Compare · Google Analytics 4
Skald vs Google Analytics: what GA4 counts, and what it never sees
Skald vs Google Analytics is a question of where the count starts. GA4 counts the browsers that run its tag. Skald reads your server's log, so it also sees the AI crawlers, assistants and visitors that tag never meets.
Skald vs Google Analytics compares two ways of measuring a website. Google Analytics 4 runs the Google tag in each page and leaves known bots out on purpose. Skald reads the access log your server already writes and sorts every request into five groups that add up to the log. They answer different questions, and many sites run both.
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- 09:14:02 198.51.100.7 "GET /pricing/" ref "google.com"GA4 and the log
- 09:14:04 198.51.100.8 "GET /blog/" · banner declinedlog only
- 09:14:05 198.51.100.9 "GET /docs/" · tag blockedlog only
- 09:14:06 203.0.113.24 "GET /pricing/" "GPTBot/1.2"log only
- 09:14:08 198.51.100.140 "GET /docs/setup/" "ChatGPT-User"log only
- 09:14:11 192.0.2.77 "GET /wp-login.php" 404log only
Sample lines. In basic consent mode, a declined banner sends GA4 nothing. The server log still has the request.
[01] question by question
Skald vs Google Analytics 4, question by question
Pick what you need to know. The table lights those questions and shows how GA4 and Skald answer them. If you are thinking of dropping GA4, read Google Analytics alternative first.
What do you need to know? pick one
AI, bots and security: GA4 measures from a tag in the page and leaves known bots out on purpose, so it answers none of these 6. Skald answers all 6 from your server log.
| The question | Google Analytics 4Google tag in the page | Skaldyour server log |
|---|---|---|
| Which AI training crawlers read your pages? (GPTBot, ClaudeBot) | No, known bots are left out on purpose | Yes, page by page |
| Did an assistant fetch a page live, for someone? (ChatGPT-User) | No | Yes, kept apart from training crawls |
| Why did the AI come: training, a live question, or a click? | No | Yes, three reasons, never added together |
| Which search engine crawlers came? | No | Yes, checked against their owners' addresses |
| Who is scanning the site, and what did they try? | No, a scanner never loads a page | Yes, probes, attack attempts and a block list |
| Does a known flaw apply to the site's own stack? | No | Yes, PHP, WordPress and Node.js read daily |
| Visitors and visits | Yes | Yes, as an upper bound on people |
| Returning visitors | Yes | Within 30 days by default (1 to 90) |
| People who clicked through from an AI assistant | Yes, an AI Assistant channel; leaves out Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode | Yes, by assistant; a floor; AI Mode told apart when it carries udm=50 |
| Visitors with an ad-blocker | Not when the tag is blocked; Google publishes no rate | Yes, the server logs every request |
| Visitors who decline cookies | Basic consent mode: nothing; advanced: cookieless pings plus modelling | Yes, the log needs no cookie |
| Works where you cannot read the server's log | Yes, on any host | People only, with the script tag; no AI or bots |
| Search queries, impressions, position | Through a Search Console link; thresholds apply | Synced from Search Console and Bing every 6 hours |
| Events inside the page (clicks, sign-ups) | Yes | Yes, with the optional script tag |
| Funnels | Yes | Yes, counted every day by source and device |
| Retention cohorts | Yes, cohort exploration | Yes, by week, split by first source |
| Leads by source and AI assistant | Key events by channel | Yes, first and last touch, from signed webhooks |
| Ad cost and the Google Ads link | Yes | No |
| Totals must add up, or the day is withheld | No | Yes |
| A second, separate recount of every figure | No | Yes, every day |
| Unsampled and unthresholded | Sampling in large explorations, thresholds, (other) rows | Yes, every line counted |
| Newest figures | Realtime covers 30 minutes; full processing 24 to 48 hours | Today so far every 2 minutes |
| Runs on your own server | No, Google's cloud | Yes, free to self-host |
| Raw requests and addresses | Event-level BigQuery export, without the IP | Yes, if you choose to keep them |
What each tool is built to do, as we read their own docs in October 2026. If we have yours wrong, tell us.
[02] to be fair
Where Google Analytics 4 does more than Skald
GA4 is built to measure what happens inside the page and what your ads cost. Here is where it is the better tool.
Ads and their cost
Ad spend and the Google Ads link live in GA4. Skald names the ad network from the click, and has no ad cost at all.
Any host
The Google tag works wherever you can paste it. Skald needs a server or CDN log to see machines; without one, its script tag sees people only.
Depth inside the page
Click and scroll events and funnels with in-page steps are GA4's home ground. Skald's optional tag sends clicks, form steps and bookings too.
[03] what the log adds
What Skald sees that the Google tag never meets
AI crawlers, AI fetchers, search crawlers and scanners never run a page's JavaScript. Your server writes a line for each of them anyway.
Skald files every line in one of five groups: people, AI assistants, search engines, bots and scanners, and your own traffic. The five add up to the log, and a second count checks every figure.
[04] use both
Keep Google Analytics for ads, add Skald for the rest
Skald needs nothing in your pages, so it never touches the Google tag. Most sites that buy ads keep GA4 and add Skald beside it.
Keep GA4 for
Ad cost and the Google Ads link, in-page funnels you already built, and sites where you cannot read the server's log.
Add Skald for
AI crawlers and live fetches, visitors the tag missed, who is probing your server, and leads joined to the pages they read.
Check both
Skald's figures add up to the log and are counted twice. When the two tools differ, the log line shows why.
[05] choose by the question
Google Analytics, Skald, or both
- "What did our Google Ads cost, and what did they bring?" GA4.
- "Which AI crawlers and assistants read us?" Skald, from the log.
- "Did the page ChatGPT read bring a lead?" Skald.
- "What did people search for, and where do we rank?" Search Console.
What it does not do
- No ad spend and no Google Ads link.
- Without a server or CDN log, Skald sees people only, through its script tag: no AI crawlers, fetchers or bots.
- Clicks from Google AI Overviews look like any Google click and are not told apart. AI Mode is, when the click carries
udm=50. - AI clicks are a floor: an app that strips the referrer sends a direct visit. Likely visits are shown apart, never added.
keep reading
More on Skald vs Google Analytics
questions
Skald vs Google Analytics FAQ
Straight answers, including what Skald does not do.
Why doesn't Google Analytics show GPTBot or ChatGPT-User?
GA4 measures with a tag that runs in the visitor's browser, and it leaves known bots out on purpose. AI crawlers and AI fetchers never run that tag. Your server still writes a line for each one, and Skald reads those lines.
Does GA4 count visitors who decline cookies?
As we read Google's own docs in October 2026: in basic consent mode it sends nothing for them; in advanced consent mode it sends cookieless pings and models the gap. Skald counts from the server log, which needs no cookie, so a visitor who declines the banner is still counted.
Can Skald replace Google Analytics?
For some sites, yes: if you do not buy Google Ads and want every visitor and crawler counted on your own server. If you need ad cost and the Google Ads link, keep GA4. When Skald can replace Google Analytics.
Can I run Skald and Google Analytics together?
Yes. Skald reads your server's log and needs nothing in your pages, so it never touches the Google tag. Each answers its own questions, and the counts never mix.
Does GA4 sample data?
GA4 samples explorations over 10 million events, applies thresholds to some demographic and query data, and folds rare rows into (other), by its own docs. Skald counts every log line, unsampled, and withholds a day whose two counts disagree.
Does Skald link to Google Ads?
No. Skald has no ad spend and no Google Ads link. It names the ad network from the click ID in a visit's address, never keeping its value, and shows the campaign tags on each visit.
$ tail -f access.log | skald
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