An open-source Mixpanel alternative that ranks problems and checks every fix.
Mixpanel is built for exploring your events: autocapture, cohorts, breakdowns by any property. Trace starts from the other end. It finds where visitors struggle on its own, hands the fix to your coding agent, and tells you after the release whether your goal moved.
Keep Mixpanel if you need
- Deep, ad-hoc analysis: cohorts, segments and breakdowns by any property
- Experiments, years of history and exports to your warehouse
- A tracking plan your whole company already queries
Choose Trace if you want
- Problems ranked by visits affected, without building a report first
- Browser errors and failed requests next to your funnels, from one tag
- Goals in your repo, fixes by your agent, a verdict for every release, and self-hosting
Side by side
| Mixpanel | Trace | |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Autocapture or a tracking plan | One tag captures clicks, forms, scrolls and errors |
| Where problems show up | In reports someone builds and reads | Ranked by visits affected, on its own |
| Frustration | Rage and dead clicks via autocapture, plus replay | Rage and dead clicks per element |
| Browser errors | Not captured. Console logs only inside replays. | Exceptions and failed requests, with visits broken |
| Funnels and retention | Yes, with deep segmentation | Yes, defined in trace.json. Retention for signed-in users. |
| Coding agents | MCP server for querying reports | MCP server built for the loop: problem, fix, verdict |
| Did it work? | Through an experiment you set up | A verdict 14 days after each release, no setup |
| Self-host | No | Yes, open source |
Mixpanel details from its public documentation, checked 29 October 2026. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
Moving from Mixpanel: what maps to what
You don't need to re-instrument. Keep the few events that mark a goal, and let the tag capture the rest.
| In Mixpanel | In Trace |
|---|---|
mixpanel.track("Signed Up") | trace.track("signed_up") |
mixpanel.identify(id) | trace.identify() with a hash: Trace never sees the real id |
| Funnel report | A funnel in trace.json, reviewed in a pull request |
| Retention report | Retention and DAU/MAU for signed-in users |
| Lexicon | The events list in trace.json, checked in CI |
Run them side by side for a month
Add the Trace tag next to Mixpanel. It adds 8.4 KB and does its work when the browser is idle.
Let /trace:setup copy your key events into trace.json. Compare Trace's top problems with your funnel drop-offs.
Read the verdict on what you shipped. Keep what still earns its place. Mixpanel stays the place for open questions; Trace becomes the to-do list.
Questions from Mixpanel users
Do I need to re-instrument my events?
No. Clicks, pageviews, forms and errors are automatic. Call trace.track() only for the events that mark a goal.
How accurate is cookieless counting?
A visitor is a hash of address and browser, salted daily. Two people behind one office network with the same browser can look like one, and a returning visitor counts again the next day unless signed in. Funnels and error rates per visit are unaffected.
Can my coding agent read Mixpanel too?
Yes, through Mixpanel's MCP server. The difference is what it gets: Trace hands it ranked problems with evidence, and checks the fix.
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