Best Amplitude Alternatives

Helion is an open-source, privacy-first alternative to Amplitude. Get powerful product analytics with web analytics built in, cookie-free tracking, and the freedom to self-host or use our cloud.

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  • Open-source
  • Cookie-free
  • EU-only hosting
  • Self-hostable
Helion Dashboard Overview
This is our web analytics dashboard, its an out-of-the-box experience so you can start understanding your traffic and engagement right away.

Why consider Helion over Amplitude?

Amplitude is one of the leading enterprise product analytics platforms, trusted by large companies for behavioral analytics, experimentation, and customer data management. But its power comes with significant complexity — a steep learning curve, enterprise-level pricing that can scale to six figures annually, and a cloud-only architecture that gives you no option to self-host your data.

Helion offers a simpler, more affordable approach to product analytics without sacrificing the features that matter most. You get event tracking, funnels, retention analysis, cohort breakdowns, and user profiles — all in a clean interface that doesn't require a dedicated analytics team to operate. And because Helion is open source, you can inspect the code, self-host on your own infrastructure, and avoid vendor lock-in entirely.

One of the biggest differences is privacy. Amplitude uses cookies and stores data on US servers by default, which means consent banners and GDPR complexity for European users. Helion is cookie-free by default with EU-only data storage, so you can track user behavior without privacy trade-offs. The SDK is also dramatically smaller — 2.3 KB compared to Amplitude's 36-96 KB — which directly impacts your page performance and Core Web Vitals.

For startups and growing teams who need solid product analytics without the enterprise overhead, Helion delivers the insights you need at a price point that makes sense from day one.

Helion vs Amplitude: Which is right for you?

Both platforms help product teams understand user behavior. The key differences are pricing model, complexity, privacy approach, and deployment options.

Choose Helion if...

1

Teams that want powerful analytics without enterprise complexity

2

Privacy-conscious organizations that need cookie-free tracking

3

Developers who want to self-host or need a lightweight SDK

Choose Amplitude if...

1

Large enterprises with dedicated analytics teams

2

Organizations that need advanced experimentation and feature flags

3

Teams requiring sophisticated behavioral cohorts and predictive analytics

Helion Dashboard
Comprehensive analytics dashboard with real-time insights and customizable views.

Key differences at a glance

Here's how Helion and Amplitude compare on the factors that matter most.

FeatureHelionAmplitude
Price
From $2.50/month (or free self-hosted)
Free tier (50K MTUs), then $49+/month
Cookies required
No (cookie-free by default)
Yes (first-party cookies)
Consent banner needed
Yes (for GDPR/ePrivacy)
Data location
EU-only (or your own servers)
US or EU (Frankfurt)
Open source
Yes (AGPL-3.0)
Page views & visitors
Traffic sources
Geographic data
Device & browser stats
UTM tracking
Amplitude has advanced marketing attribution
Real-time dashboard
Custom event tracking
Funnels
Amplitude has advanced conversion funnels
Retention analysis
Amplitude has multiple retention views
User profiles
Cohorts
Amplitude has behavioral and predictive cohorts
Revenue tracking
A/B testing
Amplitude Experiment is full-featured
Feature flags
Amplitude includes unlimited feature flags
Session replay
Both platforms include session replay
Custom dashboards
Pathfinder/Journey maps
Amplitude pathfinder is highly advanced
Predictive analytics
Amplitude has ML-powered predictions (Growth+)
Cookie-free tracking
Amplitude uses first-party cookies
No consent banner needed
Amplitude requires consent under GDPR
EU data residency
Amplitude offers EU data center in Frankfurt
IP anonymization
Amplitude can disable IP storage
Self-hosting option
Amplitude is cloud-only
DPA available
on request
REST API
Data export
Amplitude supports S3, Snowflake, BigQuery
CDP integrations
Amplitude has its own CDP product
Webhook notifications

Feature comparison

Helion combines web analytics with product analytics in a simpler interface. Amplitude focuses on deep behavioral analytics for enterprise product teams.

Page views & visitors

Traffic sources

Geographic data

Device & browser stats

UTM tracking

Real-time dashboard

Custom event tracking

Funnels

Helion Real-time Analytics
Track events in real-time as they happen with instant updates and live monitoring.

Technical comparison

For developers evaluating analytics tools, here's how the SDKs and technical implementations compare.

FeatureHelionAmplitude
SDK size (JS)~2.3 KB gzipped
~36 KB gzipped (analytics only), ~96 KB unifiedAmplitude's unified SDK includes analytics, experiment, session replay, and guides
Supported platforms
  • JavaScript
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Vue
  • Node.js
  • Python
  • Swift
  • Kotlin
  • React Native
  • Flutter
  • Astro
  • Remix
  • Express
  • PHP
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • React Native
  • iOS
  • Android
  • Flutter
  • Unity
  • Node.js
  • Python
  • Go
  • JRE/Java
Both have comprehensive SDK coverage
Open sourceYes (AGPL-3.0)
No (SDKs are open, platform is not)
Self-hosted deploymentDocker Compose, guided setup wizard
Not availableAmplitude is cloud-only
DatabaseClickHouse + PostgreSQL
Proprietary (AWS-hosted)Helion gives you direct SQL access to your data
Data retentionUnlimited (self-hosted) or plan-based
Unlimited storage, 3-year query limit on chartsAmplitude stores data but limits chart date ranges

Pricing comparison

Amplitude has a free tier but pricing scales quickly. Helion offers simpler, more predictable costs.

Helion

Event-based, transparent

Simple pricing starting at $2.50/month for 5,000 events. 100,000 events costs $20/month.

Self-host for free with unlimited events.

No limits on users, dashboards, or data retention.

