---
title: "GA4 vs Sealmetrics — Complete Comparison"
description: "Detailed comparison of Google Analytics 4 and Sealmetrics covering data accuracy, privacy compliance, features, and pricing."
canonical_url: "https://docs.sealmetrics.com/faq/ga4-vs-sealmetrics"
lang: "en"
date_generated: "2026-10-08T17:47:47.862Z"
source_hash: "821a61be7733a1903c0d336156420888dbc1bd043989a0df3bc8bd4bd84eff5a"
content_type: "documentation"
owner: "docs"
llm_priority: "useful"
source_file: "faq/ga4-vs-sealmetrics.mdx"
publisher: "Sealmetrics"
---

# GA4 vs Sealmetrics — Complete Comparison

Canonical page: https://docs.sealmetrics.com/faq/ga4-vs-sealmetrics

Google Analytics 4 and Sealmetrics take fundamentally different approaches to web analytics. GA4 relies on cookies and user consent. Sealmetrics uses consentless, privacy-preserving tracking that measures traffic without cookies or consent banners.

This comparison covers the core differences across data accuracy, privacy compliance, features, implementation, and pricing.

---

## The Core Problem: Consent-Based Data Loss

GA4 depends on cookies to identify users and track sessions. Under GDPR, visitors must consent before GA4 can set cookies. When they refuse — or simply ignore the banner — GA4 records nothing.

How many visitors reject or ignore the banner varies by country, industry, banner design and implementation, so there is no single figure that holds for every site.

**Result:** rejection is not the same as data loss — some visitors accept, and Consent Mode models part of the rest — but in practice GA4 loses the visitors who reject or ignore the banner, by an amount that depends on sector, brand strength and traffic mix. Branded direct traffic consents at a very different rate from cold paid social. Sealmetrics avoids that loss because it does not ask for consent — no cookies are set, nothing is stored on the device, and the session identifier rotates daily and cannot be reconstructed afterwards. How much of your traffic it records still depends on a correct implementation.

---

## Feature Comparison

### Data Collection

| Feature | GA4 | Sealmetrics |
|---------|-----|-------------|
| Tracking method | Cookies + client ID | Cookieless session (ephemeral identifier) |
| Consent required | Yes (GDPR) | No |
| Data capture rate (EU) | Only visitors who consent | No consent-driven loss |
| Cookie banners needed | Yes | No |
| IP address storage | Yes (processed) | No (never stored) |
| Cross-site tracking | Yes | No |
| Ad blocker resistance | Low (blocked by most) | High (first-party setup) |

### Reporting & Analytics

| Feature | GA4 | Sealmetrics |
|---------|-----|-------------|
| Real-time dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Traffic sources & UTM | Yes | Yes |
| Conversion tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Funnel analysis | Yes (Explorations) | Yes (built-in) |
| E-commerce tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Geographic reports | Yes | Yes (country-level) |
| Device & browser reports | Yes | Yes |
| Custom events | Yes | Yes |
| Content grouping | Yes | Yes |
| AI insights | Limited | LENS AI (ask your data in plain language) |
| Unique visitors | Yes | No (requires individual tracking) |
| Bounce rate | Yes | Yes (aggregate-only, no individual tracking) |
| Session duration | Yes | No (requires individual tracking) |

**Why some metrics differ:** Metrics that require identifying and following individual users across page loads (unique visitors, session duration, individual user journeys) constitute personal data processing under GDPR — Sealmetrics deliberately excludes them. **Bounce rate is not one of them:** Sealmetrics computes it in aggregate as `(Entrances − Engaged Entrances) / Entrances × 100`, where "engaged" means a session with more than one pageview. No personal identifier is needed. Sealmetrics also exposes *entrances*, *engaged entrances*, and *pages per session* as additional privacy-safe traffic-quality signals.

