walkerOS vs. Jitsu
Jitsu is an open-source data collection platform founded in 2020 (Y Combinator S20), positioning itself as a Segment alternative. It focuses on streaming event data to data warehouses. Here's how it compares to walkerOS.
Quick comparison
| Feature | Jitsu | walkerOS |
|---|---|---|
| Open-source | Yes (MIT) | Yes (MIT) |
| Company location | USA | Germany |
| Data hosting | Self-host anywhere, US-hosting for Cloud version | Self-host anywhere |
| Pricing | Free up to 200k events, then start at $99 per month for 2M events (Cloud) | Free, self-hosted (Paid support available) |
| Consent handling | Config option (privacy mode) | First-class (consent in events) |
| Event model | Schema-less, freeform naming | Structured entity-action |
| Primary destinations | Data warehouses | Warehouses + ad platforms |
| Composable tagging | No | Yes (tag once in component, use everywhere) |
Who should use what?
Choose Jitsu if
- You're migrating from Segment and want API compatibility
- You need included ClickHouse storage on the free tier
- Data residency in the EU is not a requirement
Choose walkerOS if
- You need consent state in every event (GDPR-native, not just compliant)
- You're routing to ad platforms (Meta, Google) and need match quality
- You're a European company needing pure EU data hosting
- You want structured event naming (entity-action prevents chaos at scale)
Key differences
Consent handling
Jitsu: Offers a "privacy mode" that can be enabled via configuration. When active, it uses fingerprints instead of cookies and truncates IP addresses. However, consent is a configuration setting, not a property of the event itself. The consent state does not travel with events to destinations.
walkerOS: Consent is a first-class citizen. Every event carries its consent state, so destinations always know what permissions were granted. This matters for GDPR accountability: you can prove exactly what consent existed when each event was collected.
Data residency
Jitsu: US-based company with US-only infrastructure. According to their privacy policy, data is "stored and processed on servers in the United States" with no EU hosting option. For EU companies, this creates potential Schrems II compliance concerns when collecting personal data (IP addresses, user IDs, behavioral data).
walkerOS: German company. The open-source software can be self-hosted on pure EU infrastructure, eliminating transatlantic data transfer concerns entirely. A commercial product is in development.
Event model
Jitsu: Schema-less by design. Accepts any JSON, auto-creates warehouse columns, and uses freeform event naming (like Segment's "Product Viewed"). This is flexible but can lead to inconsistent naming across teams and messy warehouse schemas over time.
walkerOS: Uses structured entity-action naming (product view, order complete).
This convention enforces consistency: you always know what entity was involved
and what action occurred. Optional contracts can validate events at collection
time, catching issues before they reach your warehouse.
Destination focus
Jitsu: Built primarily for streaming to data warehouses (BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL). The warehouse is the core destination.
walkerOS: Destination-agnostic with strong support for ad platforms. Send events to warehouses AND to Meta/Google with high match quality for conversion optimization. This matters if you need both analytics and marketing use cases from the same event stream.
Tagging approach
Jitsu: JavaScript SDK similar to Google Analytics. Add a tracking script, then call tracking functions in your code. Quick to start, but tracking code lives separate from your components.
walkerOS: HTML attribute-based tagging with first-class React/Next.js support.
Add data-elb attributes to components. Events are captured automatically based
on user interactions. Tracking lives with your components, not in a separate
tracking layer.
Cost
Jitsu: Free cloud tier up to 200k events/month with included ClickHouse. Business plans start at $99/month for 2M events. Self-hosted is free (MIT).
walkerOS: The open-source software is free with no event limits. Currently self-hosted only - you pay for your own infrastructure. Optional paid services include implementation support and SLAs.
The trade-off
Jitsu optimizes for speed of setup: add a script tag, start collecting, auto-infer schemas, stream to warehouse.
walkerOS optimizes for quality of data over time: structured events, consent-native, ad platform routing, EU-hosted.
If you need to collect data fast and your destination is a warehouse, Jitsu's simplicity is compelling. If you need consent in every event, route to ad platforms, or require EU data residency, walkerOS is the better fit.
Can they work together?
Yes! You can use walkerOS for event collection and send data to Jitsu as a destination. This gives you walkerOS's composable tagging, consent handling, and structured events on the frontend, with Jitsu's warehouse streaming on the backend.
Getting started
Ready to try walkerOS? Check out the quickstart guide to set up component-level tagging with consent-native event collection.