Google Analytics is free and easier to set up for basic website traffic tracking, while Amplitude specializes in product analytics with advanced user behavior segmentation and is ideal for mobile and SaaS companies willing to pay for deeper insights.
Amplitude vs Google Analytics — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Product analytics platform specializing in behavioral cohorts, funnels, and multi-touch attribution modeling.
Free, cloud-based web analytics platform with AI-powered insights and real-time reporting.
Pricing Model. Primary Focus. Mobile App Tracking. Data Retention (Free Tier). User Segmentation Capabilities. Setup Time (Average). Funnel Analysis Depth
Choose Google Analytics if you need free, straightforward website traffic tracking with quick implementation and don't require deep product behavior insights. Choose Amplitude if you're a mobile-first company, SaaS product, or need advanced user segmentation, funnel analysis, and are willing to invest $1,000+ monthly for actionable behavioral intelligence.
Amplitude: $1,295 | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 300-600ms | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 60 months | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 14 days | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Unlimited | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Third-party integration only | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: No, requires manual setup | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced ML models (churn, LTV, propensity) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 25 months | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 10000 | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Yes, unlimited | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 10,000,000 | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: No (requires export) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced multi-step with drop-off attribution | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 0 (custom setup required) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced with curves & LTV | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: SOC 2 Type II only | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $995–$1,500 | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Requires third-party integration | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: ML-powered predictive cohorts + behavioral | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 500,000 events/month | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 7–14 days (event tracking setup) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $2,150-5,000 | Google Analytics: N/A
Setup Time (implementation to first insights)
Amplitude: 1-2 days | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 90 days | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 100M events/month standard | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Enterprise only ($50K+/year) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Email, chat, phone (enterprise), dedicated CSM | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 4+ regions (US, EU, Asia-Pacific, China) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $995/month | Google Analytics: Free (GA4 standard); $10,000+/year (GA360)
Amplitude: 6 hours | Google Analytics: 0.5 hours
Amplitude: 200+ properties | Google Analytics: 40-50 custom dimensions
Amplitude: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Web | Google Analytics: Web, limited mobile via GA4
Amplitude: Real-time (0-5 seconds) | Google Analytics: 24-48 hour delay
Amplitude: 10 million events | Google Analytics: Unlimited
Amplitude: 3.2% of analytics market | Google Analytics: 85.2%
Amplitude: 30 days | Google Analytics: 2 months
Amplitude: Not included (add-on required) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 200+ integrations | Google Analytics: 200+
Amplitude: 700+ custom events | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 10+ stages | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Unlimited (paid plans) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Limited (basic analytics only) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Available (via Amplitude Experiment add-on) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $995 minimum | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 12+ native SDKs | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced nesting (unlimited filters) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $995 base + $0.75/user | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Not included | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Requires integration | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 200+ custom properties | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: No (SaaS only) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 10M events | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 300-600 seconds | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $14,400 | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Yes, native experimentation platform | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Churn, LTV, propensity scoring, retention forecasting | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 50 req/sec | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 5 team members | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Deep retention & behavioral cohorts | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 1,440+ minutes (2-4 weeks) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 13 months (with extended) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 200+ integrations | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 50 users | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: ML-powered churn & propensity models | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 100% (required) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 10M events/month | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 24-48 hours | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $995/month | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $4,995/month (Enterprise) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Multi-event behavioral cohorts with retention curves | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 350+ integrations | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 12 months | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 100+ billion | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Plugin-based only | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 1-2 weeks | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Third-party integration required | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Add-on required | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Unlimited multi-dimensional | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: iOS/Android analytics only | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Not available | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 120-180 minutes (requires dev team) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 500 million+ | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 24 months | Google Analytics: 14 months
Amplitude: $995 (Growth tier) | Google Analytics: $0 (GA4 free)
Amplitude: Multi-step funnels with granular drop-off analysis | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Yes, via Amplitude Audiences | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: $100-200 per million | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: No (requires integration) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: No (requires external tool) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Ready (In Progress) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: No (Cloud only) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 5+ (curves, cohort, churn prediction, survival) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 9.2 (native, event-rich) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 14-30 (requires data modeling) | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Custom rules only | Google Analytics: N/A
Average Setup Cost (Professional Services)
Amplitude: $5,000-$15,000 | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 100+ million | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 4-8 weeks | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: 7+ models | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: Add-on/Limited | Google Analytics: N/A
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: No (manual required)
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: 0 months
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: 4-8 weeks (GTM setup)
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: 5/10 (requires GTM knowledge)
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: 30-60 minutes
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: ~85 KB
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: 26 months
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: Requires configuration & DPA
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: Full support with funnels & ROI
Amplitude: N/A | Google Analytics: First-party cookies required
How to choose between Amplitude and Google Analytics
Amplitude vs Google Analytics — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Amplitude vs Google Analytics. Contains 143 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Amplitude vs Google Analytics — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Amplitude vs Google Analytics.
Can I use both Amplitude and Google Analytics together?
Yes, most companies use both. Google Analytics provides free website traffic insights, while Amplitude supplements it with product behavior analytics. They complement rather than compete—GA4 for traffic sources and conversion rates, Amplitude for user journey mapping and retention cohorts. Many SaaS companies send the same events to both tools.
Which is better for tracking mobile app users?
Amplitude is significantly better for mobile. It has native SDKs for iOS, Android, and React Native with automatic event tracking and offline support. Google Analytics 4 supports mobile but requires separate implementation and lacks Amplitude's behavioral segmentation depth. For mobile-first companies, Amplitude is the industry standard.
How long does historical data stay available?
Amplitude retains 12 months of historical data on the free tier, while Google Analytics GA4 keeps only 2 months. If you need to analyze year-over-year trends without paid storage, Amplitude's free tier is substantially better. Both platforms charge for extended historical data access on paid tiers.
What's the typical implementation complexity for each?
Google Analytics is fastest—typically 30 minutes using Google Tag Manager. Amplitude requires 4-8 hours because it needs custom event schemas defined upfront (what actions matter to your product). The extra setup time pays off with better insights, but it's a steeper initial investment.
Google Analytics allows exports to BigQuery (free tier) and Data Studio (limited). Amplitude provides REST APIs and limited CSV exports. For data portability and warehouse integration, Amplitude's APIs are more robust. Google's BigQuery integration is free and more generous for large-scale data warehousing.
How to Choose Between Amplitude and Google Analytics
Pricing Model: Amplitude has Free tier + $995/month minimum paid, while Google Analytics has Free tier + $10,000+/year for advanced features.
Primary Focus: Amplitude has Product analytics and user behavior funnels, while Google Analytics has Website traffic and conversion tracking.
Mobile App Tracking: Amplitude has Native SDKs for iOS, Android, React Native, while Google Analytics has Limited mobile app support via Google Analytics 4.
Data Retention (Free Tier): Amplitude has 12 months of historical data, while Google Analytics has 2 months (GA4 standard).
Consider: User Segmentation Capabilities
User Segmentation Capabilities: Amplitude has Advanced behavioral segmentation with 200+ properties, while Google Analytics has Standard audience segments with limited custom dimensions.
Setup Time (Average): Amplitude has 4-8 hours for comprehensive implementation, while Google Analytics has 30 minutes for basic tracking.
Funnel Analysis Depth: Amplitude has Tracks micro-conversions, drop-off rates, and behavioral paths, while Google Analytics has Basic funnel visualization with limited path analysis.