✓ 100% independent✓ Most complete overview✓ Free expert advice
New MetricsTake the quiz

Compare

Compare Analytics Tools

Rating
4.5/5
Summary
A customisable and free web analytics tool. Get insights into user behavior with an event-based tracking model, and know what drives sales and traffic with extensive attribution methods.
Chartbeat is a suite of content analytics tools for publishers that lets you track reader engagement on your site, optimize your user experience in real-time, and share key metrics with your team.
Snowplow is an enterprise-strength event analytics platform. It Identifies its users and tracks the way they engage with the website or application.
AI-powered analytics and attribution platform that unifies website, product, and marketing data in one tool.
Pros
  • GA4 is free to use
  • Many functionalities
  • The reports are customisable
  • Large community
  • Extensive documentation
  • GA4 is easily scalable
  • Comes with headline testing tool
  • Dashboards are easy to read
  • Reporting is in realtime
  • Good referral report
  • Elaborate data import options
  • Simple Client-side & server-side tracking
  • Great support
  • AI-powered attribution
  • Combined web + product analytics
  • Auto-capture without developers
  • Privacy-friendly
Cons
  • Steep learning curve
  • Implementation can be hard
  • Inaccurate data sampling
  • UI is not easy to use
  • Mainly designed for publishers
  • Their pricing is untransparent
  • Traffic sources could be improved
  • Steep learning curve
  • Technical knowledge needed for implementation
  • Only a collection tool
  • Relatively new player
  • No self-hosting option

Pricing information

Starting Price
StandardFree
GA4 360$50k+ per year
BasicOn req.
PlusOn req.
PremiumOn req.
Test & Experiment TrackingFree
Self-Hosted PipelineOn req.
Snowplow PlatformOn req.
Free trial period
Free plan
14 days
14 days
Free plan

Account Management

Trackable Items
100
1
Unlimited
User Seats
Unlimited
Unlimited
Unlimited
3+ depending on plan
Account Security
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication
  • Single Sign-on
  • Two-factor Authentication

Data Processing

Data Center Locations
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • United States
Software Hosting
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise
Data Ownership
Google Analytics 4
Chartbeat
You
You
Data Freshness
4-8 hours (most reports), up to 24-48 hours
Realtime
Realtime
Realtime
Data Retention
Customizable up to 14 months
13 months
Unlimited
Unlimited
Data Sampling
Explorations might use sampled data
Usermaven does not sample data
Data Import
Import cost, offline or user/client ID data
Google Analytics importer
Data Export
With sheets, BigQuery or API
Via API or CSV
Compliance
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • HIPAA
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
Cookieless
Google Analytics relies on first-party cookies.
Uses first-party cookies by default. Cookieless mode is optional.
Cookieless tracking available

Alerts & Automation

Custom Alerts
Custom insights, in interface or via email
Threshold-based alerts
Email Reports
Recurring shared reporting
Scheduled email reports

Reporting

Trend Reporting
Device Reporting
Device type, browser, OS and more
Funnel Reporting
Customisable funnel exploration
AI-powered funnel analysis
User Flow Reporting
Flexible Sankey chart exploration
User journey visualization
Segmentation
Segment creation and overlap exploration
Segments & cohorts
Cohort Reports
Cohort exploration
Based on first visit, first action, channel or custom events
Retention Reporting
Combined with CLTV metrics
CLTV Analysis
Retention analysis (Business plan)
Attribution Reporting
Attribution models comparison
Multi-touch attribution with 7 models
Ecommerce Reporting
Extensive e-commerce reports
Revenue attribution

User Experience Features

Heatmaps
GA4 does not offer heatmaps
Session Recordings
GA4 does not offer recordings
A/B Testing
Headline A/B testing tool
User Feedback

Customizability

Custom Properties
25 user-scoped & 50 event-scoped dimensions
Custom properties
Custom Metrics
50 event-scoped metrics
Custom Reports
All reports are customisable
Custom dashboards
Custom Events
25 parameters per event
Auto-captured events
Annotations
Notes feature added in 2024

Support

Support description
Support is available via chat and the support center.
Chartbeat's support is accessible by email during regular office hours. Overall they provide extensive documentation, but their support staff is responsive and very knowledgable in case you face issues.
Usermaven offers documentation, live chat support, and email support.
Support Options
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Live Chat
  • Ticketing system
  • Knowledge base
  • Community

Looking for more answers?

Check out our knowledge base for more articles on analytics, tracking and privacy.

Go to the knowledge base