How do I sign up for Mixpanel Free and set up our first project for web and mobile?

Mixpanel Free gives you everything you need to start answering product questions in seconds—without waiting on a data team. This guide walks through how to sign up, create your first project, and instrument both your web and mobile apps so you can see real user behavior right away.

Quick Answer: Create a free Mixpanel account, start a new project, install the SDKs (web and mobile), define a few key events, and use Mixpanel’s self-serve reports to analyze your first user journeys—all without SQL bottlenecks.

The Quick Overview

What It Is: Mixpanel Free is the no-cost entry to Mixpanel’s event-based digital analytics—covering product, web, and mobile—so teams can track user interactions and understand behavior in seconds.
Who It Is For: Product, marketing, engineering, and data teams at startups and growing companies who want to make confident decisions from real user behavior, not gut feel or delayed reports.
Core Problem Solved: It removes the “waiting for data” bottleneck by letting non-technical teams define events, run funnels and retention reports, and share a source of truth—without needing SQL or a separate BI tool.

How It Works

At a high level, you’ll:

Create a Mixpanel Free account and your first project.
Add Mixpanel’s SDKs to your web and mobile apps.
Start sending events (each event is a user interaction) and properties (context about those interactions).
Use self-serve reports—Insights, Funnels, Retention, Flows—to understand where users drop off, what keeps them engaged, and which cohorts to focus on.

Once your events are flowing, Mixpanel processes them in real time. You can ask questions like:

“Where are users dropping during onboarding?”
“Which behaviors predict 30-day retention?”
“Which campaigns bring high-quality, returning users?”

…and get answers in seconds, without SQL.

1. Sign up for Mixpanel Free

Go to mixpanel.com.
Click Get Started Free in the top navigation.
Sign up using:
- Your work email, or
- A Google login (SSO) if your company uses Google Workspace.
Verify your email if prompted (check your inbox and spam folder).

Once you’re in, Mixpanel will guide you through a brief onboarding flow to create a project and tailor some defaults.

2. Create your first project

A “project” in Mixpanel is an isolated analytics environment—usually one per product or environment (e.g., “MyApp – Production,” “MyApp – Staging”).

During signup or from the project switcher, you’ll:

Name your project
- Use something clear like Acme App – Production.
Choose data type / platform
- You’ll typically select Web and/or Mobile (iOS/Android). You can send data from multiple platforms into the same project.
Set your time zone and currency (if prompted)
- This ensures your charts and revenue metrics line up with how your business operates.

You can always create more projects later for staging, QA, or distinct products.

3. Choose how to track: Autocapture vs. manual events

To get value quickly, you can start with Autocapture and layer in manual events over time:

Autocapture (fast setup)
- Automatically captures core UI interactions (clicks, page views, etc.) on web.
- Great for initial exploration, understanding navigation patterns, and seeing where people click.
- Enabled by adding a single script snippet to your site.
Manual event tracking (precise, behavior-first)
- You explicitly track meaningful behaviors: Signed Up, Completed Onboarding, Viewed Pricing, Upgraded Plan, Shared Content, etc.
- Best for funnels, retention, and growth questions tied to business outcomes—not just pageviews.

For most teams, the ideal path is:

Turn on Autocapture for fast visibility.
Define a small set of core events that map to your product’s lifecycle.
Gradually expand your event model as your questions get more sophisticated.

4. Instrument your web app

You can integrate Mixpanel on the web using JavaScript, a tag manager (like Google Tag Manager), or via a framework SDK.

Basic JavaScript setup:

In Mixpanel, go to Settings → Project Settings and copy your Project Token.
Add the Mixpanel snippet to your site’s <head> or bundle:

<script type="text/javascript">
  (function(f,b){
    if(!b.__SV){var a,e,i,g;window.mixpanel=b;b._i=[];
    b.init=function(a,e,d){function f(b,h){
      var a=h.split(".");
      2==a.length&&(b=b[a[0]],h=a[1]);
      b[h]=function(){b.push([h].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,0)))}
    }
    var c=b;"undefined"!==typeof d?c=b[d]=[]:d="mixpanel";
    c.people=c.people||[];
    c.toString=function(b){var a="mixpanel";"mixpanel"!==d&&(a+="."+d);
      b||(a+=" (stub)");return a};
    c.people.toString=function(){return c.toString(1)+".people (stub)"};
    i="disable time_event track track_pageview track_links track_forms register register_once alias unregister identify name_tag set_config reset people.set people.set_once people.unset people.increment people.append people.union people.track_charge people.clear_charges people.delete_user".split(" ");
    for(g=0;g<i.length;g++)f(c,i[g]);
    b._i.push([a,e,d])
    };
    b.__SV=1.2;
    a=f.createElement("script");
    a.type="text/javascript";
    a.async=!0;
    a.src="https://cdn.mxpnl.com/libs/mixpanel-2-latest.min.js";
    e=f.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
    e.parentNode.insertBefore(a,e)
  }})(document,window.mixpanel||[]);
  mixpanel.init("YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN");
</script>

Replace "YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN" with your actual token.

