Software review
Google Analytics Review
Free, standard, and the thing every other analytics tool gets compared to.
Every site that needs to know how many people arrived, from where, and whether they converted — there's essentially no reason not to have this installed alongside whatever else you use.
The one tool on this list that isn't really optional — every client gets this installed regardless of what else is in the stack, because the conversion and channel-attribution data underneath every other decision comes from here. Microsoft Clarity runs alongside it, not instead of it.
- From
- $0 / mo
- Free tier
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.0 / 5
Overview
Google Analytics (GA4) is free with no collection fee and no expiry — the tier essentially every site, including local-service business sites, runs on. It's the deepest natively integrated option with the rest of Google's marketing stack (Ads, Search Console, Tag Manager), and BigQuery export means the raw data isn't locked into Google's own reporting UI. The event-based model is a real learning curve for anyone used to the old Universal Analytics reports, and the free tier caps data retention at 14 months.
Best for
Every site that needs to know how many people arrived, from where, and whether they converted — there's essentially no reason not to have this installed alongside whatever else you use.
Not for
Anyone who wants to see what a visitor actually did on a page — GA4 tells you the destination and the outcome, not the behaviour in between.
How it performs
Each row is either our editorial view, drawn from using the product and reading around it, or a capability listed in the vendor’s own documentation — tagged so you know which. None of it is a controlled benchmark.
Genuinely free with no meaningful cap for a local-service business's traffic volume
EEditor’s viewDeepest native integration with the rest of Google's marketing stack (Ads, Search Console, Tag Manager)
EEditor’s viewBigQuery export means the raw data isn't locked into Google's own reporting UI
EEditor’s viewFree, unlimited-duration traffic and conversion tracking
DDocsNative integration with Google Ads, Search Console and Tag Manager
DDocsEvent-based data model with custom conversion definitions
DDocsBigQuery export for raw data access (included on the free tier)
DDocsPricing record
Captured from the vendor’s pricing page. Prices change — this is dated.
| Plan | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (GA4) | $0 | No collection fee, no expiry — the free tier most sites run on |
| Analytics 360 | Custom | Enterprise tier sold direct through Google sales; no public list price, real-world quotes run into six figures annually |
Vendors change plans often — confirm before you buy.
Sources: pricing and feature information captured from marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/ on 16 Sept 2026. Editor comments are our own judgement, not vendor statements.