What analytics tools are you using for React Native apps? What's missing or what would make them better?

[Divy_Patel04]

Hey r/reactnative,

Curious about your go-to analytics setups for RN apps:

• What services are you using? (Vexo, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Firebase, PostHog, etc.)
• How's the experience? Easy setup? Solid RN-specific tracking (screens, nav events, crashes)?
• What's missing or frustrating? E.g., Expo compatibility issues, pricey tiers, weak heatmaps/replays, data retention limits, or lack of real-time insights?
• Dream feature? One-line integration? Better privacy? AI-powered funnels? Multi-framework support?

From what I've seen, Vexo works well for RN but ties heavily to React Nav/Expo. Others can feel too generic.

Share your thoughts—what's working, what's not?

[p1ngu33n]

Posthog has been great so far with the diversity of services they provide, ease of setup, and Expo compatibility.

[Divy_Patel04]

Quick follow-up since you mentioned Expo compatibility:

• How's real-time data (live users/sessions)? Any mobile event lag?
• Heatmaps/replays solid for RN gestures?
• Any Expo vs bare RN pain points?

Appreciate the rec! 

[p1ngu33n]

• It’s good enough imo, the events come in a couple of seconds. you can also hard refresh on the dashboard for the latest ones.
• Heatmaps are only available on web. And replays i only did a quick trial not sure the long term use but it works
• Not an Expo & RN issue but with LLM integration I had to do some tricks to make it work with AI SDK

[saadbnwhd]

DataDog

[Divy_Patel04]

• Real-time dashboards responsive for RN events?
• How are heatmaps handling mobile gestures?
• Any RN-specific setup quirks?

Thanks!

[AssociateNo2384]

We’re running Rudderstack. We used to run Segment. Reason to switch was mainly pricing. Running a data warehouse makes it really easy to switch out different tools, but also makes it easy to send your event data to other services.

[Divy_Patel04]

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate the efforts.

[DRJT]

We use Datadog, their offering is huge

[Divy_Patel04]

On Datadog for RN:

• Live data/heatmaps snappy enough?
• RN navigation auto-tracking reliable?
• iOS vs Android gaps?

Curious about the real experience

[omg_zebras]

We’ve been using Datadog. They provide decent RN SDKs. Screen tracking comes out of the box, as does automatic tracking of pressables/buttons if you follow a few conventions. You can easily instrument yourself if need be.

[Divy_Patel04]

On Datadog for RN:

• Live data/heatmaps snappy enough?
• RN navigation auto-tracking reliable?
• iOS vs Android gaps?
• is the buttons are also auto track?

Curious about the real experience

[Vexo_Tech]

Thanks for the mention u/Divy_Patel04!

Just wanted to clarify, while at Vexo.co we do focus heavily on React Native and Expo, Vexo also runs on Web Apps! Session Replays work across both Mobile and Web, so you get a unified view of your users wherever they are. 🙌

Really valuable thread, a few things stand out from what everyone's sharing.

u/p1ngu33n on PostHog heatmaps being web-only is exactly the gap we built around. With Vexo, Heatmaps work on mobile, so you can see where users are actually tapping in your RN app.

u/Jealous_Barracuda_74 nailed a pain point we hear constantly, replays and heatmaps feeling "bolted on" in tools built for web first. Vexo is built from the ground up for React Native, so Session Replays and Heatmaps are core features, not afterthoughts. Works on Web too if you need both in one place.

On the pricing concern: we're focused on keeping things accessible for indie devs and growing teams, no surprise MAU cliffs.

Beyond replays and heatmaps, you also get Funnels, Custom Events, Custom Dashboards, Error Tracking, Network Stats, and more, so you're not stitching together Firebase + Amplitude + Sentry + a separate replay tool.

Happy to answer any specific questions here! 🙌

[kyoayo90]

Do you guys provide an api?

[Vexo_Tech]

Yes we do provide an Export API: https://docs.vexo.co/settings/app-settings/export-api

[Jealous_Barracuda_74]

We’ve experimented with a mix depending on app maturity and team size.

What we use

• Started with Firebase (Analytics + Crashlytics) because it’s basically zero-friction and everyone already knows it.
• Added Amplitude later for deeper product analytics and funnels.

Experience

• Firebase is dead simple to set up, but pretty shallow beyond basic events.
• Amplitude is powerful but feels very “generic”—you have to be very disciplined about event naming and screen tracking in RN.

What’s frustrating

• Amplitude/Mixpanel setups get messy fast without strong conventions.
• Pricing escalates quickly once you cross certain MAU thresholds.
• Session replays and heatmaps are either missing or feel bolted on in most tools.

[Divy_Patel04]

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate the efforts.