Google Analytics (GA4) vs Open Web Analytics comparison

Compare pricing, deployment, product fit, integrations, and capabilities side by side.

Which platform fits your needs?

Choose Google Analytics (GA4) if

All website owners, from small businesses to enterprises

Capabilities only listed for Google Analytics (GA4)

Free plan App analytics Funnels Audience insights AI insights Cohort analysis Cross-device tracking Enterprise

Important considerations: GA4 has a steep reporting and consent-configuration learning curve; Analytics 360 pricing is not public and standard properties have lower limits.

Choose Open Web Analytics if

Tech-savvy users who want a free, self-hosted analytics solution

Capabilities only listed for Open Web Analytics

Self-hosted Open source Heatmaps Data ownership

Important considerations: Community-maintained software requires self-hosting and technical upkeep; official product documentation and release communication are less active than major alternatives.

Shared capabilities

Real-time data E-commerce tracking Event tracking Behavior analytics Revenue tracking User segments Goals Data export Integrations Custom reports Retention analytics

Attribute	Google Analytics (GA4)	Open Web Analytics
Overview	Google's mainstream analytics platform for web and app measurement, built around GA4 events, attribution, advertising integrations, and BigQuery-connected reporting for larger deployments.	A GPL-licensed, self-hosted web analytics framework with pageview and event tracking, conversion goals, funnels, segmentation, click heatmaps, visitor paths, and WordPress support.
Pricing	GA4 standard is free; Google Analytics 360 is enterprise-priced via Google sales	Free, open source
Deployment	Vendor-hosted cloud	Self-hosted
Best for	All website owners, from small businesses to enterprises	Tech-savvy users who want a free, self-hosted analytics solution
Operator	Google LLC Subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.	Open Web Analytics project Independent project
Company base	Mountain View, United States · United States	Distributed organization
Organization scale	190,820 employees · parent company, as of 31 Dec 2025	No comparable official organization-size figure was publicly disclosed.
Recent direction	marketing attribution Recent official evidence shows a focus on marketing attribution.	operational reliability Recent official evidence shows a focus on operational reliability.
Key features	Web and app event analytics Real-time reports E-commerce measurement Advertising attribution Audience building Explorations and funnels BigQuery export Google Ads integration	Self-hosted GPL software Pageview and event tracking Conversion goals and funnels Visitor segmentation Click heatmaps Visitor paths Ecommerce tracking WordPress integration
Important considerations	GA4 has a steep reporting and consent-configuration learning curve; Analytics 360 pricing is not public and standard properties have lower limits.	Community-maintained software requires self-hosting and technical upkeep; official product documentation and release communication are less active than major alternatives.
Integrations	Google Ads, BigQuery, Shopify	WordPress
Fact check	We checked this information against official vendor sources on 2026-08-08.	We checked this information against official vendor sources on 2026-08-08.

Capability matrix

This matrix shows capabilities recorded in our catalog. Not listed means we have not confirmed the capability here. Check the linked vendor sources for plan, deployment, and usage limits.

Attribute	Google Analytics (GA4)	Open Web Analytics
AI insights	Listed	Not listed
App analytics	Listed	Not listed
Audience insights	Listed	Not listed
Behavior analytics	Listed	Listed
Cohort analysis	Listed	Not listed
Cross-device tracking	Listed	Not listed
Custom reports	Listed	Listed
Data export	Listed	Listed
Data ownership	Not listed	Listed
E-commerce tracking	Listed	Listed
Enterprise	Listed	Not listed
Event tracking	Listed	Listed
Free plan	Listed	Not listed
Funnels	Listed	Not listed
Goals	Listed	Listed
Heatmaps	Not listed	Listed
Integrations	Listed	Listed
Open source	Not listed	Listed
Real-time data	Listed	Listed
Retention analytics	Listed	Listed
Revenue tracking	Listed	Listed
Self-hosted	Not listed	Listed
User segments	Listed	Listed

Full details: Google Analytics (GA4) Full details: Open Web Analytics