Fathom vs PostHog

Privacy analytics meets open-source analytics that doesn't spy on your users, but might make you question your own product decisions. Here's our take.

Fathom

Nice Pick

Privacy analytics. Simpler than Plausible, less flexible.

Pros

• Very simple
• Privacy-first
• Good support

Cons

• Less features
• Pricier
• No self-host

PostHog

Open-source analytics that doesn't spy on your users, but might make you question your own product decisions.

Pros

• Feature-rich
• Self-hostable
• Session replay
• Feature flags
• Self-hosted option keeps data in-house and avoids third-party cookie drama
• Feature flags and A/B testing built-in, so you can iterate without deploying new code
• Session recordings let you watch users struggle in real-time, which is both terrifying and enlightening

Cons

• Complex
• Resource-heavy
• Overkill for simple sites
• Self-hosting can turn into a DevOps nightmare if you're not prepared for the infrastructure
• The UI can feel cluttered when you're drowning in event data, making simple insights harder to find

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Fathom is a analytics while PostHog is a hosting & deployment. We picked Fathom based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Fathom wins

Based on overall popularity. Fathom is more widely used, but PostHog excels in its own space.