GhostStat vs PostHog: website analytics or product platform?
PostHog is a big all-in-one platform for product teams, with a generous free tier and an open-source edition. GhostStat is cookieless website analytics with heatmaps and recordings built in. Here is how they differ and who each one suits.
PostHog has grown into one of the most complete platforms for product teams: product analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, surveys, error tracking and more, with a free tier that covers a lot. GhostStat is narrower and deeper in one place: cookieless analytics for websites, with heatmaps, recordings and visitor intelligence built in. This comparison of GhostStat vs PostHog explains where each one fits, and every statement about PostHog links to posthog.com.
Last checked: 11 October 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us.
PostHog vs GhostStat at a glance
| GhostStat | PostHog | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Websites: marketing, content, shops | Product and engineering teams building apps |
| Cookies | None | First-party cookie by default; optional cookieless mode |
| Replay in cookieless mode | Always cookieless; recordings and heatmaps keep working | Replay and surveys off until the visitor consents |
| Heatmaps | Every plan | Yes |
| Feature flags, surveys, error tracking | No | Yes |
| Free tier | Free plan, every plugin with a monthly allowance | 1M events and 5,000 recordings a month, no card |
| Where data is stored | Dronten, the Netherlands (EU) | US (Virginia) or EU (Frankfurt) cloud |
| Self-hosting | Enterprise only, no public download | Open-source edition (MIT) |
What PostHog is built for
The PostHog pricing page lists a long row of products, each with its own free monthly allowance: 1 million analytics events, 5,000 session recordings, 1 million feature flag requests, 1,500 survey responses, 100,000 exceptions for error tracking, and more. No card is needed, and PostHog stresses that the free plan is not a trial. Its cloud runs in the US (Virginia) or the EU (Frankfurt), and an open-source edition is available under the MIT licence.
If you build a software product and want analytics, flags, experiments and surveys from one vendor, that breadth is PostHog’s strength.
Cookies, consent and PostHog’s cookieless mode
PostHog’s cookieless tracking guide says that “normally, PostHog stores some information about the user in their browser using a cookie”. It offers a cookieless mode that stores nothing in cookies or local storage and counts people with a server-side hash instead. The same guide lists the trade-offs: session replay and surveys are disabled for visitors who have not given consent, visitors without consent count as new people each day, and GeoIP enrichment is not available because the IP address is stripped first.
GhostStat works cookieless all the time, so there is no mode to choose and nothing switches off. GhostStat stores nothing on the visitor’s device: no cookies, no localStorage, no sessionStorage and no fingerprinting. The IP address is used in memory to look up an approximate location, then dropped; it is never written to disk. Visitors are counted with an identifier that is salted per site and rotates daily, and the data is stored in Dronten, the Netherlands. Our privacy policy lists exactly what is collected. Heatmaps and recordings work for every visitor, because they store nothing on the device either.
Heatmaps, recordings and the rest of the toolbox
PostHog’s session replay page includes heatmaps and privacy masking for sensitive content, with the first 5,000 recordings free each month and per-recording pricing after that. Free-plan retention is one year for events and one month for recordings, according to the pricing page.
GhostStat focuses on understanding visitors to a website. Every plugin is available on every plan, Free included:
- Heatmaps for clicks, scrolling and movement, per device.
- Session recordings with every form input masked by default.
- Funnels, goals, form analytics and A/B tests.
- Ecommerce, cohorts and retention.
- Visitor intelligence: intent, friction and attention per visit.
- Public stats pages and counters to share your numbers.
On the Free plan each plugin has a monthly view allowance; paid plans remove it. The live numbers are on the pricing page.
GhostStat does not offer feature flags, surveys or error tracking for your code. If you need those, PostHog covers them.
Website team or product team?
The clearest way to choose is to ask who will use the tool. PostHog is designed around engineers and product managers: events defined in code, user identification, flags and experiments shipped with releases. GhostStat is designed for the people who run a website: marketers, content teams, shop owners and agencies who want to know which pages work, where visitors get stuck and why, without a cookie banner and without writing code beyond one snippet.
Many teams need only one of those. Some need both, and nothing stops you from using PostHog inside your app and GhostStat on your marketing site.
Trying GhostStat next to PostHog
You do not have to switch in one go. Add the GhostStat snippet next to your PostHog code, leave both running for a few weeks and compare. Numbers will differ, because each tool counts visitors in its own way, so watch the trends rather than exact totals. Switch on one or two plugins, such as heatmaps on your most important page, to see what they add. If you decide to stay with PostHog, remove the GhostStat snippet and nothing else changes on your site. Setup help is here.
PostHog or GhostStat: how to choose
Choose PostHog if you are building a software product and want product analytics, flags, experiments, surveys and error tracking in one place, or if you want to self-host open-source code.
Choose GhostStat if you want website analytics with heatmaps and recordings that work for every visitor without cookies or a consent step, and data stored in the Netherlands. Start free; no card is needed.
More comparisons: GhostStat vs Mixpanel, GhostStat vs Hotjar and the best Google Analytics alternatives.
Sources
- PostHog: Pricing
- PostHog: How to do cookieless tracking with PostHog
- PostHog: Session replay
Frequently asked questions
Does PostHog use cookies?
By default, yes: PostHog stores information in a first-party cookie. It offers a cookieless mode, in which session replay and surveys are disabled until a visitor consents. GhostStat sets no cookies at all; see the privacy policy.
Is PostHog free?
PostHog has a free tier with monthly allowances per product, such as 1 million analytics events and 5,000 session recordings, without a card. GhostStat has a Free plan with every plugin included; see pricing.
Does GhostStat have feature flags or surveys like PostHog?
No. GhostStat focuses on website analytics: traffic, heatmaps, recordings, funnels, forms, A/B tests and visitor intelligence. For feature flags and surveys, PostHog is the better fit.
Can I self-host PostHog or GhostStat?
PostHog has an open-source edition under the MIT licence. GhostStat is hosted; for enterprise customers it sets up custom installations on their own infrastructure, without a public download (contact us).
Where is the data stored?
GhostStat stores its data in Dronten, the Netherlands. PostHog Cloud runs in the US (Virginia) or the EU (Frankfurt).
