Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Google Analytics vs Umami

Google Analytics logo

Google Analytics

Marketing

Get to know your customers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Google Analytics data retention limited to maximum 26 months on standard properties, with automatic deletion after retention period expires; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: Google Analytics covers Real-time analytics, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Google Analytics and Umami differ
AttributeGoogle AnalyticsUmami
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by event count
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux
Founded1998Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Google Analytics

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

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

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

Google Analytics

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

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot Google Analytics
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot Google Analytics
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot Google Analytics
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot Google Analytics

Where each one falls short

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

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

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Google Analytics

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Google Analytics review.

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Google Analytics if

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

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is Google Analytics or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. Google Analytics starts at Free and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Google Analytics or Umami?
Google Analytics starts at Free and Umami at Free.
Does Google Analytics or Umami run on more platforms?
Google Analytics runs on Web. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Google Analytics for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Google Analytics best used for?
Google Analytics is most often used for website and web application analytics, event tracking and user behaviour analysis, traffic source and conversion tracking. Of those, website and web application analytics and event tracking and user behaviour analysis are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can Google Analytics do that Umami cannot?
Google Analytics covers Real-time analytics, Audience insights, Acquisition tracking, Behavior flow. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

Share

Related pages

More on Google Analytics

More on Umami

Keep looking

Other head to heads