Happenstance vs Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks marketing metrics. Happenstance tracks product behavior—and installs in 60 seconds via GitHub.

At a Glance

Happenstance

  • ✓ Built for developers & product teams
  • ✓ GitHub-native (installs via PR)
  • ✓ AI auto-tracks everything
  • ✓ €29/mo for 5 repos (unlimited events)
  • ✓ Product analytics + error tracking
  • ✓ Setup in < 60 seconds

Google Analytics

  • ✓ Built for marketers & SEO
  • ✓ Free tier (limited)
  • ✓ Manual event tracking (gtag.js)
  • ✓ Pageview-focused analytics
  • ✓ Integrates with Google Ads
  • ✓ Industry standard for web analytics

Feature Comparison

FeatureHappenstanceGoogle Analytics
Setup Time < 60s~30 min
Target AudienceDevelopersMarketers
GitHub Integration Native (PR)
Auto-Tracking AI-poweredManual gtag() calls
Price€29/moFree / GA4 360 ($$$)
Product Analytics Built for itBasic
Error Tracking Built-in
Funnel Analytics AI-poweredManual setup
SEO/Marketing Focus
Google Ads Integration
Privacy-Focused GDPR-firstComplex compliance
Marketing Metrics vs Product Insights
📊 Google Analytics Answers

• How many people visited our site?

• Where do they come from? (traffic sources)

• Which pages get the most views?

• What's our bounce rate?

• How long do people stay?

Perfect for content sites, blogs, marketing campaigns

⚡ Happenstance Answers

• Which features are users actually using?

• Where do users drop off in our funnel?

• What errors are blocking conversions?

• How do users navigate through our product?

• What's our feature adoption rate?

Perfect for SaaS, web apps, products with user flows

Different tools for different jobs. GA tracks traffic. Happenstance tracks product behavior.

Choose Happenstance if:

You're building a product (SaaS, web app), not a content site

You care about user behavior, not just traffic sources

You need to understand feature usage & conversion funnels

You want errors + analytics in one place

You build on GitHub—merge a PR, analytics are live

You want setup in 60 seconds, not configuring GA4 for hours

You want AI to auto-track everything (no manual tags)

Choose Google Analytics if:

✓ You're focused on SEO and marketing

✓ You run Google Ads campaigns

✓ You need pageview-centric analytics

✓ You want free analytics (basic tier)

✓ You're tracking a content site or blog

✓ You need Google ecosystem integration

✓ You have a marketing team managing analytics

Pricing Comparison

Happenstance

Predictable, unlimited events

Free: €0/mo
1 repository, unlimited events
Startup: €29/mo
5 repositories, unlimited events
No hidden costs. No event limits.
Google Analytics

Free with limits, or enterprise

GA4: Free
10M events/mo limit
GA4 360: $$$
$50K+/year (enterprise only)
Free tier has limitations. Enterprise is expensive.

Try Developer-First Analytics

Setup in 60 seconds. Built for product teams, not marketers.

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