Mixpanel Review: Everything You Need to Know

Mixpanel reviews are a dime a dozen. Everyone, everywhere is giving their opinion all at once, but is anyone being truly honest?

In this article, I’ll walk you through my experience using the platform. What I liked, what I hated, and what I wish I had never been created. In the end you’ll learn if Mixpanel is the right data analytics platform for you or if you’re better off with one of its competitors.

I will also be mentioning said competitors and showing you how Mixpanel stacks up. Let’s get right into it!

Mixpanel Overview

Before I give you the full rundown, here’s my rating of the software’s features:

What is Mixpanel?

Mixpanel is a software that allows you to analyze user behavior, gather data, and use that data to improve your user experience and product quality. 

Their key promise is that you’ll be able to “turn data into decisions”. Basically, they want to help you make sense of all the information you get from your users, because it’s one thing to gather data and a whole other thing to know what to do with it.

I know you’ve probably heard all the good Mixpanel reviews, but in this article you’ll be getting an honest one from someone who actually used the software. 

Here’s my experience:

Mixpanel Reviews: Pros & Cons Summary

Here’s the breakdown of the pros and cons of using Mixpanel: 

Analyzing Mixpanel Pros 

In this section, I’ll tell you what I loved about Mixpanel, from its detailed demo video to its user tracking features, and more. 

Demo Video 

The platform provided a 10-minute demo video that was pretty explanatory and covered how to use the basic features. I couldn’t help but notice that it looks very similar to the Google Analytics dashboard, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They’re competitors, after all. 

Signing Up

After watching the demo, I headed back to the home page and clicked the signup button. I submitted my email and got a verification mail immediately. With my email verified, I filled in more of my information, things like my name, job title, company name, and size. 

Something that caught my attention during this process was that their data centers are located in the United States and the European Union, meaning data from other parts of the world is transferred to these locations. 

This isn’t unheard of, but it would be smart to look into the data privacy laws of the country where your users live. 

Free Plan

The Mixpanel free plan is one feature that I’d say truly makes the platform stand out to me. It’s not everyday you see a software willing to give you so much without taking your credit card details.

The plan has everything a small business owner might need to get started with customer analysis. 

Effective Segmentation and Funnel Tracking

Mixpanel doesn’t disappoint as a data tracking software. It effectively segments users into various categories, allowing you to track recurring patterns and cater to specific audiences. 

Its features also help you build and track dynamic cohorts over time. If you’re new to the world of analytics, a cohort is a group of users who share a common characteristic or behavior within a specific time frame.

For example, a behavioral cohort could contain users who signed up in May and completed at least 3 purchases. Mixpanel lets you build cohorts using filters like event frequency, time of action, user properties, and behavioral patterns.

These cohorts then become reusable across the platform. That means you can track how a specific group of users is moving through your funnel, measure how long they continue to use your product over time, and send targeted in-app messages, push notifications, or emails. 

Seamless Integration 

I’ve yet to see a platform that rivals Mixpanel when it comes to integration. I’m pretty sure they’d integrate with Target if they could. 

Here’s a list of third party platforms you can connect to your Mixpanel account:

• Radar
• Netmera
• Optimizely
• Hotjar
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Mailchimp
• Conduit App
• Notifly
• Userflow
• Adjust
• Segment
• CallRail
• Kameleoon

And that’s not even half of it. I decided to stop there so I don’t spend the entire article listing platforms. Point is, Mixpanel is the undisputed champ of platform integration. 

Analyzing Mixpanel Cons 

Now it’s time to look at the parts of Mixpanel I found far from appealing. Here’s a full review on the cons of using Mixpanel: 

Setting Up

After signing in, I got a quick setup guide that added to what I learned from the demo video. Step 3 of the setup guide is where things got tricky. You have to connect your data to Mixpanel if you want to get any valuable insights. There are two ways to do this.

