The short answer
Translate one workload into two meters
Assume 10,000 active users generate 200,000 events in a month, with three analysts. The 20 events per user is a hypothetical input, not an industry average. It does not determine qualifying billable users or events.
Mixpanel generally counts qualifying events across projects by ingestion month, though some legacy accounts use event timestamps. A backfill can affect the month it is ingested. Amplitude describes event and MTU variants, including an MTU guardrail on certain contracts. Ask each vendor to apply your billing basis, exclusions and add-ons to the same workload.
The analysts, replay volume, historical imports and module requirements may change the quote. Neither a shared event count nor a published free allowance establishes an invoice total.
Mixpanel’s pricing guide says Free continues collecting after 1 million monthly events but pauses querying until a Growth upgrade; a 2025 support response says report access also resumes at the next month. Confirm the current reset rule. Amplitude lists a 2 million monthly event Free allowance, while its billing FAQ describes an MTU-based Free limit; confirm the applicable meter.
Compare a login and a shared device
Mixpanel says its Simplified API cannot merge two user IDs; its identity overview distinguishes that API from Original. Amplitude applies a mapping for eligible merged IDs in dashboard queries, while raw events can retain earlier IDs.
For both, send an anonymous event, sign in, sign out and use a second account on the same test device. Compare user counts, pre-login events and exported identifiers. Ask about correction before attempting a real merge.
Reconcile the archive
Mixpanel documents a two-year event retention period with an exception for some older projects. Amplitude allows a configured event TTL and says deletion becomes irreversible after the 24-hour cancellation window. Confirm each account’s effective policy.
Mixpanel offers JSONL raw event export. Amplitude selects export windows by server upload time and advises allowing for delay. Reconcile counts, late arrivals and identity mappings rather than comparing report CSVs alone.
Amplitude’s plan table lists one year of data access on Free, two years on Plus and unlimited on Growth and Enterprise, while its billing FAQ describes seven-year Growth data retention. Ask how access and retention relate for the quoted contract.
Test what a replay can expose
Mixpanel says web text and inputs are masked by default. Amplitude says its default Medium browser setting masks inputs, but captures other text and does not mask HTML attributes. These are web defaults, not guarantees for mobile or customized settings.
Use synthetic sensitive values in page text, inputs, attributes, URLs and images. Check what reaches each recording and who can view it. Review consent and retention separately from analytics event retention.
Choose on the work you actually need
Choose a contract whose meter and guardrails fit your event mix, and whose identity and export behavior your data team can reconcile. If both pass, compare access controls, support and module costs in a written trial.
Read the individual Mixpanel and Amplitude guides, or consider PostHog for a separately metered engineering platform.
Common questions
Which is cheaper?
That depends on the contract, qualifying usage and modules. Mixpanel and Amplitude document different billing options; obtain comparable quotes.
Do the replay defaults protect every field?
No. Review the actual SDK and configuration. Amplitude specifically says browser HTML attributes are not masked.
Sources and scope
We read the linked vendor pricing and documentation on November 5, 2026. This is documentation-only research; we have not used the products, installed SDKs, collected events or tested exports or replay.
Inclusion and corrections are free. Any future vendor placement will be clearly labeled and will not determine editorial judgment or order. Confirm current terms and test your own configuration.
Sponsorship does not buy an editorial ranking or a positive review. How we research.
Source references
- Mixpanel: Pricing
Checked 2026-11-05. Event billing, exclusions, add-ons and inconsistent Free allowance wording.
- Mixpanel: Simplified identity merge
Checked 2026-11-05. Identity mapping and user ID limitations.
- Mixpanel: Identity management overview
Checked 2026-11-05. Original and Simplified identity APIs.
- Mixpanel: Export all your data
Checked 2026-11-05. Event retention and export planning.
- Mixpanel: Export methods
Checked 2026-11-05. Raw API and report export methods.
- Mixpanel: Web session replay
Checked 2026-11-05. Web masking defaults and replay retention.
- Amplitude: Billing and plans
Checked 2026-11-05. Plus MTU and event billing variants and guardrail.
- Amplitude: Track unique users
Checked 2026-11-05. Anonymous identity mapping and raw export limitations.
- Amplitude: Time to Live
Checked 2026-11-05. Event deletion and cancellation period.
- Amplitude: Export API
Checked 2026-11-05. Upload-time windows, delay and raw event exports.
- Amplitude: Session Replay privacy settings
Checked 2026-11-05. Web masking presets and HTML attribute limitations.
- Mixpanel Support: Free-plan event limit
Checked 2026-11-05. July 2025 support response on report access and ingestion above the Free limit.
- Amplitude: Pricing
Checked 2026-11-05. Published event and replay allowances and plan options.