Google Analytics 4

Active

Google Analytics 4 is Google’s hosted analytics service, free in its standard version, with Analytics 360 sold by contract; events are its basic unit of measurement. Its tags set first-party cookies by default and, in consent mode, send cookieless measurements when a visitor declines analytics storage; you cannot choose where data is stored.

Web analytics
Cloud
Based in United States
Founded 2005
Checked 17 Sep 2026

Visit website ↗Pricing details Alternatives Similar tools

Tracking script

145.9 KB compressed

419.8 KB uncompressed · measured 17 Sep 2026

Heavier than 38 of the 39 other measured scripts. Each line is one tool; hover to see which.

The file is generated for each data stream, so its size depends on the stream’s settings. Measured with the placeholder ID from Google’s documentation.

Price

FromFree

At 100k eventsFree

Billed by events · checked 17 Sep 2026

Google Analytics (standard)Free

All plans and prices →

Privacy and data

Cookies: Optional
Data location: US
Self-hosting: No
Source code: Closed

Plans

Free plan: Yes
Billing unit: Events
Sites on entry plan: Depends on plan
Data retention: Configurable

Strengths

Free for GA4 properties under Google’s terms, which set a monthly hit cap only for the retired Universal Analytics properties.
Enhanced measurement records scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, YouTube video engagement, file downloads and form interactions once you switch it on in the data stream settings, with no code changes.
IP addresses are used at collection time to derive country and city, then discarded before the data is logged, according to Google’s documentation.
Linking Google Search Console adds two reports: organic search queries with Search Console metrics, and landing pages with both Search Console and Analytics metrics.
Traffic from known bots and spiders is excluded automatically, based on Google research and the International Spiders and Bots List of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Watch-outs

The tags set two first-party cookies by default. Google’s terms ask you to disclose cookie use and to make reasonable efforts to get consent where the law requires it.
Google’s documentation offers no choice of storage region, and for transfers of personal data from the European Economic Area to the US, Google relies on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
Event-level and user-level data is kept for 2 or 14 months in the standard version, which limits explorations and funnel reports. Properties that reach the Large size class drop to 2 months.
Reports are not final right away: Google says processing can take 24 to 48 hours and that figures may change in that time.
Data thresholds can hold back rows in reports with demographic data or search queries, and you cannot adjust them.

Who it suits

Google Analytics 4 fits sites that already run campaigns in Google Ads, Search Ads 360 or Display & Video 360, which Google lists among its integrations. The standard version is free for GA4 properties, and one property can take data from a website and from Android and iOS apps.

For deeper analysis, funnel exploration and other explorations work on event-level data, and raw events can be exported to BigQuery once a day or as a stream. Organizations that need longer retention, unsampled explorations or service-level agreements can move to Analytics 360, which Google sells by contract.

It is a harder fit if you want measurement without cookies by default, or if you need to decide where the data is stored; see what “cookieless” means here.

Setup

In Google Analytics, open Admin, create an account and a property, then add a Web stream under Data collection and modification > Data streams. Creating a new account includes accepting the Analytics Terms of Service and the Data Processing Amendment.

Collection starts once the tag is on your pages. You can paste the Google tag (gtag.js) right after the opening head tag of every page, deploy it with Google Tag Manager or use the integration of a website builder or CMS. On WordPress, Google’s own plugin is Site Kit by Google.

Enhanced measurement is controlled in the stream’s settings, and cookie lifetimes can be changed under Configure tag settings. The service runs only on Google’s servers.

Single snippet
WordPress plugin
First-party proxy
Public API
Data export
Search Console
Email reports

Features

As documented on the vendor’s own pages. “Partly” means the feature has limits or is only on some plans.

Tracking & Reporting

Pageviews & visitors: yes
Live visitor count: yes
Top pages report: yes
Top referrers: yes
UTM campaign tracking: yes
Country & city breakdown: yes
Device, browser, OS: yes
Bounce / engagement: yes
Time on site: yes
Custom events: yes
Goals / conversions: yes
Funnels: yes
Outbound link tracking: yes
File download tracking: yes
404 / error tracking: no

Pricing & Plans

Unlimited sites on entry planPartly

Privacy & Compliance

Cookieless by defaultPartly
No personal data collected (vendor’s position): no
No consent banner needed (vendor’s position): no
Data hosted in EU: no
Data hosted in US: yes
Self-hostable: no
Open source: no
Data retentionConfigurable
Bot & spam filtering: yes

Setup & Integrations

Single-snippet install: yes
WordPress plugin: yes
Proxy / first-party domain: yes
Public API: yes
Data export (CSV/JSON): yes
Google Search Console connector: yes
Email digests: yes
Slack / webhook alerts: no
Public shareable dashboard: no

Platforms & frameworks

What the vendor documents. A platform that is not listed has no guide, plugin or package from the vendor.

Shopify: yes
WooCommercePartly
GhostPartly
Webflow: yes
Squarespace: yes
Wix: yes
DrupalPartly
ReactPartly
Next.jsPartly
Vue / NuxtPartly
Google Tag Manager: yes
Server-side tracking: yes

Questions and answers

Does Google Analytics 4 use cookies?

Yes, by default. The tags set two first-party cookies that expire after two years unless you change the lifetime in the tag settings. With consent mode in its advanced setup, a visitor who denies analytics storage gets no analytics cookies, and the tags send measurements without cookies instead. The need for consent depends on the rules that apply to your site.

Is Google Analytics 4 free?

Yes, the standard version is. Google’s terms provide the service without charge for GA4 properties. Analytics 360 is the paid edition, sold by contract through Google’s sales team, with higher limits for data retention, BigQuery export and API quotas, plus unsampled explorations.

Where is Google Analytics 4 data stored?

You cannot pick a region. Google says data from devices in the EU, Switzerland and the UK is collected on servers in those regions, where the IP address is used for the location lookup and then dropped, before the traffic goes to Analytics servers for processing. For transfers from the European Economic Area to the US, Google relies on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

How long does Google Analytics 4 keep data?

Up to 14 months for event-level and user-level data in the standard version, where the choice is 2 or 14 months. The setting applies to explorations and funnel reports, not to standard aggregated reports. Analytics 360 keeps event data for up to 50 months, and standard properties that reach the Large size class are limited to 2 months.

Sources and checks

Status: Active, checked 17 Sep 2026
Prices: Checked 17 Sep 2026 on the vendor’s pricing page ↗
Tracking script: Measured 17 Sep 2026: downloaded and compressed the same way for every tool
Features: From the vendor’s pages, checked 18 Sep 2026
This page: Text updated 17 Sep 2026

How each value is collected: methodology. Why tools get no overall score: our reasoning.

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