Why EventRail
Event tracking that runs inside your app. No vendor holding your data. No analytics server to run. Just events in your own database.
The problem with today's analytics tools
Most analytics tools (GA4, Mixpanel, Amplitude, even PostHog) share the same weak spots.
- Your data is locked in.Your events live in their system, shaped by their model and reachable only through their API.
- Your app doesn't fit their model.They're built around typical websites. Not a web shop? You still get e-commerce fields.
- Anyone can fake the user ID.The browser tells them who the user is, and they believe it. Add their server SDK and you get a second identity system, so client and server data never line up.
How EventRail is different
- Nothing to hostEventRail runs inside your existing app. No extra server, no Docker, no analytics database to back up.Learn more
- Claimed vs. known, in separate columnsWhat the browser sent and what your server knows never mix. You always know which values to trust.Learn more
- One
track(), client or serverSame call, same identifier, same row. No second SDK to keep in sync.Learn more - Your storage, your schemaEvents land in Postgres, BigQuery or a file. Query them with plain SQL.Learn more
- Consent built inOne identifier, one consent value, four storage policies. Every row records whether it was collected with consent.Learn more
How it compares
| Tools | No server to run | You own the data | Client and server data kept apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| GA4, Plausible, Fathom | Yes | No | No |
| PostHog, Mixpanel, Amplitude | Yes | No | Partly |
| Umami, Matomo, self-hosted PostHog | No | Yes | Limited |
| RudderStack, Snowplow | No | Yes | With effort |
| EventRail | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The trade-off: the open-source package has no dashboard.
EventRail isn't for you if…
- You want a dashboard today.Try Umami or Plausible.
- You run a blog or marketing site.Try Plausible or Fathom.
- You need session replay or feature flags.Try PostHog.
- You need to trace requests between services.Use a tracing tool.
Open source, and staying that way
The open-source package does its job completely, and we won't remove features to push anyone to a paid product.
Built in the Netherlands.Under the same rules you work under.