Vercel Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4
Vercel Web Analytics and Google Analytics 4 compared: cookies and consent, price, history, features, Google Ads, and why their visitor numbers differ.
Last updated October 29, 2026
The short answer
Vercel Web Analytics is the quick, cookieless way to see traffic on a site you host on Vercel. Google Analytics 4 is a full marketing analytics suite: funnels, audiences and Google Ads, at the cost of cookies, a consent banner for many sites, and more setup. Many teams run both, for different questions.
Side by side
| Vercel Web Analytics | Google Analytics 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup on a Vercel project | Enable it in the project and add @vercel/analytics | Create a property, add the Google tag (gtag.js) or Tag Manager |
| Cookies | None: a visitor is a hash of the request, discarded after 24 hours | _ga and _ga_<id>, kept for 2 years by default |
| Consent banner | Not for its cookies, since it sets none | Usually, for visitors in the EU and UK |
| Price | Free on Hobby up to 50,000 events a month; $0.03 per 1,000 on Pro | Free; Analytics 360 is the paid tier |
| History | 1 month on Hobby, 12 on Pro, 24 with Web Analytics Plus | Standard reports keep history; explorations keep 2 or 14 months |
| Traffic: visitors, pages, referrers, countries, devices | Yes | Yes |
| Campaigns (UTM) | With Web Analytics Plus or Enterprise | Yes |
| Custom events and conversions | Custom events on Pro, with 2 properties (8 with Plus) | Events and key events, with many parameters |
| Funnels, audiences, user journeys | No | Yes, in explorations |
| Google Ads | No link | Imports conversions and audiences |
| Raw data export | Query API | BigQuery export |
| Every project in one view | No, one project at a time | Per property; roll-up properties need 360 |
Sources: Vercel’s privacy and compliance and pricing docs, and Google’s pages on GA4 cookies and data retention.
Why the numbers don’t match
Run both on one site and the visitor counts will differ, sometimes a lot. That’s expected:
- Visitors who decline cookies in a consent banner aren’t counted by Google Analytics, unless you use consent mode’s modelled data. Vercel counts them, since it sets no cookies.
- Ad and tracker blockers often block Google’s tag. Vercel serves its script from your own domain, which fewer blockers stop.
- A “visitor” means different things: Google’s cookie lasts up to two years, so a returning visitor is recognised; Vercel’s hash resets every day, so the same person on two days counts twice.
When to choose which
- Vercel Web Analytics: you want traffic numbers without cookies or a banner, on sites you already host on Vercel, with no extra account to manage.
- Google Analytics 4: you run Google Ads, need funnels or audiences, or your marketing team already works in Google’s tools.
- Both: Vercel for the everyday, banner-free traffic picture; Google Analytics for ad conversions and deeper analysis.
Looking at other options too? See Vercel Analytics alternatives (Plausible, Umami, PostHog), or what Vercel Analytics costs.
Many sites on Vercel Web Analytics
Vercel shows one project at a time, and Google Analytics one property at a time. If you run many sites on Vercel, Lookout reads the Web Analytics you already collect and puts every project side by side, across Vercel teams, with alerts, client links and reports. It sets no cookies and adds no events. See Vercel Analytics for multiple projects, or try the live demo.