In-depth two-product comparison
Mixpanel vs Amplitude
Mixpanel vs Amplitude for B2B SaaS: free to 1M vs 2M events, Growth from $140, identity and account-level data models, and how to migrate.
Last updated: 2026-10-07
Short answer
Both tools are free for a young B2B SaaS: Mixpanel to 1M events a month and Amplitude to 2M. Past that, Mixpanel Growth starts at $140 a month on monthly billing ($120 billed annually) and covers up to 20M events, while Amplitude's Plus plan starts at $0 with 2M events free and scales to 70M but does not print a per-event rate on the pricing page. Choose Mixpanel if you want a published self-serve price and simple identity merging; choose Amplitude if you want the larger free allowance, unlimited seats and its account-level reporting for B2B funnels.
Mixpanel
Events and properties with a simple user identity model, a published $140 Growth price, and a Group Analytics add-on for company-level reports.
Amplitude
A 2M-event free plan, unlimited seats on every plan, a Plus plan to 70M events, and an Accounts add-on for group-level reporting.
For most early-stage teams the price is not the deciding factor, because both are free for months or years. What decides the choice is how the tool models people and companies. A B2B product has users inside accounts, and the questions that matter are about accounts: which companies activated, which converted from trial to paid, which are going quiet. Both tools can answer those, but each asks you to turn on an account-level feature and to design identifiers you cannot easily change later.
Quick comparison
| Decision area | Mixpanel | Amplitude | What to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free: up to 1M monthly events | Free: 2M events per month, no time limit, with 10,000 monthly session replays | Estimate monthly events from your own data: monthly active users times average events per user. |
| First paid plan | Growth: $140 a month on monthly billing, $120 billed annually; first 1M events free, up to 20M monthly events | Plus: starts at $0 with the first 2M events a month free, scaling up to 70M events; per-event rates beyond 2M are not printed on the pricing page | Ask Amplitude for the Plus rate at your expected volume and compare it to Mixpanel's Growth price at the same volume. |
| Top tiers | Enterprise: contact sales | Growth and Enterprise: custom, event-based pricing | For both, a quote is the only reliable number above the self-serve ceilings (20M and 70M events). |
| Seats | Seat pricing is not listed on the pricing page we read | Every plan includes the full platform and unlimited seats | If many non-analysts need access, ask Mixpanel how it handles seats at your plan level. |
| Identity model | distinct_id built from $device_id and $user_id; call identify on login and reset on logout; the canonical ID becomes the $user_id | Three signals: device ID, an Amplitude ID computed to stitch devices, and a user ID you set; a user ID cannot be changed once set | Decide on an immutable internal user ID before you instrument; do not use an email address as the identifier. |
| Account-level analytics | Group Analytics with group profiles and a Company Analytics view for B2B; docs refer to a Group Analytics add-on | Account-level reporting through the Accounts add-on: up to five group types per project, with funnels that count a group as converted when different members complete different steps | Get the add-on price in writing, since it is the feature a B2B SaaS most needs and it is not on the self-serve price line. |
| Session replay | Listed as a product feature | 10,000 monthly session replays on Free, 20,000 on Growth and 50,000 on Enterprise | If replay is a deciding feature, confirm the monthly replay allowance for Mixpanel on its pricing page before you rely on it. |
| Startup program | Not listed on the pricing page we read | Startups under $10M funding with fewer than 20 employees get one free year on the Growth plan | Check eligibility dates and terms on Amplitude's pricing page before you plan a year around it. |
Event counts are the unit on both bills, so count your events before you compare. A product with 20,000 monthly active users that each fire 150 events a month produces 3,000,000 events, which is beyond both free plans. The same product at 5,000 monthly users and 150 events each is 750,000 events and fits inside either free plan. Instrumentation habits, not user count, decide which side of the line you are on.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Mixpanel | Amplitude |
|---|---|---|
| Events | Every event needs a name, a timestamp and a distinct ID; properties describe it. Mixpanel recommends keeping events as actions and putting context in properties, with snake_case names and an object-verb pattern such as page_viewed. | Events and user properties are tied to a device ID, an Amplitude ID and your user ID; the user ID is optional but recommended once someone signs in. |
| Anonymous to known users | Simplified ID Merge links the device ID to the user ID after the first identify call and sends at least one event afterwards; earlier events are updated retroactively. | Amplitude merges a user's event data on the backend, connecting the user ID to events generated before it was assigned, so you can wait to assign IDs. |
| Companies and accounts | Group Analytics lets you count by company ID, account ID or another key instead of the individual user, with group profiles and an activity feed. | Groups are objects a set of users belongs to, such as a company; event-level and user-level group definitions are both supported. |
| Identifier rules | Call reset on logout so users sharing one device are not merged; skipping it can merge two people into one cluster. | User IDs are case-sensitive, fixed once set, and should never be placeholders such as the string None. |
| Group limits | Group keys are set up as event properties; the docs describe the Group Analytics add-on for features such as computed properties on number of users who did an action. | Up to five group types per project and 1,000 account-level properties per project; changes apply to new data, not history. |
| Group changes | Choose the group key per report from the Users dropdown in the metric. | You cannot un-set a user's group type; you can only overwrite it. |
Pricing and operating cost
Mixpanel
Free plan: up to 1M monthly events. Growth includes the first 1M events free and goes up to 20M monthly events.
