head to head · open source
PostHog vs OpenWebAnalytics
PostHog has 39,835 GitHub stars, 3,394 forks, 5,637 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenWebAnalytics has 2,688 stars, 488 forks, 115 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. PostHog leads on adoption by 1,382% (39,835 vs 2,688 stars). PostHog is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; OpenWebAnalytics is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. PostHog has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, OpenWebAnalytics 18%. PostHog was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| PostHog | OpenWebAnalytics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 488 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PostHog if
- You weight community size — 40K 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 OpenWebAnalytics if
- You want the OpenWebAnalytics feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and OpenWebAnalytics fits your workflow better
About PostHog
PostHog is an open source platform for building self driving products, combining product analytics, web analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, error tracking, logs, surveys, a data warehouse, data pipelines, AI observability, and workflows in a single system, aimed at product, engineering, and growth teams that want to own their product data rather than rent it.
read the full PostHog overview →
About OpenWebAnalytics
Open Web Analytics is an open source web analytics server written in PHP and released under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later. It ships the OWA Server together with a first party JavaScript tracking client that can be added to web pages, and it is positioned by its maintainers as an alternative to commercial analytics tools such as Google Analytics. The project lives in the PHP ecosystem and is distributed through its GitHub repository, with a WordPress integration plugin and a PHP SDK maintained alongside it for sites and applications that want tracking wired in without hand rolling the client.…
read the full OpenWebAnalytics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PostHog or OpenWebAnalytics more popular?
PostHog has 39,835 GitHub stars and OpenWebAnalytics has 2,688. PostHog has the larger community by that measure.
Are PostHog and OpenWebAnalytics free?
Both are open source. PostHog has no licence declared in this registry, and OpenWebAnalytics is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between PostHog and OpenWebAnalytics?
PostHog is written in Python and OpenWebAnalytics 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 OpenWebAnalytics?
Choose PostHog if you want the larger community (39,835 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose OpenWebAnalytics if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.