Track your first event:

mixpanel.track("Signed Up", {
  plan: "Free",
  source: "Homepage CTA"
});

You’ll see this event under Reports → Insights within seconds.

Enable Autocapture (if available in your plan/region):

In the setup flow or project settings, toggle Autocapture on.
Deploy the updated snippet as instructed by Mixpanel’s guided setup.

5. Instrument your mobile app (iOS & Android)

Mixpanel offers native SDKs for mobile so you can track in-app behavior, not just web traffic.

iOS (Swift example)

Add Mixpanel via Swift Package Manager, CocoaPods, or Carthage.
Initialize it in your AppDelegate or application entry point:

import Mixpanel

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                     didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        Mixpanel.initialize(token: "YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN", trackAutomaticEvents: true)
        return true
    }
}

Track an event:

Mixpanel.mainInstance().track(event: "Completed Onboarding", properties: [
    "method": "Email",
    "experiment_variant": "variant_a"
])

Android (Kotlin example)

Add Mixpanel as a Gradle dependency.
Initialize in Application or your main Activity:

class MyApp : Application() {
    lateinit var mixpanel: MixpanelAPI

    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        mixpanel = MixpanelAPI.getInstance(this, "YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN", true)
    }
}

Track an event:

mixpanel.track("Viewed Paywall", JSONObject(mapOf(
    "plan_shown" to "Pro",
    "discount" to "10_percent"
)))

Using the same project token across web and mobile lets you analyze a unified journey: web signup → mobile app usage → conversion.

6. Define your first core events and properties

Instead of tracking everything, start with a focused, behavior-first event model. Think in terms of your product lifecycle:

Acquisition
- Signed Up, Account Created, Invited Teammate
Activation / Onboarding
- Completed Onboarding, Created First Project, Imported Data
Engagement
- Ran Report, Created Board, Shared Dashboard, Used Feature X
Monetization / Upgrade
- Started Trial, Upgraded Plan, Completed Purchase
Retention / Re-engagement
- Opened App, Returned After 7+ Days, Reactivated Subscription

For each event, attach properties that make analysis useful, for example:

plan_type, experiment_variant, device, marketing_channel, country, customer_segment

This is where Mixpanel’s event-based model shines: each event is a concrete interaction with your product and company, with all the context you need attached.

7. Verify events are coming in

After pushing your code:

In Mixpanel, open Reports → Insights.
In the event selector, search for one of your tracked event names, e.g., Signed Up.
Set the time filter to Last 30 minutes.
Trigger the event yourself in your web or mobile app.

If everything is working, you’ll see your events appear almost instantly.

If not:

Confirm you’re using the correct project token.
Check for ad blockers in web testing.
Use browser dev tools or device logs to ensure the SDK is loading and sending requests.

8. Build your first key reports

Once events are flowing, Mixpanel Free lets you explore behavior in seconds.

Insights: See trends and segments

Use Insights to answer questions like:

How many users signed up yesterday vs. last week?
Which channels bring the most signups?
How does feature usage differ by plan?

Example:

Open Insights.
Select the Signed Up event.
Group by source (e.g., Homepage CTA, Paid Search, Referral).
Change the chart type or time bucket to see trends.

Funnels: Diagnose drop-off

Use Funnels for “Where are people dropping?” questions:

Signed Up → Completed Onboarding → Created First Project
Viewed Pricing → Started Trial → Upgraded Plan

Steps:

Go to Reports → Funnels.
Add each event as a step in order.
Choose “completed within” (e.g., 7 days).
Review conversion and drop-off between steps.

This is often the first report that surfaces easy wins—like a broken step or confusing UI.

Retention: See what keeps users coming back

Use Retention to see which behaviors drive long-term usage:

Cohort by users who Completed Onboarding.
Measure retention by Opened App or Ran Report over 4–12 weeks.