You can connect by using a data collection tool, that’s if you’re already using one. Or, if Mixpanel is your first analytics tool, you’ll need to copy the code they provide and add it to your product’s code. That’s how you install the Software Development Kit (SDK). This can be complicated for someone who knows nothing about coding, like me. 

If you’re like me, and you don’t have any experience coding, I’d recommend getting your developer to handle this part. While they do explain how to get it done, it was still a bit confusing for me and I’m assuming it’ll be confusing for anyone else with no coding experience. 

If you’re not ready to connect your data, you can hit the “Skip for now” button, but I have to warn you, the software will be as naked as the day it was born if you click that option. Mixpanel needs to collect data from your app before it can give you anything valuable to work with. 

Customization Limits

I know I already gushed about the free plan but that doesn’t mean it’s without its faults. Sure, it offers more than the average free plan and it’s perfect for startups with tight budgets, but it’s also limited when it comes to customization.

If you want to unlock the advanced customization features, you’ll need to switch to a paid plan. 

Reliance on Third Party Apps

Many of Mixpanel’s shiny achievements are also its downfall. While users can seamlessly integrate with other software, I find that Mixpanel itself is quite limited without these third party apps.

Mixpanel Pricing 

Like many SaaS platforms and digital analytics tools, Mixpanel follows the freemium model—a technique designed to give you just enough to leave you wanting more. 

Here’s a list of Mixpanel’s pricing tiers:

Mixpanel Forever Free Plan:

Mixpanel’s free plan lets you track up to 1 million events per month. It also includes:

• 5 saved reports 
• 10 thousand monthly session replays
• Unlimited data history 
• Unlimited integrations 
• Unlimited collaborators 
• Community and email customer support
• Live events 

This plan is perfect for small businesses and startups who aren’t ready to invest in a paid digital analytics tool. It’s loaded with features that make data tracking inexpensive for early stage startups.

Mixpanel Growth Plan:

Like the free plan, the growth plan on Mixpanel lets you track 1 million events per month, but here, you can buy more events if this amount runs out. The rate is $0.00028 per event. The plan also has additional features like: 

• Unlimited saved reports and boards 
• 20 thousand monthly session replays
• Unlimited saved cohorts
• Advanced analytics capabilities
• Email customer support
• Free plan features like, integrations, collaborations, unlimited data history, and live events 

If you want to take your analytics game up a notch but you’re not ready to part with a huge chunk of your budget, then this is the plan for you.

Mixpanel Enterprise Plan:

This is the highest pricing tier on Mixpanel. It comes with unlimited monthly events and a pretty steep $1,667 per month price tag. Here’s what you get in this plan: 

• Everything in the Growth plan
• Full control over data and security
• Premium support 
• Advanced features for team-based collaboration
• Onboarding features and single sign-ons (SSO)
• Personalized customer success 

This plan is many things but affordable isn’t one of them. While it’s packed with features that will set your analytics game levels ahead of anyone else’s, it’s still a very expensive option. Regardless, it’s a good choice for enterprise level businesses—as its name suggests. 

Mixpanel Alternatives

Now that we’re done with the Mixpanel reviews, let’s take a look at some alternative platforms you can use to get the results you want.

Google Analytics 4 (GA 4): This is a budget-friendly option for top-of-funnel and user acquisition insights.

Heap: This software offers n-code event tracking so it’s great for non-technical teams. 

Amplitude: Amplitude provides Powerful behavioral analysis, strong funnel tools, good data governance.

PostHog: PostHog offers many benefits self-hosting, full user journey tracking, and complete privacy. It’s great for teams that need control over their data.

Conclusion 

Mixpanel is one of the best product analytics software out there with robust features on both free and paid plans. It offers scalable and seamless user behaviour monitoring, sales funnel tracking, and integration, but it also has limits like high pricing tiers and complex set up.

I created this review article because I want you to go in with your eyes open. Now, that you know the pros and cons of Mixpanel, you can decide if it’s the right platform for you. 

And if you’re struggling to make sense of it all, feel free to book a discovery call with Techdella and we’ll help you interpret your data and take actionable steps to scale your business.