Google Analyticsvs
Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg: Website optimization with heatmaps
Google Analytics
Get to know your customers
As of 30 August 2026, Google Analytics is free to use. Google Analytics gives you the tools you need to better understand your customers. Softwr lists it under Marketing. Google Analytics is made by Google LLC, launched in 1998, available on Web.
Overview
What Google Analytics does
Google Analytics gives you the tools you need to better understand your customers. You can then use those business insights to take action, such as improving your website, creating tailored audience lists, and more.
What people use it for
- Website and web application analytics
- Event tracking and user behaviour analysis
- Traffic source and conversion tracking
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Google Analytics
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- Google AnalyticsvsRuler Analytics
Ruler Analytics: Closed-loop marketing attribution
- Google AnalyticsvsVWO
VWO: Experience Optimization Platform
- Google AnalyticsvsNorthbeam
Northbeam: Marketing intelligence for growth brands
Capabilities
Features
Real-time analytics
Audience insights
Acquisition tracking
Behavior flow
Conversion tracking
Custom reports
Mobile analytics
E-commerce tracking
Google Ads
Integration with Google Ads
Google Search Console
Integration with Google Search Console
Google Tag Manager
Integration with Google Tag Manager
BigQuery
Integration with BigQuery
Behind it
Who makes Google Analytics
- Company
- Google LLC
- Based in
- Mountain View, CA
Keep looking
Where to go from Google Analytics
- Google Analytics alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Google Analytics pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Google Analytics badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Marketing softwareThe full category
- Best Marketing softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Marketing software for
Compare Google Analytics with
- Crazy Egg
- Ruler Analytics
- VWO
- Northbeam
- Freshpaint
- Buffer
- Hootsuite
- Moz
- Ahrefs
- Vimeo
- Adobe Analytics
- Microsoft Clarity
- Swydo
- Umami
- Unbounce
- WebEngage
- Woopra
- Wunderkind
Other Marketing software
Privacy layer that lets healthcare organisations run marketing analytics without sending PHI
Pricing on request12 researched notesSEO platform built around Domain Authority, local listings management and a weekly campaign workflow
Free, then $49/mo14 researched notesBacklink and keyword research platform run on its own web crawler, metered by credits since 2024
Free, then $29/mo15 researched notesFree behaviour analytics tool with session recordings, heatmaps, and AI insights
Free plan12 researched notesAutomated client reporting for marketing agencies, priced per data source rather than per client
From €69/mo12 researched notesOpen source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database
Free plan12 researched notesLanding page platform with AI-powered conversion optimisation.
Free, then $29/mo13 researched notesCustomer engagement and retention automation for consumer businesses in India and Southeast Asia
Pricing on request12 researched notesIdentity resolution and triggered messaging for high-traffic retailers, formerly BounceX
Pricing on request12 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Google Analytics, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Google Analytics
Google Analytics alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Google Analytics pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Google Analytics
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Google Analytics badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Marketing software alternatives
The main open source marketing automation platform, self-hosted and GPL licensed
Open source, no licence fee
Call tracking and conversation analytics that ties inbound phone calls back to paid marketing spend
quote
Indian customer engagement and email infrastructure suite with part of the fee tied to your KPIs
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SMS marketing built for Shopify merchants, with carrier fees billed on top of message rates
Per month plus per message sent
Call tracking and attribution for North American SMBs, with overages that reshape the bill
Per month by plan, plus per-number and per-minute overages
Media monitoring, journalist database and PR measurement assembled from six acquired companies
quote
Low-cost white-label client reporting and dashboards priced per connected client
Per month by connected client countPrivacy layer that lets healthcare organisations run marketing analytics without sending PHI
quote