Steps:

Go to Reports → Retention.
Choose a start event (e.g., Signed Up).
Choose a returning event (e.g., Opened App).
Analyze retention curves and break them down by plan_type, country, or channel.

Flows: Understand paths

Use Flows to visualize the actual user paths before or after a key event:

What do users do before Upgraded Plan?
What do users do after Viewed Paywall?

Flows show real sequences of events so you can spot unexpected loops or dead ends.

9. Share with your team using Boards

To turn analytics into decision infrastructure, you’ll want shared visibility.

Create a Board for core metrics (e.g., “Product Health – Web & Mobile”).
Pin your:
- Activation funnel
- Weekly active users (web + mobile)
- Key feature usage charts
- Retention charts
Add descriptions so anyone can understand what each chart shows.
Share the Board with Product, Marketing, and Engineering so everyone sees the same source of truth.

Even on Mixpanel Free, this helps teams move faster together and reduces one-off data requests.

Features & Benefits Breakdown

Core Feature	What It Does	Primary Benefit
Event-based tracking (web + mobile)	Captures user interactions as events with rich properties across web, iOS, and Android	Understand real behavior across platforms in one place
Self-serve reports (Insights, Funnels, Retention, Flows)	Lets anyone analyze trends, drop-off, and retention without SQL	Answer product questions in seconds, no data team required
Autocapture & guided setup	Automatically tracks key web interactions and provides AI-guided setup templates	Get value quickly with minimal engineering effort

Ideal Use Cases

Best for early-stage teams setting up analytics for the first time: Because Mixpanel Free lets you instrument core events on web and mobile, then run funnels and retention analyses without building a full data stack.
Best for growing teams stuck in SQL queues: Because non-technical stakeholders can explore user behavior and build dashboards on their own, reducing time spent handling one-off data requests.

Limitations & Considerations

Event volume and feature limits: Mixpanel Free has caps on monthly tracked users/events and some advanced capabilities. As you scale, you may need a paid plan to unlock higher limits and more features.
Requires thoughtful event design: You can get started quickly with Autocapture, but to answer higher-value questions, you’ll need to define a clear event taxonomy. Plan a small initial schema and expand from there.

Pricing & Plans

Mixpanel Free is designed so teams can start with digital analytics—product, web, and mobile—without upfront cost.

You can Get Started Free directly from mixpanel.com and begin tracking events right away.
When you outgrow Free limits, you can move to paid options that scale with your traffic and complexity.

Typical upgrade paths include:

Growth / Startup plans: Best for teams needing higher event volumes, more data history, and collaboration features as product usage grows.
Enterprise plans: Best for organizations that need advanced governance (define source-of-truth metrics, role-based permissions), SSO/SAML, audit logs, and support at billions of events per month.

For exact pricing, visit the Pricing page or Contact Sales from the Mixpanel site.

Free Plan: Best for startups and small teams needing to validate their event model, set up web and mobile analytics, and enable basic self-serve reporting.
Paid Plans (Growth/Enterprise): Best for scaling orgs needing higher limits, governance, security compliance, and cross-team rollout.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a data warehouse to use Mixpanel Free?

Short Answer: No. You can use Mixpanel Free directly with web and mobile SDKs—no warehouse required.

Details: Mixpanel is an event-based digital analytics platform. You can send events directly from your apps using the SDKs and start analyzing behavior immediately. If you already have a warehouse (e.g., BigQuery) or CDP (e.g., Segment), Mixpanel also supports connectors so you can bring that data in—but it’s optional, especially when you’re just setting up your first project.

Can I track both web and mobile in the same Mixpanel project?

Short Answer: Yes. You can use the same project token across web, iOS, and Android to analyze a unified journey.

Details: Mixpanel projects are platform-agnostic. As long as your web and mobile SDKs use the same project token, events will land in the same project. You can then:

Filter by platform using event/user properties.
Build funnels that span web and mobile steps (e.g., web signup → mobile activation).
Create Boards that show overall product health across all platforms.

This is ideal when you think of your product as a single experience that users access through multiple devices.

Summary

Signing up for Mixpanel Free and setting up your first project for web and mobile is straightforward:

Create a free account and your first project.
Install the web and mobile SDKs using your project token.
Define a small, behavior-first event model that reflects how users interact with your product.
Verify events are arriving and build your first Insights, Funnels, Retention, and Flows reports.
Share a Board so your team can make decisions from the same source of truth—without SQL bottlenecks.

From there, you can iterate: refine events, add properties, and expand to more advanced workflows like Session Replay, Experiments, and Metric Trees as you grow.

Next Step

Get Started