About 18; min
Amplitude and Mixpanel are the two dominant product analytics platforms. Both track user behavior, build funnels, and measure retention. Both charge based on tracked users. And both can get expensive fast once your app grows.
We compared their 2026 pricing at every scale — from startup to enterprise — so you can pick the one that fits your product and budget.
Quick Pricing Comparison
| Plan | Amplitude | Mixpanel |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Up to 50K MTUs | Up to 20M events/mo |
| Plus/Growth | $49/mo (1K MTUs) | $28/mo (10K MTUs) |
| Growth (scaled) | ~$995/mo (100K MTUs) | ~$450/mo (100K MTUs) |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
The pricing models differ: Amplitude charges by Monthly Tracked Users (MTUs). Mixpanel also uses MTUs on paid plans but measures events on the free tier. At scale, Mixpanel is consistently cheaper — roughly half the cost of Amplitude for equivalent user volumes.
Free Tier: Both Are Generous
Amplitude’s free tier tracks 50K MTUs with unlimited events — enough for a startup with meaningful traction. Mixpanel’s free plan caps at 20M events but doesn’t limit MTUs on the free tier.
For a typical SaaS product where each user generates 50–200 events per month, Amplitude’s 50K MTU free tier supports roughly 50,000 active users. Mixpanel’s 20M events support about 100K–400K active users at low event density or 20K–40K users with heavy instrumentation.
Bottom line: both free tiers carry most startups through their first year of product-market fit without paying anything.
Amplitude Paid Plans
Amplitude’s Plus plan starts at $49/month for 1,000 MTUs. Scaling up costs roughly $0.01–$0.02 per MTU depending on volume and contract length. At 100K MTUs, expect ~$995/month. At 500K MTUs, Growth pricing typically lands at $3,000–$5,000/month with annual commitment.
Amplitude’s Differentiators
- Behavioral predictions: ML-powered predictions of which users will convert, churn, or hit key milestones. No equivalent in Mixpanel
- Causal analysis: Estimate the causal impact of a feature change, not just correlation. Rare in product analytics tools
- Session replay (add-on): Watch recordings of user sessions tied to analytics events. Costs extra but integrates directly with your analytics data
- CDP integration: Amplitude has a built-in Customer Data Platform that competes with Segment. Bundling saves vs separate tools
Mixpanel Paid Plans
Mixpanel’s Growth plan starts at $28/month for 10K MTUs — significantly cheaper than Amplitude’s $49 for 1K MTUs. At 100K MTUs, Mixpanel Growth costs approximately $450/month. That’s less than half what Amplitude charges for the same user volume.
Mixpanel’s Differentiators
- Signal report: Automatically finds events that correlate with conversion or retention. Surfaces insights you wouldn’t think to query
- Group analytics: Analyze behavior at the company/account level, not just individual users. Critical for B2B products
- Data pipelines: Export event data to your warehouse on a schedule. Amplitude charges extra for warehouse sync
- Simpler pricing: Transparent per-MTU pricing without requiring a sales conversation at every tier
Cost at Scale
| Monthly Tracked Users | Amplitude (est.) | Mixpanel (est.) | Savings with Mixpanel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10K | $150 | $28 | $122/mo (81%) |
| 50K | $550 | $250 | $300/mo (55%) |
| 100K | $995 | $450 | $545/mo (55%) |
| 500K | $3,500 | $1,800 | $1,700/mo (49%) |
| 1M+ | $6,000+ | $3,500+ | $2,500+/mo (42%) |
Mixpanel is 40–80% cheaper than Amplitude at every scale. The gap is widest at small volumes (10K MTUs) and narrows slightly at enterprise scale where both platforms negotiate custom contracts.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Amplitude | Mixpanel |
|---|---|---|
| Funnels | Excellent | Excellent |
| Retention analysis | Excellent | Excellent |
| User paths/flows | Best (Pathfinder) | Good (Flows) |
| Cohort analysis | Excellent | Excellent |
| A/B test analysis | Built-in (Experiment) | Integration with LaunchDarkly |
| Predictions (ML) | Yes (Growth plan) | No |
| Session replay | Add-on | Add-on (acquired) |
| Group/account analytics | Growth plan | Growth plan |
| Warehouse sync | Paid add-on | Included (Growth) |
| Self-serve pricing | Up to Plus only | Transparent to 100K+ MTUs |
| EU data residency | Enterprise only | Free tier and above |
Other Alternatives Worth Considering
| Tool | Pricing | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| PostHog | Free (1M events), then usage-based | Developer-first teams who want open-source, self-hostable analytics |
| Heap | Free (10K sessions), then custom | Teams that want autocapture (no manual event tracking) |
| Pendo | Custom (typically $12K+/yr) | Product teams needing in-app guides + analytics combined |
| Google Analytics 4 | Free | Marketing-focused analytics (not product analytics) |
PostHog deserves special mention: it’s open-source, self-hostable, and includes product analytics, session recording, feature flags, and A/B testing in one platform. The free tier (1M events/month) is generous, and self-hosting eliminates per-event costs entirely. For technical teams comfortable running their own infrastructure, PostHog is the best value in product analytics.
Who Should Pick What
Pick Amplitude If:
- ML-powered predictions and causal analysis matter to your product decisions
- You want a built-in experimentation platform (A/B testing + analytics)
- User path analysis (Pathfinder) is a critical workflow for your team
- Budget is secondary to having the most advanced analytics capabilities
Pick Mixpanel If:
- Price matters — Mixpanel is 40–80% cheaper at every scale
- Transparent, self-serve pricing is important (no forced sales calls)
- You need group/account analytics for a B2B product
- EU data residency is required (available on free tier, vs Amplitude Enterprise only)
- Warehouse export is needed without paying for add-ons
Pick PostHog If:
- Your team is technical and comfortable with open-source tools
- You want analytics + session recording + feature flags in one platform
- Self-hosting is an option and you want to eliminate per-event costs
- You prefer not to send user data to third-party analytics providers
Best analytics depth: Amplitude — predictions, causal analysis, and Pathfinder are genuinely ahead of the competition. Worth the premium for data-mature product teams.
Best value: Mixpanel — 40–80% cheaper than Amplitude with 90% of the features. The default recommendation for most product teams.
Best for developers: PostHog — open-source, self-hostable, and combines analytics with feature flags and session replay. Unbeatable for technical teams.
Best free tier: Amplitude (50K MTUs) for user volume, Mixpanel (20M events) for event volume.
FAQ
What’s an MTU?
Monthly Tracked User — any unique user who triggers at least one event in a billing month. A user who visits once and a user who visits 100 times both count as 1 MTU.
Can I switch from Amplitude to Mixpanel (or vice versa)?
The event taxonomy transfers conceptually but not automatically. You’ll need to re-implement tracking code and rebuild dashboards. Budget 2–4 weeks for a full migration depending on instrumentation complexity.
Is Google Analytics 4 a replacement for these tools?
No. GA4 is marketing analytics (traffic sources, conversions, campaigns). Amplitude and Mixpanel are product analytics (user behavior, feature usage, retention). They complement each other — most companies use both.
How do I reduce costs on either platform?
Track fewer events. Audit your instrumentation quarterly and remove events nobody queries. Most products track 2–3x more events than they analyze. Reducing event volume directly lowers your MTU count and bill.
