Google Analytics alternative · counted from the log
A Google Analytics alternative that counts from your server log
A Google Analytics alternative should say plainly what it cannot do. Skald counts every visit from your web server's own log, with no tag needed, and checks every figure twice. It has no Google Ads link and no ad spend, so many sites keep GA4 for ads and add Skald beside it.
Google Analytics alternative is a tool you use instead of, or beside, Google Analytics 4 to count the people who visit your site and where they came from. Skald does it from your server's access log, so visitors who block the Google tag or decline cookies are still counted, and AI crawlers show up too.
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- 09:14:02 198.51.100.7 "GET /pricing/" ref "google.com"GA4 and Skald
- 09:14:05 198.51.100.9 "GET /docs/" · tag blockedSkald only
- 09:14:06 198.51.100.12 "GET /" · cookies declinedSkald only
- 09:14:08 203.0.113.24 "GET /pricing/" "GPTBot/1.2"Skald only · AI training
- 09:14:09 198.51.100.23 "GET /docs/" ref "chatgpt.com"GA4 and Skald · from ChatGPT
Sample lines. With basic consent mode, GA4 records nothing for a visitor who declines cookies. The server still writes the line.
[01] beside or instead
Run it beside Google Analytics, or instead of it
Most sites start beside it. Flip the switch to see what changes if you replace GA4, and what you give up.
GA4 keeps
Ad spend, the Google Ads link, and the in-page events you already set up.
Skald adds
Visitors who block the tag or decline cookies, AI crawlers and live fetches, scanners, and leads joined to their source.
You compare
Both count the same site for 30 days. Where they differ, Skald shows the log lines behind its figure.
You keep
Visitors, pages, sources, campaigns, countries, journeys, funnels and leads, counted from the log and checked twice.
You add the tag if you need it
Clicks, form steps and bookings come from Skald's optional script tag. Without it, you lose nothing the log already gives.
You give up
The Google Ads link and ad spend. Skald has neither. If you buy Google Ads, keep GA4 for them.
[02] what the tag never meets
Three kinds of traffic Google Analytics cannot count
A tag counts only browsers that run it. Your server writes a line for every request.
Visitors who decline cookies
With basic consent mode, GA4 records nothing for them. Advanced mode sends cookieless pings and models the rest. The log counts them, with no cookie.
Visitors who block the tag
When the Google tag is blocked, GA4 sees nothing, and Google publishes no rate. The request still reaches your server.
AI crawlers and live fetches
GPTBot and ChatGPT-User never run a tag. Skald sees them page by page, and keeps training crawls apart from live fetches.
[03] what you see instead
Today's visitors, every 2 minutes, checked
The Overview shows visitors on the site now, today so far, leads and visitors from AI, beside yesterday at the same hour. Every figure is counted a second way, and a day that does not add up is withheld.
- Five groups that add up to the log: people, AI assistants, search engines, bots and scanners, your own traffic.
- Visits are an upper bound on people. A figure not recorded says "not recorded", never 0.
- Search Console's clicks and queries, synced every 6 hours, beside your own visits from search.
[04] switching
Switching from Google Analytics, step by step
Nothing changes on your pages until you want it to. Skald starts from the log your server already writes.
Read the log
Point Skald at your access log, or at Cloudflare, CloudFront or Fastly logs.
Connect search
Add Search Console and Bing from the dashboard. Their figures stay theirs.
Add the tag, if needed
For clicks, form steps and bookings. It posts to your own site.
Join the leads
Bookings, forms and payments arrive by signed webhook, with their source.
What it does not do
- No Google Ads link and no ad spend.
- It needs your server's log or a CDN's log. Without one, the tag counts people only: no AI, no bots.
- Visits are an upper bound on people, not an exact count.
- It does not import your GA4 history.
in this section
Two questions people ask before they switch
keep reading
More on Google Analytics alternative
questions
Google Analytics alternative FAQ
Straight answers, including what Skald does not do.
Can Skald fully replace Google Analytics?
For a site that does not run Google Ads, often yes. Skald has no Google Ads link and no ad spend, so a site that buys ads usually keeps GA4 for them and adds Skald for everything else.
Do I need to remove the Google tag?
No. Skald reads your server's log, so it works beside the Google tag and changes nothing about it. Run both and compare them for 30 days.
Why does Skald count more visitors than GA4?
The log has a line for every request, so visitors who block the Google tag or decline cookies are still counted. With basic consent mode, GA4 records nothing for them. Skald's visitors are an upper bound on people, not an exact count.
Does Skald track clicks and events like GA4?
The optional script tag sends clicks, form steps and bookings, and funnels are counted every day. It has no ad spend and no Google Ads link. Funnels and goals.
Does Skald show Google search queries?
Yes, synced from Search Console and Bing every 6 hours and shown beside Skald's own visits from search. The figures stay Google's and Bing's. Skald and Search Console.
Is my data sent to anyone?
No. Skald runs on your own server, or ours if we host it for you. The optional tag posts to your own site, never to a third party.
$ tail -f access.log | skald
See what AI does with your site. Free for 30 days.
No card. We set up hosted Skald for you within one working day, or you self-host it free. Every line of your log, sorted and added up.