Amplitude vs Countly server
Self-hosted for $4/mo on hetzner CAX11, versus $49-$1500/user/mo on Amplitude.
Side-by-side
| Amplitude | Countly server (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $49-$1500/user/mo | $4.13/mo flat (any team size) |
| Hosting | Amplitude's servers | Your VPS (hetzner CAX11) |
| Data ownership | Amplitude controls the data | Your disk, your encryption |
| Source code | Closed | Open (NOASSERTION) |
| Customization | API + integrations only | Full source access; modify freely |
| Maintenance burden | Zero | Backups + updates (Docker available) |
| Health score (ossreplace) | — | 79 / 100 |
Why teams leave Amplitude
- MTU-based pricing penalizes high-traffic apps
- Behavioral cohorts gated to higher tiers
- No self-hosted option
Countly server answers this by: Skip MTU pricing entirely, run on your own infra, full SQL access to event data.
The cost math
Assumes 5-person team using Amplitude at the midpoint price ($774.5/user/mo).
| Period | Amplitude | Countly server on hetzner | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $3872.5 | $4.13 | $3868.37 |
| Yearly | $46470 | $49.56 | $46420.44 |
| 3 years | $139,410 | $149 | $139,261 |
Deploy Countly server now
One-click deploys at the cheapest provider for this workload:
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Common questions
Is Countly server a good alternative to Amplitude?
Countly server is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Amplitude with an ossreplace health score of 79/100 — a composite of project activity, maturity, community, security, and adoption. It runs on your own hetzner VPS from $4.13/mo with full source access under the NOASSERTION license, versus Amplitude's $49–1500/user/mo hosted plans.
How much cheaper is Countly server than Amplitude?
A 5-person team pays about $3872.5/mo on Amplitude. Self-hosting Countly server on hetzner CAX11 costs a flat $4.13/mo regardless of team size — roughly $139,261 less over three years (100% lower).
Is Countly server hard to self-host?
Countly server ships a Docker setup, so deployment is usually a single docker-compose command on a $4.13/mo VPS. You own the backups and updates, and there are no per-seat fees.
Do you keep control of your data with Countly server vs Amplitude?
Yes. Because Countly server runs on your own server, the data lives on your disk under your encryption. With Amplitude, Amplitude controls the hosting, storage, and access.