Last verified 33 days ago·23 sources·Updated automatically
Founded
2005
Headquarters
Mountain View, CA
Employees
190.8k
Free tier
Yes
Script size
135.7 KB
Overview
Google Analytics is a free web and app analytics platform from Google, built around audience and conversion insights. The standard GA4 tier is permanently free with no trial period, while a paid enterprise tier sits above it.
It covers the core of product analytics: a real-time dashboard, custom event tracking, goal and conversion tracking, funnel analysis up to multiple steps, and native ecommerce revenue reporting. Raw event-level data exports to BigQuery, and a Data API supports programmatic querying. An official Google WordPress plugin and scheduled email reports round out the integration surface.
On privacy and data ownership it is a proprietary, cloud-only service. Google operates as a GDPR data processor, but GA4 relies on first-party cookies, requires a consent banner, does not offer EU-only data residency, and caps free-tier retention at 14 months.
Best for
Teams that want full web analytics at no cost, since the standard tier is free with no trial limit.
Ecommerce sites needing revenue, conversion, and funnel reporting in one tool.
Data teams that want raw event-level data, with export to BigQuery and a Data API for custom analysis.
WordPress sites wanting an official, Google-published plugin for setup.
Marketers tracking live activity and custom events without engineering a reporting pipeline.
Less ideal for
Privacy-first teams needing cookieless tracking, since GA4 sets first-party cookies and requires a consent banner.
Organizations that must keep EU traffic stored in the EU; GA4 forwards data to Google's global processing servers with no EU-only residency.
Teams wanting to self-host or run open-source analytics; GA4 is proprietary and cloud-only.
Users needing built-in heatmaps, which GA4 does not provide.
Anyone needing long-term retention or a public, no-login dashboard; free retention caps at 14 months and reports require a Google account to view.
Pricing
Starting Monthly Price (USD)
Not tracked yet
Offers Free Tier
GA4 standard is entirely free to use with no time limit. Google Analytics 360 is the paid enterprise tier.
Free Trial Length (Days)
0 days· No free trial needed — GA4 standard is permanently free. No paid plan exists at entry level.
Entry Plan Pageview Limit (Monthly)
Not tracked yet
Entry Plan Website Limit
Not tracked yet
Analytics capabilities
Real-Time Dashboard
Realtime report shows active users in last 5 and 30 minutes, events, sources, and pages as they happen.
Custom Event Tracking
Custom events tracked via gtag('event', '<name>', {params}) or Google Tag Manager on any plan.
Goal / Conversion Tracking
Any event can be marked as a key event (conversion); GA4 reports key-event counts and rates by source, medium, and campaign.
Funnels
Funnel Exploration (in Explore) supports up to 10 steps with per-step drop-off rates, open and closed funnel modes.
Ecommerce / Revenue Tracking
Native ecommerce reporting includes revenue by transaction, purchase journey, checkout journey, and monetization overview.
Heatmaps
GA4 has no built-in click/scroll heatmap feature. Heatmaps require a separate third-party tool (e.g. Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity).
Privacy & compliance
Cookieless Tracking
GA4 uses first-party cookies (_ga, _ga_<id>) by default. Cookieless operation is not a supported mode.
Consent Banner Required
GA4 sets cookies and processes personal data; GDPR/ePrivacy require a consent banner for EU users.
GDPR Compliant
Google states it operates as a GDPR data processor for GA4, with Data Processing Terms, ISO 27001, and consent tooling.
EU Data Residency
EU traffic is initially collected on EU servers but is then forwarded to Google Analytics processing servers globally; data is not stored exclusively in the EU.
Data ownership & deployment
Open Source
GA4 is a proprietary cloud service. No source code is publicly available.
License
proprietary· GA4 is a closed-source cloud product. API client libraries are Apache 2.0 but the platform is proprietary.
Self-Hostable
GA4 is cloud-only with no self-hosting option. All data is sent to Google's servers.
Data Retention (Months)
14 mo· Free GA4 properties can choose 2 or 14 months retention for user/event-level data; 14 months is the maximum on the free tier.
Unlimited Data Retention
Free GA4 caps retention at 14 months for user/event-level data. No unlimited/forever retention option on any GA4 tier.
Google Analytics Import
GA4 cannot import historical Universal Analytics analytics data. Data Import covers external business data (cost, item, user, offline events) only — not migrating legacy GA report history.
Raw Data Export
Raw event-level data exportable to BigQuery (free sandbox available); daily and streaming export modes. Data API also available.
Platform & integrations
Has API
GA4 Data API (v1) enables programmatic querying of analytics data with runReport, runRealtimeReport, and more.
Tracking Script Size (KB)
135.7 KB· gtag.js baseline payload; varies with property configuration.
Official WordPress Plugin
Site Kit by Google is an official Google-published WordPress plugin that includes GA4 integration.
Email Reports
GA4 admins can schedule up to 50 reports for email delivery (daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly) in PDF or CSV format.
Public Dashboard Sharing
GA4 reports cannot be shared publicly without a Google account. Share links require recipients to have GA property access.
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