Google Analytics vs Grafana

The free data black hole that marketers love and developers dread meets the dashboard wizard that turns your metrics into beautiful, actionable art—if you can survive the panel configuration maze. Here's our take.

Google Analytics

Nice Pick

The free data black hole that marketers love and developers dread.

Pros

• Free tier covers most small to medium sites
• Integrates seamlessly with Google Ads and other Google services
• Real-time reporting for quick insights
• Massive community and extensive documentation

Cons

• Privacy concerns and GDPR compliance headaches
• Steep learning curve for advanced features
• Data sampling can skew results on large datasets

Grafana

The dashboard wizard that turns your metrics into beautiful, actionable art—if you can survive the panel configuration maze.

Pros

• Unmatched flexibility for visualizing time-series data from any source
• Vast plugin ecosystem for integrations with tools like Prometheus and Elasticsearch
• Real-time alerting that actually works without breaking the bank

Cons

• Steep learning curve for custom panels and complex queries
• Can get sluggish with too many dashboards or heavy data loads

The Verdict

Use Google Analytics if: You want free tier covers most small to medium sites and can live with privacy concerns and gdpr compliance headaches.

Use Grafana if: You prioritize unmatched flexibility for visualizing time-series data from any source over what Google Analytics offers.

The Bottom Line

Google Analytics wins

The free data black hole that marketers love and developers dread.