OpenPanel is an open-source alternative to Mixpanel and Google Analytics that combines advanced product analytics—like session replay, funnels, and cohort analysis—with privacy-first, cookieless tracking. Designed for developers and product teams, it offers full data ownership through self-hosting while maintaining the ease of use of Plausible. It’s trusted by over 1,000 projects seeking transparent, no-limit analytics without vendor lock-in.
Built with Next.js, Fastify, ClickHouse, and Postgres, OpenPanel supports web, mobile (iOS/Android), and server-side tracking via comprehensive SDKs. It includes real-time dashboards, A/B testing, revenue tracking, and SEO integration, all deployable via Docker or hosted on OpenPanel’s free tier with EU-based infrastructure and GDPR compliance.
What You Get
- 🔍 Advanced Analytics - Track funnels, cohorts, and user profiles with detailed session history to understand user behavior end-to-end.
- 🎬 Session Replay - Record and replay user sessions with built-in privacy controls to see clicks, scrolls, and rage clicks without compromising data.
- 📊 Real-time Dashboards - Live-updating charts and visualizations that reflect events as they happen, with no data sampling or delays.
- 🎯 A/B Testing - Run and analyze A/B tests with variant breakdowns by conversion rate, device, country, or referrer.
- 🔔 Smart Notifications - Receive alerts via email when key events or funnels are completed, such as signups or revenue milestones.
- 🌍 Privacy-First Tracking - Cookieless tracking by default, GDPR-compliant data handling, and no data transfers to US-based servers.
- 🚀 Developer-Friendly SDKs - Official SDKs for Web, Swift (iOS), Kotlin (Android), and React Native with full API access for custom integrations.
- 📦 Self-Hosted Option - Deploy OpenPanel on your own infrastructure using Docker and Docker Compose with full control over data and infrastructure.
- 💸 Transparent Pricing - No usage limits, no hidden fees, and a free tier with all core features—no credit card required to start.
- 🛠️ Custom Dashboards - Build interactive visualizations including line charts, bar charts, and Sankey flows by combining any event or metric.
Common Use Cases
- Running a SaaS with user retention tracking - A startup uses OpenPanel to monitor Day 1, Day 7, and Day 30 retention rates and identify which user actions predict long-term engagement.
- Complying with GDPR while tracking product usage - A European company replaces Google Analytics with OpenPanel to avoid data transfers to the US and maintain full compliance with cookieless tracking.
- Optimizing conversion funnels for a paid product - A product team analyzes signup funnels, identifies drop-off points, and uses session replays to diagnose UX issues without third-party tools.
- Tracking revenue from SEO and referrals - An e-commerce brand connects Google Search Console data with revenue events to see which keywords drive the most conversions and MRR.
Under The Hood
Architecture
- Monorepo structure with clearly defined packages (auth, db, common, geo, integrations) and apps (api, admin) enforcing modularity and scoped dependencies
- Prisma ORM centralizes database interactions with generated types and automated migration workflows
- Dependency injection via workspace-relative imports reduces coupling between services
- Next.js frontend and Fastify API follow distinct concerns, with API handling HTTP routing, rate limiting, and WebSocket via plugins
- Multi-database architecture isolates PostgreSQL for transactional data, ClickHouse for analytics, and Redis for caching, each with dedicated Docker services and initialization scripts
- Comprehensive tooling enforces consistency through pre-push hooks and automated validation
Tech Stack
- Next.js 14 with React 19 and TypeScript for frontend and API layers, leveraging server components and API routes
- Prisma ORM paired with PostgreSQL as the primary database, supplemented by ClickHouse for analytical workloads and Redis for caching and session storage
- Monorepo managed with pnpm, using Biome for linting, formatting, and import organization across all packages
- Fastify framework enhanced with plugins for CORS, rate limiting, and WebSocket support
- Vitest for unit testing and Ultracite for code quality enforcement, integrated into the development workflow
- Docker Compose orchestrates a production-grade multi-service environment with tuned configurations for performance and persistence
Code Quality
- Extensive test coverage across core modules with unit and integration tests validating edge cases and side effects
- Strong type safety enforced through comprehensive TypeScript interfaces and precise type annotations
- Clear separation of concerns with modular packages for data processing, buffering, and external integrations
- Robust JS runtime sandboxing blocks dangerous operations to ensure secure execution
- Consistent naming, structured error handling, and meaningful mocks improve readability and maintainability
- Test assertions validate structural properties, regex patterns, and behavioral side effects beyond simple output values
What Makes It Unique
- Native ClickHouse integration enables real-time user behavior analytics with low-latency aggregation, eliminating reliance on external services
- Custom Trpc-based API layer provides auto-generated TypeScript clients and server-side validation, removing REST boilerplate while preserving type safety
- Unified profile system correlates behavioral, identity, and payment data into a single queryable model, breaking down data silos
- Extensible UI components built on Radix UI abstract complex table logic into reusable, type-safe utilities
- Project-scoped routing automatically injects context into all routes, removing manual URL parameter handling
- Embedded email rendering engine supports dynamic, profile-driven content blocks without external ESP dependencies