Per-event pricing can make analytics costs rise with traffic. I built an alternative: SensorFlow — an open-source, self-hosted event analytics stack from collection to SQL and BI, with data staying on your own servers.
- Website: https://sensorflow.site/
- GitHub: https://github.com/data-analyze-bi/sensorflow (Apache-2.0)
- Live demo: https://superset.sensorflow.site
The problem with per-event pricing
Managed analytics charges by event volume. The more successful your product, the bigger the bill — growth gets taxed. Self-hosting flips the model: you pay for servers, not for success.
Architecture
Deliberately boring:
SDK → Go collector → ClickHouse → SQL / Apache Superset
- Collect: Go ingestion service, wire-compatible with Sensors Data SDKs — existing SDK instrumentation may be reused after checking SDK version, encryption, identity, property types, and timestamps.
- Store: ClickHouse, built for analytical queries (funnels, retention) at scale.
- Analyze: Raw SQL when you want control, Superset dashboards when you want clicks.
Run ./install.sh for the local demo, then obtain a license and run ./activate.sh to enable real SDK ingestion. No Kubernetes required.
SensorFlow vs PostHog
| SensorFlow | PostHog | |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Self-hosted only | Cloud or self-hosted |
| Query model | SQL-first, ClickHouse-native | Product UI-first |
| Pricing | Annual license, $699/yr list price | Usage-based |
| Suite extras | None (no replay/flags) | Replay, flags, experiments |
PostHog is the broader suite. SensorFlow is the narrower, SQL-first option for teams that want ClickHouse and full ownership of their stack.
Pricing
Annual license starts at $699/yr list price, with the first order currently discounted to $349. It is not billed per event. The first month is free. You bring the servers.
Try it
Play with the live demo for five minutes, then run it locally. If it's useful, a star helps: https://github.com/data-analyze-bi/sensorflow
Independent open-source project, not affiliated with Sensors Data.
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