Openpanel is an open-source alternative to proprietary analytics platforms like Mixpanel and Google Analytics 4, designed for developers and privacy-conscious teams who need deep product insights without vendor lock-in or data leaks. It combines advanced analytics capabilities—such as user profiles, session history, and cohort analysis—with a privacy-first approach that’s cookieless by default and GDPR compliant. Unlike GA4, which faces regulatory challenges in the EU due to data transfers, or Plausible, which lacks user-level tracking, Openpanel delivers enterprise-grade analytics with full data ownership through self-hosting. This makes it ideal for SaaS companies, startups, and dev teams that prioritize data sovereignty and transparency.
Built with a modern TypeScript stack including Next.js, Fastify, ClickHouse, and Postgres, Openpanel is engineered for scalability and developer experience. It supports web, mobile (iOS/Android), and server-side tracking via comprehensive SDKs, enabling consistent event collection across platforms. With transparent pricing (no usage limits) and built-in A/B testing, notifications, and custom dashboards, Openpanel removes the trade-offs between functionality, privacy, and cost.
What You Get
- 🔍 Advanced Analytics - Track user behavior with funnels, cohort analysis, and session history to understand how users move through your product.
- 📊 Real-time Dashboards - View live data updates and interact with charts that refresh without page reloads for immediate insights.
- 🎯 A/B Testing - Run and analyze experiments with built-in variant breakdowns to measure impact on key metrics.
- 🔔 Smart Notifications - Receive alerts triggered by specific events or funnel drop-offs to respond quickly to user behavior changes.
- 🌍 Privacy-First - Cookieless tracking ensures compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations without sacrificing data quality.
- 🚀 Developer-Friendly - Access comprehensive SDKs for web, iOS, Android, and React Native, plus a full REST API for custom integrations.
- 📦 Self-Hosted - Deploy and control your entire analytics stack on your infrastructure with Docker Compose or Kubernetes.
- 💸 Transparent Pricing - No paywalls, usage tiers, or hidden fees—everything is free to use and self-host without limitations.
- 🛠️ Custom Dashboards - Build tailored visualizations with flexible charting tools to track KPIs unique to your business.
- 📱 Multi-Platform Tracking - Collect events from web browsers, mobile apps (iOS/Android), and backend services using unified SDKs.
Common Use Cases
- Building a SaaS dashboard with user behavior insights - A B2B startup uses Openpanel to track how users navigate their onboarding funnel, identify drop-off points, and improve conversion rates using cohort analysis and session replay.
- Creating a mobile-first e-commerce platform with GDPR compliance - An EU-based retailer deploys Openpanel to track user interactions across iOS and Android apps without cookies, ensuring regulatory compliance while retaining detailed user profiles.
- Problem: GA4 blocks EU traffic → Solution: Openpanel - A company faced GDPR fines due to Google Analytics 4’s data transfers to the US; they switched to Openpanel for full data control and cookieless tracking, restoring compliance without losing analytics depth.
- Team: DevOps managing microservices with multi-platform tracking - A team uses Openpanel to unify event data from web, mobile apps, and backend services, enabling cross-platform user journey analysis through a single dashboard with real-time updates.
Under The Hood
OpenPanel is a self-hosted analytics platform designed to provide developers with a flexible, extensible solution for tracking and analyzing user behavior. It emphasizes developer experience and supports both traditional web analytics and advanced AI-driven insights through a modular architecture.
Architecture
The system adopts a modular monolithic design with clear separation of concerns across distinct applications and packages. This approach enables scalable development within a workspace-based monorepo structure.
- The architecture follows layered principles with distinct services for API, admin, public frontend, and worker functions
- Module organization promotes reusability and maintainability through shared components and logic
- The system integrates well-defined boundaries between frontend and backend layers
Tech Stack
The project is built using TypeScript, leveraging modern JavaScript frameworks and tools for a robust development environment.
- Built with TypeScript, React, TanStack Router, and Fastify for a full-stack, type-safe experience
- Relies on @openpanel packages, TanStack ecosystem, Ramda, and Radix UI for consistent functionality and UI
- Uses Vite, tsdown, pnpm, and Docker to support efficient builds, dependency management, and containerization
- Vitest, biome, and CI/CD pipelines ensure code quality, linting, and automated testing
Code Quality
The codebase shows a balanced level of quality with structured testing practices and consistent patterns across modules.
- Comprehensive test coverage and error handling strategies are evident throughout the codebase
- Code linting and formatting tools help maintain consistency and reduce technical debt
- The project demonstrates moderate adherence to coding standards and clean architecture principles
What Makes It Unique
OpenPanel distinguishes itself through its focus on extensibility and developer-first design in the analytics space.
- Combines real-time tracking, bot detection, and rate limiting in a unified, self-hosted system
- Offers modular components and hooks that allow for deep customization and integration
- Integrates AI-powered insights alongside traditional analytics, setting it apart from generic tools