Free tier:Self-hosting (unlimited events)
Free trial:30 days

Amplitude

MTU-based with event limits

Starter (Free): Up to 50K MTUs and 10M events.

Plus: $49-1,000+/month based on MTUs (1K-300K).

Growth: Custom pricing, typically $22K-254K/year.

Enterprise: Custom pricing for large organizations.

Overages charged at 1.2x rate.

Free tier:Yes (50K MTUs, limited features)

Migrating from Amplitude to Helion

Switching from Amplitude to Helion is mostly a find-and-replace job. The two SDKs use the same event-based model, so most calls map 1-to-1 with no logic changes. Run both tools in parallel for a week to validate data, then remove the Amplitude SDK. Most teams ship the swap in an afternoon.

Difficulty:easy
Estimated time:2-4 hours
1

Install the Helion SDK

Add @helionlabs/web (or the framework SDK that matches your stack: React, Next.js, Vue, Node, Python, Swift, Kotlin, React Native) to your app. The JS bundle is ~2.3 KB gzipped — drop-in replacement for Amplitude's 36 KB analytics SDK or 96 KB unified bundle.

2

Map your tracking calls (the cheat sheet)

Most Amplitude calls map directly. amplitude.track('Signup', {plan: 'pro'}) becomes op.track('Signup', {plan: 'pro'}). amplitude.identify(userId, traits) becomes op.identify({ profileId: userId, ...traits }). amplitude.setGroup('org', orgId) becomes op.setGroup(orgId) — Helion has native group support via setGroup/setGroups. amplitude.setUserProperties(traits) becomes op.identify({ profileId, ...traits }). amplitude.logRevenue() becomes op.revenue(amount) (or op.track with a revenue property). Keep your existing event names. Track plans don't need rewriting.

3

Re-map advanced features (or accept feature loss)

Amplitude features without a 1-to-1 mapping in Helion: predictive cohorts (no equivalent), feature flags (use a dedicated tool like Hypertune or Statsig), Guides & Surveys (no equivalent), and Amplitude Experiment (you'll need a separate experimentation tool — Helion handles A/B test events but doesn't run experiments). Behavioral cohorts, funnels, retention, custom events, user properties, and session replay all have direct equivalents.

4

Set up dashboards and reports

Recreate your key Amplitude charts in Helion: Funnels, Retention, Cohorts, Custom event reports. The math is the same; the UI is different. Helion's report builder is simpler — no separate behavioral cohort builder, fewer chart types — but that's the point. Most teams find their critical reports take 30 minutes total.

5

Run in parallel and validate

Keep both SDKs firing events for 5-7 days. Compare totals on key events (signups, purchases, key feature events) between the two dashboards. Differences over 5% usually point to identify() mismatches — Amplitude attaches anonymous events to users on first identify, Helion does the same but uses a slightly different anonymous-id strategy. Once parity is confirmed, remove the Amplitude SDK.

SDK Compatibility

Both use event-based tracking. Direct mappings: amplitude.track(event, props) → op.track(event, props). amplitude.identify(userId, traits) → op.identify({ profileId: userId, ...traits }). amplitude.setUserProperties(traits) → op.identify({ profileId, ...traits }). amplitude.logRevenue({price, quantity}) → op.revenue(price * quantity) or op.track with a revenue property. amplitude.setGroup('org', orgId) → op.setGroup(orgId) (Helion has native group support). Anonymous tracking and session-stitching work the same way in both SDKs.

Historical Data Import

Amplitude data export is available on paid plans (S3, Snowflake, BigQuery) but requires manual transformation to Helion's event schema. Most teams start fresh with Helion and keep the Amplitude account read-only for 90 days as a historical archive. If you need ongoing access to historical data, the Amplitude data export to S3 stays available even after you cancel the active subscription.

Where Helion is a better fit than Amplitude

Helion shines for teams that want powerful analytics without enterprise complexity, pricing, or privacy concerns.

Startups and growing teams

Get the product analytics you need without Amplitude's complexity or enterprise pricing. Start free and scale predictably.

Privacy-first products

Cookie-free tracking means no consent banners and happier users. Perfect for GDPR compliance without compromise.

Self-hosted requirements

Deploy Helion on your own infrastructure for complete data ownership. A one-command `./setup` wizard walks you through configuration and brings the whole Docker Compose stack up in minutes. Amplitude is cloud-only with no self-hosting option.

Faster websites and apps

Helion's 2.3 KB SDK vs Amplitude's 36-96 KB means better performance, faster loads, and improved user experience.

Simpler analytics needs

If you don't need predictive ML models or feature flags, Helion gives you core analytics — including session replay — without the enterprise bloat.

Helion Reports
Generate detailed reports and insights with customizable metrics and visualizations.

Why teams switch

Everything you need, none of what you don't

Amplitude packs in features most teams never use — and charges accordingly. Helion focuses on the analytics that actually drive product decisions, at a price that makes sense from day one.

Start free with Helion

Event tracking, funnels, retention, and cohorts — without the enterprise learning curve

Cookie-free by default: no consent banners, no GDPR headaches for EU users

2.3 KB SDK vs Amplitude's 36–96 KB — real impact on page speed and Core Web Vitals

Self-host on your own infrastructure with Docker, or use our EU-only cloud

Transparent pricing from $2.50/month — no MTU surprises, no overage fees at 1.2x

Open source (AGPL-3.0): inspect the code, fork it, run it yourself

Web analytics and product analytics in one tool — no stitching together separate products

Helion User Profiles
Deep dive into individual user profiles with complete event history and behavior tracking.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Amplitude alternatives and switching to Helion.

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Ready to make the switch?

Test Helion free for 30 days, you'll not be charged anything unless you upgrade to a paid plan.

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