Cometly vs Google Analytics 4 in 2026: Paid B2B Attribution vs the Free Default
One is free, tracks everything, and integrates natively with Google Ads. The other costs an undisclosed sum and exists solely to connect a paid campaign to closed-won ARR in your CRM.
Google Analytics 4
Cometly- Google Analytics 4 is free with no hit or session limits. Cometly discloses no pricing anywhere and bills on website session volume after a sales call.
- Cometly attributes conversions against actual closed-won CRM deal values across a 90-day cohort. GA4 attributes conversions at the point of a form submission or trial start, which for long B2B sales cycles can be 60 to 90 days before the deal actually closes.
- Cometly auto-detects and names ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Google AI Overviews as attribution channels. GA4 can register an AI tool as a referral source once a click happens, but has no equivalent named, purpose-built AI traffic detection feature.
- GA4 includes a free daily BigQuery export on every property, giving unsampled historical data with no enterprise contract required. Cometly's equivalent, warehouse sync with Snowflake and BigQuery, is restricted to its Enterprise tier only.
- GA4's predictive audiences (purchase probability, churn probability) feed directly into Google Ads Smart Bidding. Cometly has no comparable ad-platform bidding integration; its AI layer (Ask AI) is scoped to querying attribution data through natural language.
- Neither tool offers white-label client reporting on any plan, so agencies using either for client work need a separate reporting layer.
Google Analytics 4 and Cometly are not really fighting for the same job, but they get compared because both claim to answer "is our marketing working." GA4 is free for standard use, event-based, and backed by Google's machine learning and native Google Ads integration, making it the default analytics install for essentially any website or app. Cometly is a paid, sales-led B2B SaaS attribution tool that connects a specific ad campaign to closed-won ARR using real CRM deal values across a 90-day cohort, something GA4's standard conversion tracking was never built to do for a long B2B sales cycle. If your question is "where does my traffic come from and how does it behave," GA4 answers it for free. If your question is "did this specific campaign eventually become revenue three months later," that is Cometly's reason for existing.
The tools at a glance
Google Analytics 4
Free web and app analytics platform from Google with machine learning predictions and deep Google Ads integration
GA4 is the current, mandatory version of Google Analytics, tracking every user interaction as an event rather than a session, which lets it unify web and app measurement in a single property. It is free for standard use with no per-hit or per-session charges, and it remains the most widely used analytics platform in the world by a wide margin.
The strongest part of GA4 is what runs underneath the reporting UI: predictive metrics for purchase probability and churn probability, predictive audiences that export directly to Google Ads for remarketing, and a bidirectional Google Ads integration that shares conversion and audience data automatically. A free daily BigQuery export gives any property unsampled, row-level historical data with no Analytics 360 contract required.
What GA4 does not do is connect a conversion event to eventual CRM revenue on a long B2B timeline. Standard conversion tracking counts a lead or trial signup at the moment it happens, not what that lead is worth 60 to 90 days later when a deal actually closes, and GA4 has no native concept of tying a specific ad touch to a CRM-recorded ARR value.
| Feature | Google Analytics 4 (Free) Free | Analytics 360 (Enterprise) Custom (enterprise contract) |
|---|---|---|
| Web and app tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Machine learning and predictions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Google Ads integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| BigQuery export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data retention | 14 months max | 50 months |
| Sampling | Applies on large reports | Unsampled |
Cometly
B2B SaaS ad attribution that connects every campaign dollar to pipeline created and closed-won ARR
Cometly tracks the full journey from first ad impression through booked demo, deal created, and closed-won ARR, calculating return against actual CRM deal values instead of platform-reported conversion counts. The 90-day cohort view exists because B2B SaaS sales cycles routinely outlast the attribution windows GA4 and ad platforms default to.
A server-side Conversion API runs alongside the standard pixel, recovering an estimated 15 to 30 percent more conversion events than pixel tracking alone, and Cometly auto-detects traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Google AI Overviews, surfacing those as named channels with the same pipeline and ARR metrics applied as Google Ads or LinkedIn Ads.
