Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Postscript vs Umami

Postscript logo

Postscript

Marketing

SMS marketing built for Shopify merchants, with carrier fees billed on top of message rates

From
$49/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Umami has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Postscript carrier pass-through fees are billed on top of the per-message rate, roughly $0.00418 per SMS and $0.00841 per MMS in the United States, and are routinely missing from the cost comparisons buyers build.; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: Postscript covers Shopify segmentation, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Postscript and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where Postscript and Umami differ
AttributePostscriptUmami
Starting price$49/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month plus per message sentPer month by event count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOSWeb, Linux

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Postscript

  • Shopify segmentation
  • Automated flows
  • Subscriber acquisition
  • Two-way conversations
  • MMS campaigns
  • Revenue attribution
  • Headless SDK
  • Usage-based tiers

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Postscript

  • A Shopify direct-to-consumer brand that wants abandoned cart recovery by text rather than another email in an ignored inboxnot Umami
  • A brand running a product drop where a timed broadcast to an opted-in list is the whole launch mechanismnot Umami
  • A merchant segmenting by past purchase and variant to send replenishment reminders at the right intervalnot Umami
  • A store on headless Shopify or a custom stack that still wants SMS built on order data through the SDKnot Umami

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot Postscript
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot Postscript
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot Postscript
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot Postscript

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Postscript

  • Carrier pass-through fees are billed on top of the per-message rate, roughly $0.00418 per SMS and $0.00841 per MMS in the United States, and are routinely missing from the cost comparisons buyers build.
  • The cheapest per-message rates require the $500 a month plan, so a small sender pays more than double the headline low rate per text.
  • The $0 Starter plan carries a $49 minimum monthly spend, so it is not a free tier and quiet months still generate a bill.
  • US SMS marketing carries real legal exposure under consent, quiet hours and carrier registration rules, and the compliance obligation sits with the merchant, not the platform.
  • It is SMS and MMS only, so email, push and on-site messaging live in a separate tool and audience suppression between the two has to be managed across systems.

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Postscript

$49/month
  • Starter$49/month
    • $0 base fee but a $49 minimum monthly spend
    • SMS at $0.015 and MMS at $0.045 per message
    • Campaigns, automations, acquisition tools and analytics
  • Growth$100/month
    • Lower per-message rates than Starter
    • Full campaign and automation feature set
    • No contract required
  • Professional$500/month
    • Rates falling towards $0.007 SMS and $0.024 MMS
    • Suited to high-volume senders
    • Upgrade or downgrade at any time
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom pricing on a contract
    • Negotiated message rates and support terms

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Postscript if

  • You need shopify segmentation.
  • You work on Web, iOS.
  • You also want automated flows.
Postscript review

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is Postscript or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. Postscript starts at $49/month and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Postscript or Umami?
Umami has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $49/month for Postscript and Free for Umami.
Does Postscript or Umami run on more platforms?
Postscript runs on Web, iOS. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Umami for free?
Yes. Umami has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Postscript starts at $49/month.
What is Postscript best used for?
Postscript is most often used for a shopify direct-to-consumer brand that wants abandoned cart recovery by text rather than another email in an ignored inbox, a brand running a product drop where a timed broadcast to an opted-in list is the whole launch mechanism, a merchant segmenting by past purchase and variant to send replenishment reminders at the right interval, a store on headless shopify or a custom stack that still wants sms built on order data through the sdk. Of those, a shopify direct-to-consumer brand that wants abandoned cart recovery by text rather than another email in an ignored inbox and a brand running a product drop where a timed broadcast to an opted-in list is the whole launch mechanism are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can Postscript do that Umami cannot?
Postscript covers Shopify segmentation, Automated flows, Subscriber acquisition, Two-way conversations. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Postscript: Is Postscript only for Shopify?

It is built for Shopify and that is where its segmentation advantage lies, but headless and non-Shopify stores are supported through an SDK with more setup work.

Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

Postscript: What is the real cost per text?

The plan rate plus carrier fees. On Starter that is about $0.015 plus roughly $0.00418 in US carrier fees per SMS, so budget close to two cents a message before discounts.

Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

Postscript: Is the Starter plan free?

No. The base fee is $0 but there is a $49 minimum monthly spend, so it functions as a $49 floor.

Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

Postscript: Do I need a contract?

No. Contracts are offered but not required, and plans can be moved up or down at any time under usage-based billing.

Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

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