PostHog
Start PostHog with one product question, not every feature
PostHog captures events to show how people use your product. Choose one question, track a few events, and build a single funnel from test data.
Written from the tool's official pages, listed under Official sources at the end of this guide. Check them for current features, limits and terms.
Try it (opens in a new tab)Steps to try
- Write one question you want answered, such as 'Where do people stop between landing and sign-up?'. Skip everything else for now.
- Read the Product analytics docs and the Privacy controls and Identifying users pages before installing anything.
- Decide the three to five events that answer the question, for example page viewed, sign-up started, sign-up completed. Avoid capturing personal details or free-text fields.
- Add the PostHog installation from the Installation docs to a development or staging copy first, with a project key kept in your secret settings. Review the change and test it.
- Generate test activity yourself with synthetic accounts, then build a funnel insight from those events and check the counts match what you did.
- Only after consent handling and the privacy review are in place, consider production. Save the insight to a dashboard and revisit the question.
Limitations
Autocapture and session replay can record more than you intend, so decide what to enable deliberately. Analytics shows behaviour, not reasons; small audiences give noisy results. Event naming needs planning or the data gets messy.
Pricing
PostHog's site advertises a free start and has a pricing page and a 'cutting costs' guide, which suggests usage-based charges. Check the official pricing before capturing volume; we do not state limits.
Privacy and data
Analytics collects data about your visitors, which usually needs a lawful basis and often consent, depending on place and settings. Check privacy controls, identity handling and your own privacy notice before launch. No automatic installation on a live site, and keep personal data out of event properties.
About the sources
Based on the vendor's published documentation, not hands-on testing. Event capture was not tested.
Alternatives
Simple cookieless website statistics may be enough if you only need page views. Other product analytics tools exist; compare how each handles consent and data location.
Official sources
The official pages this guide was written from. Read them for current features, limits and terms.