Beyond the Growth starting price, cost scales with event volume, and per-event rates are not printed in the page text we read. Account-level analytics needs the Group Analytics add-on, whose price is not on the self-serve plan table. The Growth plan carries event-volume pricing with a ceiling of 20M monthly events; above that you are in Enterprise and a sales quote.
Amplitude
Free plan: 2M events per month with no time limit. Plus starts at $0 with the first 2M events free and scales up to 70M events, with 2-year data retention.
The Plus plan's per-event rates beyond the first 2M events are not printed on the pricing page. Group-level reporting needs the Accounts add-on, with a limit of five group types per project. A user ID cannot be changed once set, so an identifier mistake is permanent for that project.
| Tier or usage case | Mixpanel | Amplitude |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 up to 1M events a month Product analytics, session replay and experiments are listed product areas. | $0 up to 2M events a month Includes 10,000 monthly session replays and unlimited seats. |
| First self-serve paid plan | Growth: $140 monthly, or $120 a month billed annually First 1M events free; up to 20M monthly events; event-volume pricing. | Plus: starts at $0; first 2M events free Scales to 70M events; 20 behavioral cohorts, alerts, heatmaps and 2-year retention. |
| Larger accounts | Enterprise: contact sales Custom usage above the Growth ceiling. | Growth and Enterprise: custom, event-based pricing Growth adds advanced behavioral exploration and SSO; Enterprise adds data access controls and RBAC. |
| Annual cost at a Growth-level plan | $1,680 a year at $140 monthly; $1,440 a year at $120 billed annually Twelve months of the Growth starting price; actual cost scales with event volume. | Quote Startups under $10M funding with fewer than 20 employees get one free year on Growth. |
How each tool identifies users
Mixpanel's identity model is documented in its Simplified ID Merge guide. The SDK generates a $device_id for anonymous visitors and attaches it to every event. When you call identify with your own user ID after signup or login, Mixpanel records a $user_id on subsequent events, links the device and user into one cluster, and retroactively updates earlier anonymous events. Two steps are required: call identify, then send at least one event afterwards. On logout, call reset so a shared device does not merge two people.
Amplitude describes three signals in how it identifies users: the device ID from the SDK, an Amplitude ID it computes to stitch devices into one profile, and the user ID you assign. It merges a user's events on the backend, so you can wait to assign user IDs, and you should not set user IDs for anonymous users. After a user ID is set it cannot be changed, so do not use an email address, which can change, and remember that user IDs are case-sensitive.
- If your product has a stable internal user ID from day one, either tool works; use that ID, not an email.
- If you can't guarantee a stable ID at signup, plan the ID before instrumenting Amplitude, because you can't edit it later.
Companies, accounts and B2B funnels
A B2B product sells to accounts, so the useful unit is often the company. Mixpanel's Group Analytics lets you pick an event property such as company ID, account ID or billing ID as the unit to count, with group profiles that list properties and an activity feed. Its Company Analytics view is aimed at B2B SaaS: usage health (DAU, WAU, MAU, new users), engagement and retention by company, and an activation question the docs give as an example, how many trial accounts have more than two active users. The docs place that computed property in the Group Analytics add-on.
Amplitude's account-level reporting uses groups. With the Accounts add-on you can instrument up to five group types per project and 1,000 account-level properties. Its funnel behavior is especially relevant to B2B: with group-level reporting, different members of the group can complete different steps and the account still counts as converted, which suits a product where an admin creates a workspace and a teammate performs the first key action. Groups can also be event-level or user-level; user-level membership persists for all future events after the Identify API assigns it.
Worked example: a B2B SaaS at 20,000 monthly users
Take 20,000 monthly active users and an average of 150 tracked events per user per month: 3,000,000 events. On Mixpanel that exceeds the 1M free allowance, so you are on Growth, which starts at $140 a month on monthly billing ($1,680 a year), or $120 a month billed annually ($1,440 a year). The page text does not print the per-event rate, so the real figure at 3M events must come from Mixpanel's calculator or sales.
On Amplitude the first 2M events are free, leaving 1M events on Plus at a rate Amplitude does not print in the pricing page text. If you cut instrumentation noise and send 50 events per user instead of 150, you send 1,000,000 events, which sits inside Amplitude's free plan and right at the edge of Mixpanel's. The cheapest optimization on either bill is a tracking plan that records actions with properties instead of many near-duplicate events.
Migrating from Mixpanel to Amplitude
- Write a tracking plan first: list the 20 to 40 events that drive your funnels, with property names, and rename events to match Amplitude conventions before you send any.
- Decide the permanent user ID. Use the same internal ID you pass to Mixpanel identify as the Amplitude user ID, and never your email.
