Google Analytics vs Piwik PRO (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Google Analytics: it is first in our ranking of website and product analytics tools, and it grades higher too, 3.4 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Google Analytics grades higher on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Google Analytics
Google's free website and app analytics, with a paid 360 tier
Piwik PRO
Privacy-focused analytics suite with tag and consent management
Which one is for you
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 Piwik PRO if
- Fits if you need analytics, tags and a consent banner from one EU-friendly vendor
- Works for a company that must choose where its data is hosted
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, since only the 30-day trial is free
- Tight if you're near 2M monthly actions or 20 domains, which cap Business
- Pricey if you need CSV exports to BigQuery, S3 or SFTP, extended retention or onboarding, all paid add-ons
- Watch out: the page lists euros and gives the Business price no billing period
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAGoogle AnalyticsVery good | 2.2GPAPiwik PROFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$0 for a 10,000-visitor site, or one a hundred times that size: the standard version is free, with reports, explorations, attribution and BigQuery export. Only Analytics 360, quoted by Google's sales team, costs money. | CBusiness is €36 a month and up, roughly $39, in the middle of the analytics range. Enterprise starts at €366 a month, billed annually. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree for sites and apps of any size, with no traffic cap a normal business would reach. The limits that do exist are about history: user- and event-level data is kept for 2 or 14 months. | C30-day trial of Business with no card. No free plan. |
| Features | BTraffic and acquisition reports, funnel and path explorations, cohorts, data-driven attribution, predicted audiences and BigQuery export. The whole traffic analytics job, graded against Matomo, Plausible and Fathom. It doesn't record visits; that's Clarity's job. | BWeb and mobile analytics, tag manager, consent manager, data activation and anonymous tracking. Raw data is API only on Business, and exports are paid add-ons. |
| Ease of use | B4.6 from 5,249 App Store ratings for its phone app. You can ask questions in plain words, but explorations, events and attribution settings take some learning. | CNo store rating on record. It's a full suite with tags and consent rules to configure. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iPhone and Android apps, with links to Google Ads, Search Console, BigQuery, Tag Manager, Firebase and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. No desktop app, which keeps it off an A. | CWeb only, with Google Ads and Search Console connections listed. |
| Best for | free traffic reports for any size of site | privacy-first analytics with a tag manager |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Google Analytics and Piwik PRO. How we grade
Where they differ
- Piwik PRO also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Google Analytics | Piwik PRO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | Not published | €36 per month and up, billing basis not shown |
| Free plan | The standard Google Analytics is free for sites and apps of any size, with reports, explorations, attribution and BigQuery export. User- and event-level data is kept for at most 14 months. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of Business, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Piwik PRO | |
| Price read from | marketingplatform.google.com | piwik.pro |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Piwik PRO
- Prices on the page are in euros, and the Business price carries no billing period.
- Business is capped at 2M monthly actions and 20 domains; raw data access there is API only.
- CSV exports to BigQuery, S3 or SFTP, extended retention and onboarding are paid add-ons.
- Enterprise has no published total: the page gives a starting figure and a quote form.
Key features
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.
Piwik PRO
- Analytics for web and mobile
- Ecommerce tracking, customer journey analytics, product analytics and custom reports and dashboards, with no data sampling by default.
- Tag Manager
- A tag management module is part of the suite, with server-side tracking and tagging listed among the use cases.
- Consent manager
- A consent management platform covers 1 to 20 domains on Business and scans up to 5,000 subpages.
- Data activation
- Visitor data can be sent on to other tools; Business allows 300 profiles a month, and unlimited activation is an add-on.
- Hosting and compliance options
- Business runs in EU-operated hosting in Sweden. Enterprise adds data centers in several regions, US HIPAA-compliant Azure and private cloud.
- Anonymous tracking
- The vendor says its anonymous tracking still records visits when users decline cookies, and it lists GDPR, CCPA and HIPAA support.
Plans
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.
Piwik PRO
Business€36
per month and up, billing basis not shown
Euro prices. Up to 2M monthly actions across 20 domains, 25 months of retention and EU-operated hosting in Sweden.
Enterprise€366
per month, billed annually, and up
Euro prices. Three tiers from 1M actions a month with global hosting, SSO, a BAA and dedicated support; sold through sales.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Google Analytics or Piwik PRO?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Google Analytics publishes no starting price, and Piwik PRO starts at €36 per month and up, billing basis not shown.
Which has a free plan, Google Analytics or Piwik PRO?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Google Analytics has a free plan. Piwik PRO does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Google Analytics and Piwik PRO run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Google Analytics lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.