Sometimes, the wide range of available product analytics tools can overwhelm unprepared users. There are hundreds of products offering similar functionality, often with nearly identical interfaces, purposes, and even approaches to data collection and table structures.
One particularly interesting alternative is PostHog. It’s an all-in-one platform that includes its own web analytics suite, session recordings, heatmaps, and a built-in data warehouse. They also have a lot of features currently in development — including no-code A/B testing, messaging, CRM, revenue analysis, and much more. To be honest, it sometimes feels like the team is aiming to cover too wide a range without diving deeply into the specifics of each feature. However, one of the most compelling aspects of PostHog is its ability to be fully self-hosted — even though the platform itself doesn’t actively recommend it.
Currently I have PostHog implementation on this website too (together with GA4, of course).
A few weeks ago, PostHog released something completely different from anything else in the industry: DeskHog. It’s a piece of product analytics hardware that, in terms of functionality, is closer to a pager than traditional software.
You can read more about DeskHog here: https://posthog.com/deskhog. Rather than repeat what’s on the site, I’d like to share some personal impressions.
First impression: The packaging is beautiful! I’ve always appreciated PostHog’s approach to PR, branding, and tone of voice — and DeskHog is a perfect illustration of their mission.
Second impression: Okay, it’s definitely a DIY device. You have to assemble it yourself. Fortunately, the process takes less than 10 minutes — connecting the main board to the battery, placing it inside the 3D-printed case, and completing the initial setup.
Third impression: You’ll need to invest a bit more time to get the most out of it. Out of the box, DeskHog comes with built-in mini apps (called “cards”) that display short messages from Hedgehog Max or even show metrics from your PostHog account. Unfortunately, the latter feature — the main reason I bought the device — didn’t work properly for me, even after three attempts at generating API keys and adding them to the configuration. So, expect to spend some extra time getting it fully functional.
PostHog markets itself as a product built by engineers, for engineers — and DeskHog is a great example of that philosophy. The good news is, it’s fully customizable. With enough time, curiosity, and maybe some help from AI agents, you can build something unique on top of it. The downside? You can’t just start using it right out of the box — you’ll need to dig into how it works (at least on a basic level) before seeing real value.
In any case, I see a lot of potential here. I hope this isn’t the last attempt by the product analytics community to create industry-specific hardware. Of course, it’s debatable whether we really need an analytics-oriented pager — but hey, who can blame us for trying?
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