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Marketing · head to head

Freshpaint vs Google Analytics

Freshpaint logo

Freshpaint

Marketing

Privacy layer that lets healthcare organisations run marketing analytics without sending PHI

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Google Analytics logo

Google Analytics

Marketing

Get to know your customers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Google Analytics has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Freshpaint filtering necessarily degrades what advertising platforms receive, so campaign optimisation and lookalike modelling perform worse than an unfiltered pixel would, and the marketing team must accept measurably weaker targeting as the price of compliance.; Google Analytics data retention limited to maximum 26 months on standard properties, with automatic deletion after retention period expires
  • They diverge on capability: Freshpaint covers PHI detection and redaction, Google Analytics covers Real-time analytics.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Freshpaint and Google Analytics actually diverge.

Attributes where Freshpaint and Google Analytics differ
AttributeFreshpaintGoogle Analytics
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
FoundedUnknown1998

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Freshpaint

  • PHI detection and redaction
  • Business associate agreement
  • Event verification
  • Pixel replacement
  • Consent governance
  • Advertising destinations
  • Analytics and session tools
  • Audience activation

Only in Google Analytics

  • Real-time analytics
  • Audience insights
  • Acquisition tracking
  • Behavior flow
  • Conversion tracking
  • Custom reports
  • Mobile analytics
  • E-commerce tracking

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Freshpaint

  • A health system told by legal to remove its Meta and Google pixels that still needs to report cost per acquisition on service line campaignsnot Google Analytics
  • A provider running paid search for elective procedures that must send conversion signals without disclosing which condition page a visitor viewednot Google Analytics
  • A compliance officer who needs a field level record of exactly what patient related data leaves the website, for a privacy committeenot Google Analytics
  • A multi-site provider group standardising tracking governance across marketing agencies that would otherwise each add their own tagsnot Google Analytics

Google Analytics

  • Website and web application analyticsnot Freshpaint
  • Event tracking and user behaviour analysisnot Freshpaint
  • Traffic source and conversion trackingnot Freshpaint

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Freshpaint

  • Filtering necessarily degrades what advertising platforms receive, so campaign optimisation and lookalike modelling perform worse than an unfiltered pixel would, and the marketing team must accept measurably weaker targeting as the price of compliance.
  • Pricing is not published on the vendor site despite three named tiers, and third party reports of entry around 599 US dollars a month cover only the lowest tier, with audiences and advertising activation sitting above it.
  • It addresses web and marketing tracking rather than the whole protected health information estate, so it solves one exposure while patient data in the CRM, call centre and email tooling remains a separate problem.
  • The commercial case rests on a specific regulatory interpretation of online tracking technologies, and litigation and future guidance could narrow or widen it, which makes the size of the problem it solves less stable than a compliance purchase usually is.
  • It is built for healthcare and priced accordingly, so an organisation wanting a general customer data platform pays for a regulatory specialism it does not need and gets narrower general purpose functionality than Segment or RudderStack.

Google Analytics

  • Data retention limited to maximum 26 months on standard properties, with automatic deletion after retention period expires
  • Large and XL properties capped at 2-month data retention only
  • Age, gender, and interest data always expire after 2 months regardless of retention settings
  • Free tier does not include GA360 advanced features

Pricing, plan by plan

Freshpaint

On request
  • Comply$undefined/month
    • Governance and consent foundation
    • PHI detection and redaction
    • Web analytics, funnels and surveys
  • Perform$undefined/month
    • Everything in Comply
    • Audiences and demand side platform activation
    • Attribution, journeys and recommendations
  • Scale$undefined/month
    • Everything in Perform
    • Ad performance reporting
    • Full AI feature access

Google Analytics

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Google Analytics review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Freshpaint if

  • You need phi detection and redaction.
  • You also want business associate agreement.
Freshpaint review

Choose Google Analytics if

  • You need real-time analytics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want audience insights.
Google Analytics review

Questions people ask

Is Freshpaint or Google Analytics better?
Neither clearly leads. Freshpaint starts at On request and Google Analytics at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Freshpaint or Google Analytics?
Google Analytics has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Freshpaint and Free for Google Analytics.
Does Freshpaint or Google Analytics run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Google Analytics for free?
Yes. Google Analytics has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Freshpaint starts at On request.
What is Freshpaint best used for?
Freshpaint is most often used for a health system told by legal to remove its meta and google pixels that still needs to report cost per acquisition on service line campaigns, a provider running paid search for elective procedures that must send conversion signals without disclosing which condition page a visitor viewed, a compliance officer who needs a field level record of exactly what patient related data leaves the website, for a privacy committee, a multi-site provider group standardising tracking governance across marketing agencies that would otherwise each add their own tags. Of those, a health system told by legal to remove its meta and google pixels that still needs to report cost per acquisition on service line campaigns and a provider running paid search for elective procedures that must send conversion signals without disclosing which condition page a visitor viewed are not what Google Analytics is typically brought in for.
What can Freshpaint do that Google Analytics cannot?
Freshpaint covers PHI detection and redaction, Business associate agreement, Event verification, Pixel replacement. Google Analytics covers Real-time analytics, Audience insights, Acquisition tracking, Behavior flow.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Freshpaint: Why can a hospital not just use Google Analytics?

US Department of Health and Human Services guidance treats IP addresses and health related page URLs as protected health information in this context, and advertising and analytics platforms will not sign a business associate agreement, so the disclosure is unlawful without an intermediary that filters.

Freshpaint: Does Freshpaint sign a BAA?

Yes, and it holds SOC 2 Type II. That is the central reason it exists, because the destination platforms will not.

Freshpaint: What does it cost?

Freshpaint does not publish prices. Three tiers, Comply, Perform and Scale, are all sales led, and third party sources report entry around 599 US dollars a month for the lowest.

Freshpaint: Will my ad performance suffer?

Somewhat. Stripping identifiers reduces what platforms can optimise against. The trade is weaker targeting in exchange for measurement that a compliance committee will approve.

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