
Usage-based: 1M events/mo free, then $0.00005/event; no seat fees; free tier includes unlimited team members, 1 project, 1-year retention; MIT self-host
PostHog is an open-source product analytics suite with session replay, feature flags and self-hosting.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Best dimension: Core features at 5/5 — backed by verification against the official site & pricing.
- Second strong point: Value for money at 5/5.
- Pricing: free tier, paid from usage-based/custom — Usage-based: 1M events/mo free, then $0.00005/event; no seat fees
- Positioning: PostHog is an open-source product analytics suite with session replay, feature flags and self-hosting.
Cons
- Weakest dimension: Collaboration at 3/5.
- Weigh the premium pricing for heavier usage before committing.
Pricing verified 2026-08-31
Hotjar · 3.9/5
Free plan available · $39/mo
Free: 200,000 sessions/mo, 1 project, replay + heatmaps + funnels + basic surveys (100 responses/mo), MCP/LLM integration; Growth from $39/mo annual ($49 monthly): up to 10M sessions, 3 projects, Sense AI summaries; Plus and Scale are sales-quoted (typical 10x jump from Growth); old per-session tiers ($39 = 100 daily sessions) were restructured under Contentsquare — many 2026 reviews still quote them
Growth from $39/mo (€39) billed annually
Hotjar is the behaviour-analytics layer — heatmaps, session replays, funnels and surveys — now sold and billed by Contentsquare, with the category's largest free session allowance.
Score breakdown
Pros
- Free plan gives 200,000 sessions/mo with replay, heatmaps, funnels and basic surveys (100 responses/mo) — a behaviour suite at $0, not a crippled demo (verified 2026-09-09).
- Qualitative loop rivals cannot match at this price: watch the session, then survey the same visitor (MCP/LLM analysis hook included on free).
- Pricing: Growth from $39/mo billed annually ($49 monthly) covers up to 10M sessions and 3 projects.
- GDPR posture is a named strength across sources: EU DPA paper trail, default field masking, IP anonymization on by default.
Cons
- Under Contentsquare, existing Hotjar orgs auto-switch to Contentsquare Growth unless the account owner opts out — 30 days of dual collection, then Hotjar data deleted after a 90-day read-only window (verified from 2026 reviews).
- Plus and Scale are sales-quoted only, and the step-up from Growth is reported around 10x — the self-serve ladder ends at $39-49.
- Old session-count pricing ($39 = 100 daily sessions) still circulates in 2026 reviews; the Contentsquare restructure invalidated it.
Pricing verified 2026-09-09
Frequently asked questions
How many Analytics tools are compared here?
This page compares 5 Analytics tools, with Plausible as our top-rated pick. Pricing was last re-checked on 2026-09-12.
Which Analytics tool has the best free plan?
PostHog is our free-tier pick among the tools compared.