Nexly
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Nexly vs Google Analytics 4

GA4 is free and powerful, but most teams use a fraction of it and pay for the rest in time. Here is an honest look at how the two compare.

Choose Nexly if

  • You want one clear dashboard instead of a report builder
  • You want analytics without cookies or ad profiles
  • You want plain answers, with an AI assistant grounded in your data
  • You want bot traffic classified instead of silently dropped, and visitors from ChatGPT and Perplexity tracked

Choose Google Analytics 4 if

  • You run large Google Ads campaigns and need native linking
  • You need BigQuery export and custom data modeling
  • A free enterprise-scale toolkit matters more than time spent in it

Side by side

 NexlyGoogle Analytics 4
SetupOne snippet or SDK, data in minutesTags, streams, and a real learning curve
DashboardOne page with everything that mattersDozens of reports and explorations
CookiesNo cookies, optional privacy modeCookie based, consent banners in most regions
Your dataNever sold, never used for advertisingFeeds the wider Google ecosystem
AccuracyUnsampled numbers on every viewSampling and thresholds in explorations
RetentionRaw events 24 months, aggregates up to 5 yearsUser level data up to 14 months on the free tier
AI assistantBuilt in, answers with live chartsNot built in
Bot and AI trafficOwn dashboard section: bots vs humans, crawler coverage, AI referralsFiltered out, invisible to you
PriceFree up to 10,000 events (pageviews + custom), paid from $4.50 per monthFree, with GA360 for enterprise budgets

Built for answers, not report building

GA4 hands you a toolkit and expects you to assemble the answer. Nexly opens on one calm dashboard with traffic, acquisition, journeys, and conversions already in view. When a question needs digging, the built in AI assistant does the digging and replies in plain language with charts and links to the exact view.

Privacy that simplifies your life

Nexly sets no cookies and does not store raw IP addresses in analytics data. Privacy mode goes further and skips device storage entirely, using a pseudonymous fingerprint that rotates daily. Your visitors get respected, and your privacy policy gets shorter.

See the traffic GA4 hides

Most tools silently filter bot traffic out. Nexly classifies every event it receives instead — search engine crawlers, AI bots, link previews, datacenter traffic — and shows them in a dedicated section, kept out of your human metrics. It also tracks AI referrals: real visitors who arrive from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other assistants. One honest caveat applies to every script-based tool, Nexly included: crawlers that never execute JavaScript stay invisible.

Switching from GA4

  1. Create a free Nexly property and add the snippet or SDK next to your existing GA tag.
  2. Run both side by side for a week or two. The numbers will differ slightly because the counting methods differ.
  3. Recreate your key events as Nexly custom events, then retire the GA tag once you trust the data.

Common questions

Will Nexly numbers match GA4 exactly?
No analytics tools match exactly. GA4 applies sampling, thresholds, and consent based modeling, while Nexly counts every event it receives without sampling. Expect small differences and pick one source of truth.
Is Nexly really free?
Yes. The free plan includes 10,000 events per month with every feature: unlimited websites, unlimited team members, funnels, reports, and AI insights. Paid plans only raise the event allowance. An event is a pageview or a custom product event — not session housekeeping.
How do Nexly events compare to pageviews?
Nexly bills monthly events: each pageview and each custom product event counts once. Session housekeeping signals do not. Many privacy analytics tools label pricing tiers in pageviews — some bill pageviews only, others also count custom events under that label. Treat same-number volume comparisons as approximate. If you only know your pageview count, add the product events you plan to send (signups, checkouts, feature use) before picking a Nexly tier. A site that looks cheap at pageview-only volume can land on a higher plan once product analytics is in earnest.
Can I import my GA4 history?
There is no GA4 import today. The usual path is running both tools in parallel for a transition period, so trends stay comparable while Nexly builds its own history.
Do I need a cookie banner for Nexly?
Nexly sets no cookies. Identifiers live in local storage by default, and privacy mode removes device storage entirely. What that means for your consent setup depends on your jurisdiction, so check with your counsel.

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