- Dual-send for a full reporting cycle through your SDK or a customer data platform; Mixpanel's own docs mention Segment and RudderStack as common client-side paths.
- Map group keys to Amplitude groups, remembering the limit of five group types per project, and request the Accounts add-on before you build account dashboards.
- Rebuild the five dashboards the team actually opens, compare numbers against Mixpanel for one week, then switch off Mixpanel sends.
Migrating from Amplitude to Mixpanel
Pricing was read from Mixpanel and Amplitude on 2026-10-07. For related comparisons see Amplitude vs PostHog, Amplitude vs Heap and Mixpanel vs Heap.
- Export your event list and property list from Amplitude and decide which events you will drop; Mixpanel advises keeping events as actions with context in properties.
- Adopt Mixpanel's identity calls: identify after signup or login with the same internal user ID, send an event afterward, and reset on logout.
- Choose a snake_case naming scheme, such as object_verb, because Mixpanel recommends it for exports to a warehouse.
- Set up group keys, for example company_id, as event properties, and ask Mixpanel about the Group Analytics add-on before relying on account-level views.
- Run both tools in parallel until the funnel counts agree, then remove the Amplitude SDK.
Pros and cons
Mixpanel
Pros
- A published self-serve Growth price: $140 monthly or $120 billed annually.
- Simple identity model: identify, then send an event, with retroactive stitching of anonymous history.
- Group Analytics and a Company Analytics view built for B2B health and activation questions.
Cons
- Free allowance is 1M events, half of Amplitude's.
- Per-event rates beyond the Growth starting price are not printed in the page text.
- Group-level features sit in an add-on.
Amplitude
Pros
- 2M free events a month with no time limit, plus unlimited seats on every plan.
- Plus plan scales to 70M events with 2-year retention.
- Group-level funnels count an account as converted when different members complete different steps.
Cons
- User IDs are permanent once set, and case-sensitive.
- Account-level reporting needs the Accounts add-on, limited to five group types per project.
- Per-event rates beyond 2M are not on the pricing page.
Who should choose what?
You want funnels and retention for onboarding, and you do not want to pay yet.
Recommendation: Amplitude. At 750,000 events a month you are inside both free plans, but Amplitude's 2M allowance gives more headroom and unlimited seats let every PM and engineer look at the data.
Finance wants a number for the next quarter without a call.
Recommendation: Mixpanel. Mixpanel Growth is published at $140 monthly or $120 billed annually, which is $1,440 a year to $1,680 a year at the entry level.
An admin creates a workspace and teammates perform the key activation actions.
Recommendation: Amplitude. Amplitude's group-level funnels count an account as converted when different members complete different steps; confirm the Accounts add-on price.
You mostly care about whether each customer company is healthy and want company profiles.
Recommendation: Mixpanel. Mixpanel's Company Analytics shows usage, engagement and retention per company, with the Group Analytics add-on for deeper computed properties.
Pick on the shape of the questions your team asks, then confirm with a small implementation of your own onboarding funnel. A week of real data in each tool tells you more than any feature checklist.
Final verdict
Choose Mixpanel if
- you want a published Growth price ($140 monthly, $120 billed annually) to budget from
- your team prefers the identify-then-event model and retroactive anonymous stitching
- you plan to use company profiles and company health views for B2B
- your event volume stays under about 20M a month on a self-serve plan
Choose Amplitude if
- you want 2M free events a month and unlimited seats from day one
- account-level funnels matter more than individual funnels
- you qualify for the startup scholarship (under $10M funding, fewer than 20 employees)
- you can commit to immutable user IDs and an Accounts add-on quote
FAQ
Is Mixpanel or Amplitude cheaper for a B2B SaaS?
At low volume both are free: Mixpanel up to 1M events a month, Amplitude up to 2M. Above that, Mixpanel publishes Growth at $140 monthly ($120 billed annually), while Amplitude's Plus starts at $0 with 2M events free and does not print per-event rates. Ask each for a quote at your volume and include the account-level add-on.
How many events do I need to worry about?
Multiply monthly active users by the average events each fires. 5,000 users at 150 events is 750,000 events a month, inside both free plans. 20,000 users at 150 events is 3,000,000, which needs a paid plan on both. Cutting duplicate events is the cheapest optimization.
Can I track companies, not just users?
Yes, on both, with add-ons. Mixpanel offers Group Analytics and a Company Analytics view; Amplitude offers account-level reporting through its Accounts add-on, with up to five group types per project. Get the add-on price from each vendor, because it is not part of the self-serve plan lines.
Can I change a user ID later?
In Amplitude, no: once a user ID is set it cannot be changed, so avoid emails and use a stable internal ID. In Mixpanel, identify links your user ID to the anonymous device ID, and the canonical ID is the $user_id; choose a stable ID there too and call reset on logout.
How hard is it to switch between them?
Plan one to two reporting cycles of dual-sending. The technical work is mapping events and the permanent user ID; the analysis work is rebuilding the handful of dashboards your team uses. Historical comparisons are easiest if you keep the old tool running until the new numbers match.