Grain logomark
Honest comparison · Updated April 2026

Grain vs Amplitude

Amplitude is for organizations with analysts running cohorts and experiments. Grain is for teams where a non-analyst needs the answer directly.

The 30-second honest answer
Pick Amplitude if you want

A mature, enterprise-grade behavioral analytics platform with excellent cohorting, segmentation, and experimentation. The right call if you have analysts and the budget to match.

Pick Grain if you want

An AI analyst that investigates revenue leaks for people who aren't analysts, plus session replay and heatmaps, on flat pricing instead of event-volume bills.

They overlap on: Event analytics, funnels, cohorts, retention, custom dashboards, mobile analytics.

Feature matrix

What each tool ships today. No roadmap wishes.

Capability
Amplitude
Grain
Open source
Self-hosted on enterprise
Self-hostable
Enterprise only
Cloud SaaS
Cookieless tracking
Recall
GDPR out of the box
EU-hosted
AI analyst built-in
Ask Amplitude
Kai (3 tiers)
Deep Investigation
Six-phase audit
Heatmaps
Session Replay
Via integration
Mobile SDK
iOS + Android
Funnels / journeys
Strong
Tracks + attribution + p-values
Custom dashboards
WordPress / WooCommerce
Native, server-side
BYOK AI
n/a
OpenAI, Gemini
Pricing
Event-volume, enterprise
$29 → $299 · LTD via AppSumo

When Amplitude is the better choice

  • You have analysts who need deep cohorting, segmentation, and experimentation.
  • You're an enterprise with the budget for event-volume pricing.
  • You want a mature platform with a large integration ecosystem.
  • Behavioral experimentation is central to how your team works.
  • You don't need built-in replay or heatmaps.

When Grain is the better choice

  • Your founder, PM, or marketer needs answers without an analyst in the loop.
  • You want flat pricing instead of event-volume bills that grow with traffic.
  • You need session replay and heatmaps built in, not bolted on.
  • You want Kai to run the investigation and write the report.
  • You're on WordPress or WooCommerce and want native tracking.

Run both, no commitment

Amplitude and Grain coexist. Keep Amplitude for the cohort and experimentation work your analysts own, and use Grain for AI-led investigation and the replay/heatmap layer. Email eray@grainql.com for a 90-day Growth-tier trial.

FAQ

Is Grain open source?

No, not in the next 12 months. Self-hosting is available on enterprise tier.

Does Grain track users across sites?

No. No cross-site tracking, no fingerprinting, no third-party cookies.

Can I export my data?

Yes. CSV from every view, plus the Grain Connector (in development).

We already have analysts on Amplitude — why add Grain?

Grain covers the questions that don't need an analyst: it proactively investigates revenue leaks, writes the report, and adds the replay and heatmap layer Amplitude doesn't. It frees your analysts for the deep experimentation work Amplitude is built for.