GA4 counts visits. Kissmetrics counts customers.
Keep GA4 for traffic. Kissmetrics shows which campaign brought each paying customer, first click and last, on one record.
The same nine days, counted as visits and as one person. Sample data.
18 years of it9.6out of 10
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Which campaign brought the customers who paid?
The question that decides the budget. Count revenue instead of signups, and the ranking can change.
In GA4
Traffic acquisition credits each session to the source it arrived from, and a purchase to the session it happened in. Revenue appears only if you send purchase events with a value.
In Kissmetrics
Every trial and every payment sits on the person, under the campaign that first brought them. Rank the same campaigns by trials, then by revenue.
| # | Campaign | Trials | Trial to paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | google_nonbrand | 1,404 | 5.7% |
| 2 | google_brand | 392 | 15.8% |
| 3 | youtube_tutorials | 352 | 15.3% |
| 4 | linkedin_abm_ops | 336 | 17.3% |
| 5 | podcast_saastr | 304 | 18.4% |
| 6 | newsletter_weekly | 258 | 11.6% |
| 7 |  g2_category | 236 | 12.7% |
| 8 | linkedin_retarget | 122 | 13.1% |
| # | Campaign | Revenue | Trial to paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | linkedin_abm_ops | $95,120 | 17.3% |
| 2 | podcast_saastr | $71,680 | 18.4% |
| 3 | youtube_tutorials | $56,700 | 15.3% |
| 4 | google_brand | $42,780 | 15.8% |
| 5 | google_nonbrand | $32,800 | 5.7% |
| 6 | g2_category | $22,800 | 12.7% |
| 7 | newsletter_weekly | $21,600 | 11.6% |
| 8 | linkedin_retarget | $6,080 | 13.1% |
google_nonbrand starts the most trials, 1,404, and 5.7% of them pay. linkedin_abm_ops starts 336 and brings the most revenue, $95,120. Sample data. From the Performance report, on the Growth plan.
First click or last click? See both, on the same people.
The ad that closes a sale is not always the one that started it. Read the report both ways, then sort by revenue per person reached.
In GA4
Reports credit the session where the key event happened, and the advertising reports apply an attribution model. Without a User-ID you send, a phone visit and a laptop purchase are two users.
In Kissmetrics
The Performance report shows first touch and last touch side by side, on the same people and the same revenue, with revenue per customer and revenue per person reached, per campaign. Any touch counts everyone a campaign reached.
g2_Illustrative numbers, fully clickable. Nothing here queries your data.
On last touch google_brand closes 125 customers; it opened 62 of them. podcast_saastr closes 7 and opens 56, and on first touch is worth $11.64 per person reached against $0.93 for google_nonbrand. Sample data. The Performance report is on the Growth plan.
One customer on three devices, not three strangers.
Who is the person behind the sale, and what did they do before they paid? GA4 is not allowed to tell you.
In GA4
A user is a browser or a device unless you send your own User-ID, and Google’s terms forbid sending names, emails or other personal details. Even a joined-up user is an ID you cannot look up.
In Kissmetrics
Send the email when someone signs up or logs in. Earlier anonymous visits on that device join their record, and every visit, event and payment after lands on the same person.
- First touch
- podcast_saastr
- Last touch
- google_brand
- Plan
- Pro, annual
- Revenue
- $1,872
- Devices
- phone, laptop, work computer
zoe.turner: 9 days, 3 devices, first touch podcast_saastr, last touch google_brand. The day 1 phone visit joined her record when she logged in on that phone on day 6. Sample data. People search is on the Growth plan.
GA4 or Kissmetrics? Where each one is better.
GA4 is free and very good at traffic and Google Ads. It is better on four of these rows, and we say so.
| Question | Google Analytics 4 | Kissmetrics | Better at it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. Google Analytics 360 is the paid edition for large companies. | Free plan with 100k events a month and 3 seats, no card. Growth from $99 a month. | GA4 |
| Event volume | No charge per event on the free edition. | Priced by the events you track. | GA4 |
| Google Ads | A native link: share key events and audiences with Google Ads for bidding. | Reads the campaign from the UTM tags on your links, Google Ads included. | GA4 |
| Raw data | Free export of raw events to BigQuery. | CSV export of any report on Growth, the API on every plan. | GA4 |
| What a user is | A browser or a device, unless you send your own User-ID. | A person, joined across devices when they sign up or log in. | Kissmetrics |
| Who the customer is | Google’s terms forbid sending names, emails or other personal details, so a user is an ID. | A record per person, with their email, every event and every payment. | Kissmetrics |
| Campaign credit | Traffic acquisition credits each session to its own source. Advertising reports apply a model. | First click and last click on the same people, side by side, plus Any touch. | Kissmetrics |
| Revenue per campaign | Purchase revenue by source, when you send purchase events with a value. | Revenue, revenue per customer and revenue per person reached, per campaign, under first or last touch. | Kissmetrics |
| Getting an answer | Standard reports for traffic. Deeper questions in Explorations, which can be sampled. | Ready-made reports, and the chat for a follow-up in plain English. | Kissmetrics |
- PriceGA4
- GA4
- Free. Google Analytics 360 is the paid edition for large companies.
