Google Analytics vs Simple Analytics (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 Simple Analytics if

• Fits if you want a single page of traffic numbers with no cookie banner
• Works for someone leaving GA4 who wants to run both side by side

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to follow individual visitors, as it records pageviews with no visitor IDs
• Tight if you stay free: 1 month of history and a badge shown on your site
• Pricey if you add team members, at $20 a month each
• Watch out: bills from $500 paid by bank transfer carry an extra 10% in fees

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.

Simple Analytics

• The free plan keeps only the latest month of data and requires a Simple Analytics badge on the site.
• The price follows pageviews, and the paid plan includes one user; extra users are $20 a month each.
• Bills from $500 can be paid by bank transfer, with an extra 10% in banking and service fees.
• It records pageviews and events without visitor IDs, so it does not follow individual users across visits.

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.

Simple Analytics

No cookies, no personal data

The service says it sets no cookies, collects no personal data and creates no visitor IDs, so it does not need a consent banner.

One-page dashboard

Traffic is shown on a single dashboard that needs no configuration, with a public live dashboard available to view as an example.

Run beside GA4

Can run next to Google Analytics 4 to record pageviews and events from visitors who reject consent, so the two datasets can be compared.

API and BI access

A full API and exports let teams pull the data into their existing reporting tools. An MCP server and an AI assistant are also listed.

Google Analytics import

Historical Google Analytics data can be imported so reporting does not restart from zero after a switch.

EU hosting

Data is stored in the EU, with primary infrastructure in the Netherlands, and leaves it only when a customer opts into a feature such as the AI assistant.

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.

Simple Analytics

• Free$0

  For hobby sites: 1 user, 5 websites, the latest month of data and a required Simple Analytics badge.

• Self-serve$20

  per month for up to 100k pageviews

  Price follows pageviews, up to 2.5M on the slider. Includes 1 user; each extra user is $20 a month. Annual billing shows 2 months free.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Quoted for your traffic, sites, data access and support needs; tied to a 30-day proof of concept run alongside GA4.

Google Analytics

No public discounts listed.

Simple Analytics

• Annual discount

  2 months free on annual billing

  The pricing page shows an annual payment option labelled 2 months free; the yearly total depends on the pageview limit you pick.