Google Analytics (GA4) vs Smartlook 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 Real-time data E-commerce tracking Revenue tracking Audience insights Goals Custom reports AI insights Cohort analysis 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 Smartlook if

Existing Smartlook customers planning a move to another web or mobile behavior analytics platform

Capabilities only listed for Smartlook

Error tracking Session recordings Heatmaps

Important considerations: Paid support ends August 31, 2027. Export required data before your paid plan expires: historical data does not migrate to Splunk automatically. The platform and remaining data are scheduled for removal on September 30, 2027.

Shared capabilities

App analytics Event tracking Behavior analytics Funnels User segments Data export Integrations Retention analytics Cross-device tracking

Attribute	Google Analytics (GA4)	Smartlook
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 web and mobile behavior analytics product with session recordings, heatmaps, funnels, events, and crash reports. Smartlook reached end of sale on May 31, 2026 and is no longer available to new customers.
Pricing	GA4 standard is free; Google Analytics 360 is enterprise-priced via Google sales	No new subscriptions since May 31, 2026. Renewals and expansions end August 31, 2026.
Deployment	Vendor-hosted cloud	Vendor-hosted cloud
Best for	All website owners, from small businesses to enterprises	Existing Smartlook customers planning a move to another web or mobile behavior analytics platform
Operator	Google LLC Subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.	Smartlook, s.r.o. Subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.
Company base	Mountain View, United States · United States	Brno, Czechia · European Union
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.	platform integration Recent official evidence shows a focus on platform integration.
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	Web and mobile session replay Heatmaps Funnels Event analytics Crash reports User identification Mobile app analytics
Important considerations	GA4 has a steep reporting and consent-configuration learning curve; Analytics 360 pricing is not public and standard properties have lower limits.	Paid support ends August 31, 2027. Export required data before your paid plan expires: historical data does not migrate to Splunk automatically. The platform and remaining data are scheduled for removal on September 30, 2027.
Integrations	Google Ads, BigQuery, Shopify	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 2026-08-27.

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)	Smartlook
AI insights	Listed	Not listed
App analytics	Listed	Listed
Audience insights	Listed	Not listed
Behavior analytics	Listed	Listed
Cohort analysis	Listed	Not listed
Cross-device tracking	Listed	Listed
Custom reports	Listed	Not listed
Data export	Listed	Listed
E-commerce tracking	Listed	Not listed
Enterprise	Listed	Not listed
Error tracking	Not listed	Listed
Event tracking	Listed	Listed
Free plan	Listed	Not listed
Funnels	Listed	Listed
Goals	Listed	Not listed
Heatmaps	Not listed	Listed
Integrations	Listed	Listed
Real-time data	Listed	Not listed
Retention analytics	Listed	Listed
Revenue tracking	Listed	Not listed
Session recordings	Not listed	Listed
User segments	Listed	Listed

Full details: Google Analytics (GA4) Full details: Smartlook