Google Analytics vs Littledata (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Google Analytics if

• Fits if you run Google Ads and want to see which campaigns bring in sales
• Works for small businesses that want free traffic reports with raw data in BigQuery

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to watch recordings of visits, which it doesn't do
• Not for you if you need more than 14 months of user-level history without paying for 360
• Tight if you need data within the hour, as intraday freshness is a 360 feature
• Watch out: Analytics 360 has no published price, and sub-properties and roll-up reports are 360 only
• Watch out: Google Ads data in reports covers a rolling 36 months, and Google signals data is kept 26 at most

Pick Littledata if

• Fits if your ad platforms report fewer orders than your Shopify store records
• Works for a Shopify brand that wants tracking set up without hiring a developer

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if your store isn't on Shopify, as it only runs there
• Tight if you're staying free: there's no free plan, only a 30-day trial
• Pricey if you grow, since Scale goes from $159 a month at 1,500 orders to $219 at 2,000
• Watch out: support SLAs and managed onboarding are only on Plus, from $792 a month

Google Analytics

• Analytics 360 has no published price; it is quoted through Google's sales team.
• In the free version, user- and event-level data is kept for 2 or 14 months; 26, 38 and 50 months are 360 only.
• Intraday data freshness, sub-properties, roll-up reporting and higher limits on custom dimensions and audiences are 360 only.
• Google Ads data in reports is limited to a rolling 36 months, and Google signals data is kept no more than 26 months.

Littledata

• Runs only on Shopify, and is billed through Shopify Billing on a 30-day cycle.
• Flex has no monthly minimum and charges from $0.35 per order; the 30-day trial for Flex is capped at 500 orders.
• Scale and Plus prices rise with order volume: the plans page's calculator shows $219 a month at 2,000 orders on Scale.
• Support SLAs and managed onboarding are only on Plus; invoice payment is for annual plans.

Google Analytics

Traffic and acquisition reports

Shows how people reach a site or app across paid and organic channels, which pages and screens they use, and what happens in real time.

Explorations

Free-form analysis, open or closed funnels, path analysis, segment overlap, cohorts and user lifetime value, built by dragging fields onto a canvas.

Attribution

Data-driven attribution, conversion path reports and model comparisons show how each marketing channel contributes to conversions.

Predictions and insights

Machine learning predicts actions such as purchase or churn to build audiences, flags notable changes automatically, and answers typed questions.

Google Ads and BigQuery links

Imports Google Ads, Display & Video 360 and Search Ads 360 data, sends audiences and conversions back, and exports raw events to BigQuery.

Littledata

One data layer for every channel

Captures browser and server events once and delivers the same events and revenue to each destination, replacing a separate pixel per platform.

Server-side conversion tracking

Maintains server-side connections from Shopify to Google, Meta, Klaviyo and other tools without Google Tag Manager.

Persistent ID

Recognizes returning shoppers for up to a year, so each order can be tied to the campaign that brought the visitor.

Event Editor (beta)

Customizes the server-side events sent to Meta, Google Ads, GA4 and Klaviyo using data from Shopify apps and metafields, with no code.

Bot protection

Filters bot traffic out of the events sent to analytics and ad platforms.

Shopify Markets and headless support

Tracks across Shopify Markets countries and supports headless and Hydrogen storefronts, listed on every plan.

Google Analytics

• Google Analytics$0

  Free: reports, explorations, attribution, predictive audiences, Google Ads and Search Console links, and BigQuery export.

• Analytics 360Custom

  Sold through sales: intraday data within an hour, sub-properties, roll-up reporting, higher limits, up to 50 months of data and SLAs.

Littledata

• Scale$159

  per month for up to 1,500 orders, billed monthly

  Includes 1,500 orders a month, then from $0.15 per order. Real-time chat and email support. Annual billing is listed as 20% cheaper.

• Plus$792

  per month for up to 10,000 orders, billed monthly

  Includes 10,000 orders a month, then from $0.03 per order. Adds managed onboarding, support SLAs and multi-store billing. Annual billing is 20% cheaper.

Google Analytics

No public discounts listed.

Littledata

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  The plans page offers a Pay annually option labeled as a 20% saving over paying monthly.