- Kissmetrics
- Free plan with 100k events a month and 3 seats, no card. Growth from $99 a month.
- Event volumeGA4
- GA4
- No charge per event on the free edition.
- Kissmetrics
- Priced by the events you track.
- Google AdsGA4
- GA4
- A native link: share key events and audiences with Google Ads for bidding.
- Kissmetrics
- Reads the campaign from the UTM tags on your links, Google Ads included.
- Raw dataGA4
- GA4
- Free export of raw events to BigQuery.
- Kissmetrics
- CSV export of any report on Growth, the API on every plan.
- What a user isKissmetrics
- GA4
- A browser or a device, unless you send your own User-ID.
- Kissmetrics
- A person, joined across devices when they sign up or log in.
- Who the customer isKissmetrics
- GA4
- Google’s terms forbid sending names, emails or other personal details, so a user is an ID.
- Kissmetrics
- A record per person, with their email, every event and every payment.
- Campaign creditKissmetrics
- GA4
- Traffic acquisition credits each session to its own source. Advertising reports apply a model.
- Kissmetrics
- First click and last click on the same people, side by side, plus Any touch.
- Revenue per campaignKissmetrics
- GA4
- Purchase revenue by source, when you send purchase events with a value.
- Kissmetrics
- Revenue, revenue per customer and revenue per person reached, per campaign, under first or last touch.
- Getting an answerKissmetrics
- GA4
- Standard reports for traffic. Deeper questions in Explorations, which can be sampled.
- Kissmetrics
- Ready-made reports, and the chat for a follow-up in plain English.
GA4 details as Google documents them in October 2026. Kissmetrics attribution, revenue, People search and CSV export are on the Growth plan. Tell us if something changed and we will fix it: help@kissmetrics.io.
Keep GA4. Add Kissmetrics.
Most teams run both: GA4 for traffic and Google Ads, Kissmetrics for the people who pay. Neither one changes the other.
Install with AI in about 5 minutes
The Kissmetrics snippet sits next to your GA4 tag. Your GA4 setup, reports and Google Ads link stay as they are.
Start from a ready-made schema
Ready-made schema examples show which events and properties to track, from signup to payment, so the setup is complete from day one.
Name the person once
Send the email when someone signs up or logs in. From then on every visit, trial and payment lands on one record.
Nothing to migrate. Start free.
Kissmetrics records people from the day you add it, and GA4 keeps your history. Attribution and revenue come with Growth.
Free
$0, no card
- 100k events a month, 3 seats, no card
- Funnels and Activity reports
- Ask in plain English, dashboards, Live view
- API access, up to 3 integrations active
Growth
From $99 a month
Everything in Free, plus:
- Performance: first, last and any touch
- Revenue, Cohorts, Path and People search
- Populations and visitors from AI assistants
- A/B tests, Product usage and CSV export
What GA4 users ask before they start.
Should I replace GA4 with Kissmetrics?
Most teams keep both. GA4 is free and good at traffic and Google Ads. Kissmetrics adds what GA4 leaves out: each customer as one person, from the campaign that first brought them to every payment since.
Will the numbers match GA4?
Not line for line, and they should not. GA4 counts sessions, and a user per browser or device unless you send a User-ID. Kissmetrics counts people. The way to check it is to look up three customers you know and compare their history with your own records.
Can GA4 show me individual customers?
Only as IDs. GA4 joins a person’s devices if you send your own User-ID, but Google’s terms forbid sending names, emails or other personally identifiable information. In Kissmetrics each person is a record with their email, every event and every payment.
Can I import my GA4 history?
No. Kissmetrics starts recording people the day you add it, so keep GA4 running for your history. Today’s first clicks are next month’s answers.
Do I need a developer?
Not for the website: install with AI in about 5 minutes. Ready-made schema examples show which events and properties to track, from signup to payment. Sending the email when someone signs up or logs in is a job for whoever looks after your app. How installing with AI works
What is free?
Tracking, the Funnels and Activity reports, the chat, dashboards, Live view and API access, with 100k events a month, 3 seats and up to 3 integrations active, no card. Performance (first, last and any touch), Revenue, People search, Cohorts and visitors from AI assistants are on Growth, from $99 a month. See pricing
Fixing GA4 first? Read GA4 problems and how to fix them.
Leaving GA4 rather than adding to it? See the Google Analytics alternatives.
Other comparisons: Mixpanel, Amplitude, Adobe Analytics, Plausible and all comparisons.
Keep GA4. See who pays.
Kissmetrics remembers people from the day you add it. Today's first clicks are next month's answers.