Enterprise analytics platforms cost $50-200K/year. Here's when they're worth it.
Stage 1 (Free): Google Analytics + Hotjar. Works for: landing pages, content sites. Cost: $0-200/month.
Stage 2 (Self-serve): PostHog, Plausible, or Umami. Works for: SaaS products under 100K MAU. Cost: $0-500/month.
Stage 3 (Enterprise): Amplitude, Mixpanel, Heap. Works for: products over 100K MAU needing cohort analysis, funnels, and retention curves. Cost: $2-15K/month.
Upgrade only when your growth decisions require data that the current tools can't answer.
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8 minPublished Work
This article expands on ideas from my published work in CIO.com, Built In, Mind the Product, and HackerNoon. View published articles →
The Product Economist — Quantifying engineering economics for technology leaders, PE firms, and boards.