In your values.yaml for the PostHog Helm chart, define your external storage.
In this article, we will deep-dive into what makes "PostHog session replay portable" a game-changer for engineering and product teams. We will explore how to export your data, why self-hosting gives you ultimate control, and how to avoid vendor lock-in forever. To understand why portability matters, you must first understand the standard SaaS model. posthog session replay portable
| Feature | PostHog | FullStory | Hotjar | LogRocket | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | ✅ (Open Source) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Raw JSON Export | ✅ (Native) | ❌ (API limited) | ❌ (CSV only metadata) | ✅ (Paid add-on) | | Offline Player | ✅ (NPM package) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Data Warehouse Destination | ✅ (Native) | ✅ (Expensive) | ❌ | ✅ (Via API) | | Vendor Lock-in Risk | Zero | Extreme | High | Moderate | In your values
By adopting a portable session replay strategy today, you future-proof your product analytics. You ensure that your user insights remain a strategic asset you control, not a subscription you rent. To understand why portability matters, you must first
Navigate to your S3 bucket. You will see a folder structure like: /clickhouse/.../session_recording_events/ . Open one of the .parquet or .json files. You will see raw event data including timestamp , window_id , and snapshot_data . Method B: The Batch Export API (For PostHog Cloud Users) If you use PostHog Cloud but want portability, you don't need to self-host entirely. Use the Batch Export API.