Mixpanel vs Google Analytics: Which One Should You Use?
Are you looking for an analytics platform to help you make informed decisions about your web or app product? Two of the most popular options are Mixpanel and Google Analytics 4. In this article, we'll explore the main differences between these two tools and consider eight criteria to help you decide which one is right for you.
Table of Contents
1. [Introduction](#introduction)
2. [Purpose of Mixpanel and Google Analytics](#purpose)
3. [Pricing](#pricing)
4. [Data Visualization](#visualization)
5. [Funnel Tracking](#funnel)
6. [Data Reporting](#reporting)
7. [User Tracking](#tracking)
8. [E-commerce Integration](#ecommerce)
9. [User Identification](#identification)
10. [Integrations](#integrations)
11. [Conclusion](#conclusion)
Introduction
Mixpanel and Google Analytics 4 are two of the most popular analytics platforms available. Both tools offer a range of features to help you track and analyze user behavior on your website or app. However, they have different strengths and weaknesses, and choosing the right one for your needs can be challenging. In this article, we'll compare Mixpanel and Google Analytics 4 across eight criteria to help you make an informed decision.
Purpose of Mixpanel and Google Analytics
The first thing to understand is that Mixpanel and Google Analytics 4 have completely different purposes. GA4 is designed for web and app analytics, while Mixpanel is geared towards product analytics. Product analytics, such as the events and reports on Mixpanel, tell you why people are using your product. Mixpanel is different from Google Analytics because Google Analytics is more focused on analyzing sources of traffic and organic search. Mixpanel is concerned with how users behave once they reach your product, whereas Google Analytics is focused on how users got to your website or app.
Pricing
Pricing is one of the top factors to consider when choosing an analytics platform. Mixpanel offers three different pricing plans for your SaaS product. You can have a free version of Mixpanel if you'd like to find a product market fit for your startup with limited access to features. If you require more features, you can opt for the Growth plan, in which you build your plan starting at $25 a month, or you can contact sales for the Enterprise plan, in which you have all the features Mixpanel offers.
Google Analytics does not offer any pricing plans; it is entirely free. You don't need to worry about extra costs unless you are a much larger company that needs advanced features that standard Google Analytics would not be able to provide. In that case, you can purchase Google Analytics 360 for $150,000 per year.
If you're on a budget and a startup, you can use Google Analytics and benefit from numerous features for free. However, if you're a growing company, the standard version of Google Analytics may not serve your needs completely. In that case, paying a certain amount and getting advanced features could be better for your company. Mixpanel offers two paid plans for your growing company and Enterprise. You can contact sales and create a customized pricing plan for advanced features.
Data Visualization
Both Mixpanel and Google Analytics can help you create dashboards for creating changes in traffic conversions, funnels, segment trends, and other data visualization metrics.
Funnel Tracking
Both Mixpanel and Google Analytics feature funnel analysis. Funnel analysis helps to track users in a funnel-based model. It tells you how many users make it through each phase of the funnel while also showing problems and areas of improvement for better conversion. Mixpanel funnels allow you to change data, show how users interacted with your website, and segment reports based on your audience. Google Analytics enables you to collect data via multi-channel funnels.
Data Reporting
Both tools report analytics data from your digital properties. With Google Analytics, you can obtain the audience, advertising, and acquisition reports. Meanwhile, you can get product analytic reports from Mixpanel.
User Tracking
Mixpanel is an event-based tracking tool, while Google Analytics is a page view-driven tool. As an event-driven tool, Mixpanel can track the resulting code of a user action in JavaScript or other APIs. Thus, you can track clicks, video plays, downloads, and much more with Mixpanel. As a page view-driven tool, Google Analytics can track page visitor activities, including page refreshers and page views, together with visitor information such as IP addresses and browsers. Google Analytics can keep track of user journeys through the website and is excellent for understanding the traffic from multiple marketing channels.
E-commerce Integration
Google Analytics offers this feature and is great for e-commerce companies since it collects many crucial data such as e-commerce conversion rates and transactions. You can filter these data according to market traffic.
User Identification
One advantage that Mixpanel has over Google Analytics is its ability to track data at an individual user level. Mixpanel can identify users by their names and emails. The best you can do in Google Analytics is to track the user ID.
Integrations
The native integrations that Google Analytics 4 has are Google Ads, Google Search Console, Google Optimize, Google BigQuery, Ad Manager, Display & Video 360, Merchant Center, Google Play, Search Ads 360, Google Data Studio. Mixpanel integrations include Google Ads, Databox, Amazon Web Services, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Facebook Ads, and others. Unfortunately, most Mixpanel integrations require you to cooperate with their technical partner. It's not so intuitive as just turning off turning on Native integration in Google Analytics. The native integrations Mixpanel has is only with data warehouses.
Conclusion
Choosing between Google Analytics and Mixpanel depends on your business and your needs. Both Google Analytics and Mixpanel have their pros and cons. They both focus on different methods of data analysis and offer different pricing plans. However, with the help of this Mixpanel versus Google Analytics article, you should be able to figure out which tool is better suited to your needs. My recommendation is to look at Google Analytics for these tools to make your company grow faster, intelligent, and innovative. People will make an impact, thus GA4 can be your choice. Other than that, it's up to you.
Highlights
- Mixpanel and Google Analytics 4 are two of the most popular analytics platforms available.
- GA4 is designed for web and app analytics, while Mixpanel is geared towards product analytics.
- Mixpanel offers three different pricing plans for your SaaS product, while Google Analytics is entirely free.
- Both Mixpanel and Google Analytics can help you create dashboards for creating changes in traffic conversions, funnels, segment trends, and other data visualization metrics.
- Both Mixpanel and Google Analytics feature funnel analysis.
- Both tools report analytics data from your digital properties.
- Mixpanel is an event-based tracking tool, while Google Analytics is a page view-driven tool.
- Google Analytics offers e-commerce integration, while Mixpanel can identify users by their names and emails.
- The native integrations that Google Analytics 4 has are Google Ads, Google Search Console, Google Optimize, Google BigQuery, Ad Manager, Display & Video 360, Merchant Center, Google Play, Search Ads 360, Google Data Studio. Mixpanel integrations include Google Ads, Databox, Amazon Web Services, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Facebook Ads, and others.
FAQ
Q: Is Mixpanel better than Google Analytics?
A: It depends on your business and your needs. Mixpanel is geared towards product analytics, while Google Analytics is more focused on analyzing sources of traffic and organic search.
Q: Is Google Analytics free?
A: Yes, Google Analytics is entirely free. However, if you are a much larger company that needs advanced features, you can purchase Google Analytics 360 for $150,000 per year.
Q: Can Mixpanel identify users by their names and emails?
A: Yes, Mixpanel can identify users by their names and emails, while the best you can do in Google Analytics is to track the user ID.
Q: Does Google Analytics offer e-commerce integration?
A: Yes, Google Analytics offers e-commerce integration and is great for e-commerce companies since it collects many crucial data such as e-commerce conversion rates and transactions.
Q: What are the native integrations that Google Analytics 4 has?
A: The native integrations that Google Analytics 4 has are Google Ads, Google Search Console, Google Optimize, Google BigQuery, Ad Manager, Display & Video 360, Merchant Center, Google Play, Search Ads 360, Google Data Studio.
