GA4 counts the visits. GrainQL finds the leak.
GA4 is for free traffic reporting and Google Ads. GrainQL is for marketers who need to see why paid visitors leave. Most teams should run both.
14 days free, no card. Runs next to Google Analytics.
Which one fits you.
Pick Google Analytics if
You need free traffic reporting that feeds Google Ads, and counts are enough for now.
- You run Google Ads and bid on GA4 key events
- You have an analyst who works in BigQuery
- Your budget for analytics is zero
Pick GrainQL if
You pay for traffic and need to know where the site loses those visitors, and why.
- Conversions dropped and your reports do not show what broke
- Nobody on the team has time to build explorations
- You want to watch what paid visitors do on the page
What actually differs.
Three situations where the choice shows.
A drop needs a cause you can see.
Signups fell on Tuesday. Ad spend did not. You need to know what broke before the next Google Ads invoice.
Google Analytics
GA4 shows the drop, and Ask Advisor can point to the channel or device behind it. It works from the numbers in your property. It cannot show you the page.
GrainQL
Neo gives a first answer in about 3 seconds, names the cause and attaches the session recordings. You watch the form fail instead of guessing.
Engaged does not mean it worked.
Your landing page reports a healthy engagement rate. Sales from that page are flat.
Google Analytics
GA4 counts a session as engaged after 10 seconds, 2 page views or a key event. A visitor stuck on a broken form for a minute counts as engaged.
GrainQL
GrainQL shows the replay and the click heatmap for that page. One customer found 700+ form interactions and zero submissions in 4 minutes.
Tracking a button should not need a ticket.
You want to know how many people click the pricing button. The person who set up your tags left last year.
Google Analytics
GA4 collects page views, scrolls, outbound clicks and form events on its own. Any other button needs a custom event, set up in code or in a tag manager.
GrainQL
GrainQL has a visual picker. Point at the button on your live site and click to track it. No code, no deploy.
Row by row.
Checked against Google Analytics's own site in October 2026.
Finding the cause
Seeing the evidence
Ads and ecosystem
Setup and data
What it costs.
GA4 is free and GrainQL is not. GrainQL is an added cost, so it has to find a leak worth more than $29 a month.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free of charge. A paid tier, Analytics 360, raises the limits on sampling, data retention and BigQuery export.
GrainQL
From $29 a month for 50,000 monthly visitors. Billed by visitors, with unlimited events per visitor. Every feature is on every plan.
See every planWhen Google Analytics is the better pick.
Fair is fair.
It is free and everybody knows it.
GA4 costs nothing, and most marketers and agencies already work in it. GrainQL has a 14-day trial and no free plan.
Google Ads audiences and bidding.
GA4 key events feed Google Ads bidding, and GA4 audiences feed remarketing. GrainQL has no Google Ads integration. If you buy Google ads, keep GA4.
Raw data in BigQuery.
GA4 exports raw events to BigQuery, up to 1 million a day on standard properties. GrainQL has no warehouse-native mode. It offers a Query API.
Try both for two weeks.
Nobody has to remove GA4. The two scripts run on the same page without touching each other, and your Google Ads setup stays as it is.
- 1
Add the GrainQL tag next to GA4.
Paste one script tag in the head, or add it through GTM. It takes about two minutes. Change nothing in GA4 or Google Ads.
- 2
Put one real drop to both tools.
Pick a week when conversions fell. Put the question to Ask Advisor in GA4, then to Neo. Compare which answer you could act on the same day.
- 3
Decide on day 14.
Keep GA4 either way. If Neo found a leak that GA4 did not show, keep GrainQL from $29 a month. If not, remove the tag.
Get the side-by-side test plan.
One page on running GrainQL next to Google Analytics: what to install, what to compare, how to decide.
Questions.
Almost nobody should. GA4 is free and it feeds Google Ads bidding and audiences, which GrainQL does not do. Run GrainQL next to GA4 to see why visitors did not convert, with session replay, heatmaps and Neo.
Keep GA4. Add the missing half.
Start a 14-day trial with no credit card. Paste one tag next to GA4 and ask Neo about your last drop in conversions.