PostHog vs Statcounter Comparison 2026
PostHog bundles product analytics, session replay, feature flags and surveys, billed by usage with the first million events a month free. Statcounter is a visitor log, a live feed of individual visits rather than aggregates, free forever under 5,000 sessions a month, then $18 for 20,000 with session replay added. Statcounter's own listing sends anybody wanting funnels, cohorts or product analytics to PostHog instead. PostHog is the deeper tool. Statcounter answers one specific question neither tool does as well as the other.
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
PostHog | Statcounter | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Not listed | From $18 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Usage-based | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | 30 days |
| API | Yes |
PostHog
Product analytics billed by the event
PostHog bundles product analytics, session replay, feature flags and surveys and bills each of them by usage rather than by seat, so a team of ten costs the same as a team of one at the same volume. The first million events each month cost nothing, and that allowance survives an upgrade. Billing limits can be set per product, which is the guard against a viral week arriving as an invoice. The event rates are quoted to five decimal places, so working out a monthly figure takes arithmetic rather than reading.
Our note
Set the billing limits on day one rather than after the first spike, because usage pricing is only comfortable when it has a ceiling you chose. If all you need is page views and referrers, Plausible or Fathom will answer that for a flat fee and far less setup.
Statcounter
A visitor log with a lasting free tier
Statcounter has been counting visitors since before analytics became a discipline, and it still does the thing that made it useful: a live feed of individual visits rather than only aggregates, which is how somebody works out what one specific referral actually did. The free plan keeps two weeks of history for a small site. Paying buys longer retention, more sessions and session replay. It is a visitor log rather than a product analytics suite, and anybody wanting funnels and cohorts is looking at the wrong tool.
Why people weigh these two
- Statcounter instead of PostHog
- Statcounter is a visitor log with a lasting free tier, paid from $18.
- PostHog instead of Statcounter
- PostHog bills by the event with a free tier, for what people did rather than who visited.
Which one should you pick
Choose PostHog if you need funnels, cohorts and product analytics beyond a simple visitor count, which is exactly what Statcounter's own listing points elsewhere for. The first million events a month are free on every plan, including after upgrading, and billing limits can be set per product to guard against a viral week arriving as an invoice. Rates are quoted to five decimal places, so budgeting takes more arithmetic than a flat-fee tool would.
Choose Statcounter if the question is what one specific visitor or referral did, which aggregate-first tools like PostHog make surprisingly hard to see: a live feed of individual visits, free forever under 5,000 sessions a month with fourteen days of retention. Premium at $18 a month for 20,000 sessions adds landing page analysis and session replay. Its own listing recommends running this alongside a modern analytics tool rather than instead of one, since a visitor log answers little beyond that one question.
Common questions
- Which one does Statcounter itself recommend for funnels and cohorts?
- PostHog, by its own listing's admission: anybody wanting funnels, cohorts or product analytics is told to look at PostHog or Matomo instead of Statcounter. Statcounter is built around a live feed of individual visits, not aggregate product analytics.
- Which is cheaper, PostHog or Statcounter?
- For a small site, both can cost nothing: PostHog's first million events a month are free, and Statcounter's Basic plan is free forever under 5,000 sessions a month. Statcounter's free plan is simpler to predict, while PostHog's usage rates beyond the free allowance take more arithmetic to budget.
- Can PostHog show a live feed of individual visits the way Statcounter does?
- Its listing does not describe an equivalent live visitor feed; PostHog is built around aggregate product analytics, session replay, feature flags and surveys instead. Statcounter's whole reason to exist is that individual-visit feed, which is what it does that the others do not.
- Should I run both instead of choosing one?
- Statcounter's own listing suggests exactly that: use it alongside a modern analytics tool rather than instead of one, since the visitor feed answers a question the others do not and little else. PostHog would be the modern tool it is describing in that pairing.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.