### Privacy & Compliance

| Feature | GA4 | Sealmetrics |
|---------|-----|-------------|
| Designed to comply with the GDPR without consent | No | Yes (self-assessed, not certified) |
| ePrivacy Directive without consent | Requires consent | Yes for its own analytics (self-assessed; Germany: open question) |
| Meets CNIL criteria for *analytics sans consentement* | No | Yes ([self-assessment](/compliance/cnil-self-assessment)) |
| Meets AEPD audience-measurement criteria | No | Yes (self-assessed) |
| UK PECR analytics exemption | Requires consent | Yes ([self-assessed](/compliance/uk-pecr-self-assessment)) |
| Data hosting | US (Google Cloud) | Analytics data hosted and processed only in the EU (Dublin) |
| Sub-processors | Multiple (Google) | Short list — visitor analytics data processed only in the EU ([see list](/compliance/subprocessors)) |
| Data sharing with third parties | Yes (Google Ads, etc.) | No |
| International transfers of analytics data | Yes (US) | No |
| Transfer safeguards for analytics data (Schrems II) | Requires SCCs/DPF | Not needed — analytics data is not transferred outside the EU |

### Technical Specifications

| Spec | GA4 (gtag.js) | Sealmetrics |
|------|---------------|-------------|
| Script size (gzipped) | ~146 KB | **1.1 KB** |
| Cookies set | 6+ (_ga, _gid, etc.) | 0 |
| localStorage usage | Yes | No |
| Page load impact | High (render-blocking) | Minimal (defer, async) |
| SPA support | Yes (manual config) | Yes (automatic detection) |
| Server-side event collection | Yes (GA4 Measurement Protocol) | Shopify order webhooks only; otherwise the JS tracker |

---

## Data Accuracy: A Practical Example

We don't publish a hypothetical "typical" gap: it depends on sector, brand strength and traffic mix, so the honest number is the one measured on your own site. One real, named example is the [Incapto case](https://sealmetrics.com/case-studies/incapto/): a Shopify store using Consent Mode, with GA4 and Sealmetrics on the same site and the same days (14 June–31 July 2026).

| Metric | What GA4 did not record |
|--------|-------------------------|
| Real visits | 29% |
| Pageviews | 45% |

Over the same period Sealmetrics recorded 95.7% of the store's real online orders and 96.5% of real revenue, reconciled against Shopify. It is one store, not a benchmark — run both tools side by side to measure your own gap.

**The consent bias problem:** the shortfall is not evenly distributed. Visitors who accept cookies tend to be more engaged, so what is left is a skewed sample, not a smaller random one — GA4's data does not just have fewer rows, it over-represents your most engaged visitors. That biases exactly the comparisons budget decisions rest on.

---

## Direct Traffic Inflation in GA4

One of the most common data discrepancies between GA4 and Sealmetrics is inflated "Direct" traffic in GA4.

**Why it happens:**

1. A visitor arrives from a Google Ads campaign
2. GA4 shows a consent banner
3. The visitor rejects cookies
4. GA4 cannot read UTM parameters or set attribution cookies
5. The visit is classified as "Direct / (none)"

Sealmetrics reads UTM parameters from the URL on every page load without cookies, so attribution works regardless of consent status. This means campaigns, referrals, and organic search traffic keep their source even when the visitor rejects the banner.

---

## When to Use GA4

GA4 may still be the better choice if you:

- Need **Google Ads integration** with automated bidding and audience sync
- Require **user-level analysis** (individual user journeys, cohort analysis)
- Operate primarily **outside the EU** where cookie rejection rates are lower
- Need **predictive metrics** (purchase probability, churn probability)
- Already invested heavily in **BigQuery + GA4 pipelines**

Many teams use GA4 and Sealmetrics together — GA4 for Google Ads optimization (with consented users) and Sealmetrics as the source of truth for total traffic and conversions.

---

## When to Use Sealmetrics

Sealmetrics is the better choice if you:

- Need **accurate data** across all EU markets
- Want to **remove cookie banners** or reduce consent friction
- Want to **measure with minimal, pseudonymised data** — nothing stored on the device, no IP, an identifier that rotates daily — so GDPR, CNIL and AEPD questions about analytics have a short answer
- Want **conversion attribution that includes visitors who reject consent** for budget decisions
- Need a **lightweight tracker** that does not slow down your site
- Want an **AI assistant on your own data** (LENS) out of the box
- Require **analytics data hosted and processed only in the EU** (Dublin)

