head to head · open source
PostHog vs Matomo
PostHog has 40,600 GitHub stars, 3,579 forks, 5,637 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Matomo has 22,002 stars, 2,925 forks, 2,578 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PostHog leads on adoption by 85% (40,600 vs 22,002 stars). PostHog is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Matomo is written in PHP under GPL-3.0. PostHog has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Matomo 13%. PostHog was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (analytics), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| PostHog | Matomo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 22K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PostHog if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Matomo if
- You want the Matomo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Matomo fits your workflow better
About PostHog
Docs Community Roadmap Why PostHog? Changelog Bug reports PostHog is the open source platform for building self driving products PostHog provides every tool you need to build a successful product, and captures all the context agents need to proactively diagnose problems, uncover opportunities, and ship fixes: Self driving mode: Turn signals in your product data (errors, rage clicks, failed queries, and more) into researched reports and pull requests you review and merge. Product analytics: Autocapture or manually instrument event based analytics to understand user behavior and analyze data with visualization or…
read the full PostHog overview →
About Matomo
Matomo (formerly Piwik) matomo.org Code Status Description Matomo is the leading Free/Libre open analytics platform. Matomo is a full featured PHP MySQL software program that you download and install on your own webserver. At the end of the five minute installation process, you will be given a JavaScript code. Simply copy and paste this tag on websites you wish to track and access your analytics reports in real time. Matomo aims to be a Free software alternative to Google Analytics and is already used on more than 1,400,000 websites. Privacy is built in! Mission Statement « To create, as a community, the leading…
read the full Matomo overview →
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Web & Product Analytics projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Web & Product Analytics field.
Frequently asked questions
Is PostHog or Matomo more popular?
PostHog has 40,600 GitHub stars and Matomo has 22,002. PostHog has the larger community by that measure.
Are PostHog and Matomo free?
Both are open source. PostHog has no licence declared in this registry, and Matomo is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between PostHog and Matomo?
PostHog is written in Python and Matomo in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PostHog or Matomo?
Choose PostHog if you want the larger community (40,600 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Matomo if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.