The cost of that specificity is access: there is no public pricing, billing runs on website session volume, and a quote requires a sales call. MCP integration for Claude, CRM and warehouse sync, and the Cometly API are all restricted to the Enterprise tier, which puts real evaluation friction between a prospective buyer and the product.
| Feature | Core Usage-based, contact for pricing | Enterprise Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Based on website sessions | Custom |
| Server-side tracking (Conversion API) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-touch attribution | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ask AI | ✓ | ✓ |
| CRM and warehouse sync | ✗ | ✓ |
| MCP integration | ✗ | ✓ |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Google Analytics 4 | Cometly |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Free web and app measurement, acquisition and conversion tracking | B2B SaaS ad attribution, first touch to closed-won ARR |
| Pricing transparency | Full transparency (free tier plus enterprise Analytics 360) | None (sales call required for a quote) |
| Starting price | Free | Usage-based (session volume), custom quote |
| CRM attribution to closed-won revenue | No (tracks conversion events, not CRM-recorded ARR) | Yes (core feature, tied to actual CRM deal values) |
| AI traffic source detection (named engines) | No named feature (Gemini can appear as a referral once a click happens) | Yes (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Google AI Overviews) |
| Machine learning / predictive audiences | Yes (purchase probability, churn probability, predictive audiences) | No (Ask AI answers natural-language questions on attribution data, not ad-platform bidding predictions) |
| Native ad-platform bidding integration | Yes (bidirectional Google Ads sync, Smart Bidding) | No comparable bidding integration |
| Free data warehouse export | Yes (free daily BigQuery export) | Yes (Enterprise only: Snowflake, BigQuery) |
| Server-side / Conversion API tracking | No (not a server-side ad conversion tool by design) | Yes (Conversion API, both tiers) |
| Data retention | 14 months max (standard), 50 months (Analytics 360) | Not publicly specified |
| White-label delivery | No | No |
Neither GA4 nor Cometly tells you what happens before a visitor clicks anything
GA4 can register Gemini or another AI tool as a referral source once someone actually clicks through to your site, and Cometly goes a step further by naming ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Google AI Overviews as attribution channels with pipeline metrics attached. Neither tool has any visibility into the far larger share of AI answers where your brand is mentioned, recommended, or skipped with no click at all. AI Peekaboo tracks whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are citing your brand at the prompt level, with a read/write API on every plan from $50 a month, complementing whichever of these two tools you use for traffic or pipeline attribution.
Read the AI Peekaboo review →Which should you choose?
Google Analytics 4CometlyGoogle Analytics 4CometlyGoogle Analytics 4CometlyCometlyThis comparison is a bit lopsided by design: GA4 is free and answers the acquisition and conversion question for essentially any property, while Cometly is a paid specialist tool solving one specific, expensive problem for one specific buyer. Most B2B SaaS companies running paid campaigns are not choosing between these two; they are running GA4 as the free baseline for every property and layering Cometly on top specifically to answer whether ad spend is producing closed-won revenue on a timeline GA4 was never built to track.
Bottom line
Install GA4 regardless of anything else, since it costs nothing and there is no free alternative that comes close on Google Ads integration or BigQuery access. Add Cometly only once GA4's conversion tracking genuinely cannot answer whether a specific campaign became closed-won ARR, and come to the sales call with your monthly session volume ready since that is what drives the quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cometly a replacement for Google Analytics 4?
No. GA4 is free, tracks every website and app interaction as an event, and gives any team a baseline for acquisition and conversion measurement. Cometly is a paid, narrower tool that connects a specific ad campaign to closed-won ARR in the CRM, which is a job GA4 does not attempt. Most Cometly customers run GA4 alongside it rather than instead of it.
Why would a B2B SaaS company pay for Cometly when GA4 is free?
Because GA4 attributes a conversion at the moment a form is submitted or a trial starts, not at the moment a deal actually closes 60 to 90 days later, and it has no native way to tie that original ad touch to the CRM-recorded deal value. Cometly exists specifically to close that gap for companies with long B2B sales cycles and real ad spend on the line.
Does GA4 track AI referral traffic from ChatGPT or Gemini the way Cometly does?
Not by name. GA4 can show an AI tool as a referral source in its channel reports once a click actually happens, but it has no purpose-built feature that names and separates ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, or AI Overviews the way Cometly does, applying the same pipeline and ARR metrics to each.
Can I export Cometly data to BigQuery the way I can with GA4?
Yes, but not for free. GA4 includes a free daily BigQuery export on every property with no paid contract required. Cometly's equivalent, warehouse sync with Snowflake and BigQuery support, is restricted to the Enterprise tier, which requires a custom quote.
Which tool is better for agency client reporting?
Neither offers white-label delivery on any plan. GA4 has a native Looker Studio connector that agencies commonly use to build client-facing reports, while Cometly has no comparable reporting layer, so agencies typically pair either tool with a dedicated white-label reporting product.