---

## Pricing Comparison

| | GA4 (Free) | GA4 360 | Sealmetrics Growth | Sealmetrics Scale |
|--|-----------|---------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Monthly cost | Free | ~€12,500/mo | €599/mo (€499 annual) | €1,079/mo (€899 annual) |
| Events included | 10M/mo | 25B/mo | 5M/mo | 15M/mo |
| Data retention | 14 months | 50 months | 24 months | 24 months |
| Consent required | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Overage charges | N/A | Custom | None | None |
| Support | Community | Dedicated | Email + Chat | Priority |
| Data hosting | US | US | EU | EU |

GA4 Free is technically free but carries hidden costs: CMP platforms (€100-500/mo), legal reviews, lost revenue from missing data, and engineering time for Consent Mode implementation.

See [full plan details](/billing) for all Sealmetrics tiers.

---

## Migration: GA4 to Sealmetrics

Switching from GA4 to Sealmetrics takes minutes, not weeks:

1. **Add the Sealmetrics tracker** — one script tag ([installation guide](/implementation/tracker/installation))
2. **Configure conversions** — map your GA4 events to Sealmetrics conversions
3. **Set up UTM parameters** — Sealmetrics reads standard UTMs automatically
4. **Run both in parallel** — keep GA4 running alongside Sealmetrics to compare data
5. **Remove GA4** when you are confident in the data

You do not need to migrate historical data. Sealmetrics starts collecting from day one, and within 30 days you will have enough data for meaningful comparison.

For platform-specific guides, see our [integration docs](/integrations) for WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, Next.js, and more.

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Can I use GA4 and Sealmetrics at the same time?

Yes. Many customers run both during a transition period. Sealmetrics does not interfere with GA4, and the 1.1 KB script adds negligible load. Running both lets you verify data differences firsthand.

### Does Sealmetrics integrate with Google Ads?

Sealmetrics tracks Google Ads campaigns via UTM parameters and provides ROAS reporting. However, it does not sync audiences back to Google Ads for automated bidding — that requires GA4 with consented user data.

### Is Sealmetrics data less detailed than GA4?

Sealmetrics intentionally does not track unique visitors, session duration, or individual user journeys because doing so requires personal data and consent. **Bounce rate is calculated** — in aggregate, using entrances vs engaged entrances, without any individual tracking. For aggregate traffic analysis, conversion tracking, attribution, and campaign performance, Sealmetrics provides equal or better accuracy since consent rejection does not remove visits from its data.

### What about Google Consent Mode v2?

Google Consent Mode v2 uses statistical modeling to estimate conversions from users who reject consent. These are modeled estimates, not actual measurements. Sealmetrics measures visits directly, without consent modeling or estimation.

### How does Sealmetrics handle bot traffic?

Sealmetrics includes built-in [bot detection](/compliance/compliance-overview/how-sealmetrics-blocks-bot-traffic) that filters automated traffic, crawlers, and known bot signatures. This ensures your data reflects real human visitors.

---

## Summary

| | GA4 | Sealmetrics |
|--|-----|-------------|
| **Best for** | Google Ads optimization, user-level analysis | Accurate total traffic, privacy compliance |
| **Data accuracy (EU)** | Only visitors who consent | Not reduced by consent rejection |
| **Consent required** | Yes | No |
| **Privacy exposure** | Personal data processed, transferred to the US | Minimal pseudonymised data (no IP, daily-rotating identifier), EU-only storage |
| **Script size** | ~146 KB | 1.1 KB |
| **Pricing** | Free (with hidden costs) | From €499/mo (annual billing) |

The question is not whether GA4 or Sealmetrics has more features. The question is whether you can make business decisions while the visitors who reject your banner are missing from your data.

---

**Related reading:**

- [Sealmetrics vs Google Analytics: Complete Comparison](/blog/google-analytics-vs-sealmetrics) — In-depth blog post with real-world data examples
- [Sealmetrics vs Plausible](/blog/sealmetrics-vs-plausible) — How Sealmetrics compares to another privacy-first alternative
- [Cookie Banner Ghosting](/blog/cookie-banner-ghosting-data-loss) — why visitors who ignore the banner are the largest missing group

---

*Need help deciding? Contact us at support@sealmetrics.com or [open your free account](https://my.sealmetrics.com/register) — your first 1M events are free.*