GA Google Analytics vs MonsterInsights
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| Feature | GA Google Analytics v20260810 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.9/5 Visit Details | MonsterInsights v11.3.0 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.5/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 400,000+ | 2M+ |
| Last updated | August 10, 2026 | September 16, 2026 |
| Editions | GA Google Analytics · GA Google Analytics Pro ($) | Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights · MonsterInsights Pro ($) |
| Pros | Simple GA4 tag setup from the settings screen; Option to anonymise visitor IP addresses; Choice of header, footer or admin placement for the tag | Adds Google Analytics tracking without code; Traffic overview and popular posts in wp-admin; Free core with a guided connect flow |
| Cons | Rejects Google Tag Manager (GTM-) IDs; Still includes the older Universal Analytics script path; Advanced features are sold in a separate Pro version | Reports depend on connecting a Google account through the vendor service; Advanced reporting and ecommerce need the paid Pro version; Admin shows upsell notices for Pro |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 3 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Google Analytics 4 global site tag, Legacy Universal Analytics script, Anonymise visitor IP addresses, Tag placement in header, footer or admin, Custom code added alongside the tag | Google Analytics gtag tracking code on the front end, Traffic overview reports in the dashboard, Popular posts widget and list, Report summary emails, Connect flow to link a Google account via the vendor service, Server-side events through the GA4 Measurement Protocol, Detects the Pro version and shows upgrade notices ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Analytics | Google Analytics | Google Analytics |
| Other | — | MonsterInsights connect service, MonsterInsights usage check-in |
| Requires WordPress | 4.7 | 5.6.0 |
| Requires PHP | 5.6.20 | 7.2 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | Only if you agree |
| External services | — | www.monsterinsights.com, www.google.com, analytics.google.com, plugin-cdn.monsterinsights.com, connect.monsterinsights.com, app.monsterinsights.com, miusage.com, cdn.get.mi-translations.com |
| Blocks | — | 4 |
| Shortcodes | — | 1 |