Google Analytics 4
The default web and app analytics platform — now event-based.
About Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 is an analytics platform shaped around the needs of any website. Two things keep it on shortlists: free up to 10M events/month, plus event-based data model is more flexible than UA's sessions model. Day-to-day you'll live in Events + Conversions and Audiences, with the rest of the suite plugging into those two. There's a free plan to explore before paying, with paid upgrades when you need them. GA4 is the default analytics tool, mostly because it's free and ties into Google Ads.
Available on
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free at any traffic volume for most sites
- Unifies web and app behavior in one property
- Tight integration with Google Ads and BigQuery
- Retention and funnel reports out of the box
Cons
- Reporting interface is less friendly than Universal Analytics
- Data sampling kicks in on larger date ranges
- Steep migration from the old property model
Bottom line
Should you use Google Analytics 4?
Still the baseline every marketing team installs. Pair it with a simpler tool like Plausible or Fathom if non-analysts need daily dashboards they can actually read.