Mixpanel vs Amplitude: A Practical Guide for Product Analytics

If you're building a digital product — whether it's a website, app, or SaaS tool — understanding user behavior is key to growth. That's where product analytics platforms like Mixpanel and Amplitude come in.

In this post, we'll break down what each tool offers, when to use them, and how to get started.

🔍 What Are Mixpanel and Amplitude?

Mixpanel and Amplitude are powerful analytics platforms that help you understand how users engage with your product. Unlike Google Analytics, which focuses on traffic and marketing metrics, these tools track events like:

• Button clicks

• Sign-ups

• Feature usage

• Retention over time

Both allow you to build funnels, segment users, and analyze cohorts — with minimal code once events are set up.

🆚 Mixpanel vs Amplitude: Key Differences

🛠 How to Get Started with Mixpanel

1. Create an Account
   mixpanel.com – Free to start.

2. Integrate SDK
   Choose your platform:

   • Web (JavaScript)

   • iOS/Android

   • React Native

   • Backend SDKs

   Example (JavaScript):

   html
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   <script type="text/javascript">
     (function(c,a){window.mixpanel=a;var b,d,h,e;b=c.createElement("script");
     b.type="text/javascript";b.async=!0;b.src="https://cdn.mxpnl.com/libs/mixpanel-2-latest.min.js";
     d=c.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];d.parentNode.insertBefore(b,d);
     a._i=[];a.init=function(b,c,f){function e(b,a){var c=a.split(".");
     2==c.length&&(b=b[c[0]],a=c[1]);b[a]=function(){b.push([a].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,0)))}}
     var d=a;"undefined"!==typeof f?d=a[f]=[]:f="mixpanel";d.people=d.people||[];
     d.toString=function(b){var a="mixpanel";"mixpanel"!==f&&(a+="."+f);return a};
     d.people.toString=function(){return d.toString(1)+".people"};h="disable time_event track track_pageview track_links track_forms register register_once alias unregister identify name_tag set_config reset people.set people.set_once people.unset people.increment people.append people.union people.track_charge people.clear_charges people.delete_user".split(" ");
     for(e=0;e<h.length;e++)g(d,h[e]);a._i.push([b,c,f])};
     a.__SV=1.2})(document,window.mixpanel||[]);
     mixpanel.init("YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN");
   </script>
   

3. Track an Event

   js
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   mixpanel.track('Sign Up', {
     plan: 'Pro',
     source: 'Homepage'
   });
   

4. Create Funnels & Reports
   Use the Mixpanel UI to visualize how users complete your flows.

🛠 How to Get Started with Amplitude

1. Sign Up
   amplitude.com – Also has a generous free tier.

2. Install SDK
   Example (JavaScript):

   html
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   <script type="text/javascript">
     (function(e,t){var n=e.amplitude||{_q:[],_iq:{}};
     var r=t.createElement("script");r.type="text/javascript";
     r.async=true;r.src="https://cdn.amplitude.com/libs/amplitude-8.17.0-min.gz.js";
     r.onload=function(){if(e.amplitude.runQueuedFunctions){
     e.amplitude.runQueuedFunctions()}else{console.log("[Amplitude] Error: could not load SDK")}};
     var s=t.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s);
     function i(e,t){e.prototype[t]=function(){
     this._q.push([t].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,0)));return this}};
     var o=function(){this._q=[];return this};
     var a=["add","append","clearAll","prepend","set","setOnce","unset"];
     for(var c=0;c<a.length;c++){i(o,a[c])}n.Identify=o;
     var l=function(){this._q=[];return this};
     var u=["setProductId","setQuantity","setPrice","setRevenueType","setEventProperties"];
     for(var p=0;p<u.length;p++){i(l,u[p])}n.Revenue=l;
     var d=["init","logEvent","logRevenue","setUserId","setUserProperties","setOptOut",
     "setVersionName","setDomain","setDeviceId","enableTracking",
     "setGlobalUserProperties","identify","clearUserProperties","setGroup","logRevenueV2",
     "regenerateDeviceId","groupIdentify","onInit","logEventWithTimestamp",
     "logEventWithGroups","setSessionId","resetSessionId"];
     function v(e){function t(t){e[t]=function(){
     e._q.push([t].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,0)))}}
     for(var n=0;n<d.length;n++){t(d[n])}}v(n);
     n.getInstance=function(e){e=(!e || e.length===0 ? "$default_instance" : e);
     if(!n._iq.hasOwnProperty(e)){n._iq[e]={_q:[]};v(n._iq[e])}return n._iq[e]};
     e.amplitude=n})(window,document);
   
     amplitude.getInstance().init("YOUR_API_KEY");
   </script>
   

3. Track an Event

   js
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   amplitude.getInstance().logEvent('Sign Up', {
     plan: 'Pro',
     source: 'Homepage'
   });
   

4. Build Dashboards

   • Use Amplitude’s "Event Explorer" to create charts.

   • Funnels, Retention curves, and User Journeys are super powerful.

✅ When to Use Which?

• Use Mixpanel if you want quicker setup, intuitive reports, and fast insights — perfect for product managers and growth teams.

• Use Amplitude if you need deep data analysis, advanced segmentation, and are working with a data team or data warehouse integration.

🔚 Final Thoughts

Both tools are leaders in product analytics. The best part? You can start using either for free and track millions of events per month. The key is to start simple — define your most important user actions, track them, and learn how users actually experience your product.

Next Step: Choose a tool, install the SDK, and track your first event today.