A Google Analytics alternative for growing companies
Sitenumbers is a Google Analytics alternative for companies that want one readable page instead of a reporting tool: visitors, conversions by source, AI search traffic and AI crawlers, counted without cookies. GA4 is free and far deeper, so it remains the better choice for some teams. This page shows both sides.
GA4 vs Sitenumbers at a glance
| Google Analytics 4 | Sitenumbers | |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies | Sets first-party cookies (_ga, _ga_<container-id>, 2-year default expiry) |
No cookies, local storage or fingerprinting |
| Without consent | With consent mode, no cookies are set; GA4 sends cookieless pings and fills gaps with modeling | Same counting for every visitor; no consent state to handle |
| Setup | Tag, data streams, events, key events, often Tag Manager | One script tag; goals from a thank-you page path or a custom event |
| Reports | Many standard reports, explorations, audiences | One dashboard page, plus the AI search page |
| AI assistant traffic | Default "AI Assistant" channel based on a Google-maintained referrer list; custom channel groups with regex | AI channel for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Copilot, by landing page |
| AI crawlers | Not visible: known bot traffic is excluded automatically, and you can't see how much | Counted on your server or CDN, with verification and last response status |
| Data location | Google's infrastructure | EU, servers in Helsinki, Finland |
| Data retention | User-level and event data for explorations: 2 or 14 months on standard properties | |
| Price | Free (GA4 360 is paid) | Paid plans, 30-day free trial without card |
| Integrations | Google Ads, BigQuery, Search Console and more | CSV export and a read-only share link |
Facts about GA4 are from Google's own help pages, listed as sources for this page.
Why teams look for a GA4 alternative
Full numbers without cookies
With a cookie banner, GA4 only sets cookies for visitors who accept. For the rest, consent mode sends cookieless pings and Google models the gap. Sitenumbers counts every visit the same way because it never stores anything in the browser. How it works: privacy.
One page instead of a hundred reports
GA4 is built for analysts. Sitenumbers answers three questions on one page: where customers come from, which pages convert and what changed.
Your analytics can't see bots
Any script-based analytics, GA4 included, only sees browsers that run JavaScript. Major AI crawlers don't render JavaScript, and GA4 also removes known bots from its data without showing how many. Sitenumbers counts AI crawlers server-side, so you see how often GPTBot, ClaudeBot or ChatGPT-User read your pages. More: AI crawlers.
AI search as a first-class channel
GA4 now has an AI Assistant channel. Sitenumbers adds what GA4 can't show: how often assistants read each page compared with how many people click through. See AI search tracking.
When GA4 is the better choice
Choose GA4, or keep it next to Sitenumbers, if you need:
- Google Ads integration, bidding on GA4 key events or remarketing audiences.
- Long user journeys across days. Sitenumbers changes its visitor hash daily, so it can't link visits on different days.
- Deep analysis: explorations, cohorts, funnels, user-level paths or BigQuery export. Sitenumbers has no funnels or public API yet.
- Revenue and e-commerce reporting. Sitenumbers does not track revenue yet.
- A free tool with a large ecosystem of guides and consultants.
Running both is possible: Sitenumbers for the daily view and AI search, GA4 for advertising.
How to switch from Google Analytics
- Start a free trial and add your site.
- Paste the script into your site's
<head>. - Add a goal: a thank-you page path such as
/thank-you*, or a custom event. - Optional: connect the Cloudflare Worker or nginx log shipper to count AI crawlers.
<script defer data-site="pa_xxxxxxxx" src="https://e.sitenumbers.com/script.js"></script>Sitenumbers does not import historical GA4 data. Keep GA4 running until you have the history you need.
Plans and limits: pricing.
FAQ
What is the best Google Analytics alternative?
It depends on what you need. For a simple, cookieless view of visitors, conversions and AI search traffic, Sitenumbers fits. For advertising integrations and deep analysis, GA4 stays stronger.
Is there a GA4 alternative that tracks AI traffic?
Yes. Sitenumbers shows AI assistant visits as their own channel and also counts AI crawlers on the server, which script-based tools can't see.
Does GA4 show ChatGPT traffic?
GA4 has a default AI Assistant channel for sources such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot. Visits without a referrer still show as direct. Details: track ChatGPT traffic.
Can I import my Google Analytics data?
No. Imports from other tools are not available. Sitenumbers starts counting from the day you install it.
Do I still need a cookie banner with Sitenumbers?
Sitenumbers sets no cookies. Whether your site needs a banner depends on everything else it uses. See privacy.