Independent Analytics vs MonsterInsights
Updated 10 Oct 2026. 27 features compared side by side.
Privacy-friendly, self-hosted WordPress analytics with cookieless tracking and reports in the admin; Pro adds real-time, campaigns, clicks, forms and sales.
Freemium Google Analytics plugin from Awesome Motive that adds GA4 tracking and in-dashboard reports, with eCommerce, forms and custom dimensions in paid plans.
Choose Independent Analytics if…
- You need self-hosted stats and cookieless tracking
- You want the lower entry price ($49/yr vs $199/yr)
- You weigh user ratings (4.8 vs 4.5 on WordPress.org)
Choose MonsterInsights if…
- You need Google Analytics 4 integration and Google Tag manager
- You also want scroll depth tracking and search console data
- You prefer the more widely used option
Independent Analytics includes 2 features that MonsterInsights lacks, including Self-hosted stats and Cookieless tracking; MonsterInsights has 4 that Independent Analytics lacks, including Google Analytics 4 integration, Google Tag Manager and Scroll depth tracking. Both include 21 of the 27 features we track.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Independent Analytics MonsterInsightsTracking setup5/75/7
Not a Google Analytics plugin; it is a standalone alternative that needs no Google account.
Setup wizard connects a GA4 property through Google sign-in and adds the gtag tracking code.
Tracks visits itself and stores all data in your WordPress database.
All data is collected by and read back from Google Analytics; nothing is stored locally.
Sets no cookies; repeat visitors are recognised via a hashed IP and user agent that isn't stored.
Relies on Google Analytics, which uses cookies; consent integrations are offered instead.
Real-time view of current visitors, pages and referrers is a Pro feature.
Real-time report of current visitors, pages and sources is part of the Plus plan.
No Google Tag Manager integration; it does not use Google services.
Docs say it runs alongside a GTM container for extra events, but it does not insert GTM itself.
A small first-party script posts each view to your own REST API; there is no pure server-log mode.
Paid eCommerce and form events are sent via GA4's Measurement Protocol; pageviews still use gtag.
Deferred request to the site's REST API with no third-party scripts; vendor says Core Web Vitals are unaffected.
Loads Google's gtag.js asynchronously; paid plans can host the gtag file locally.
Events & ecommerce6/77/7
Pro click tracking for links, buttons, outbound links, emails and file downloads via link patterns.
Lite tracks outbound links, file downloads and phone clicks; reports, media and custom events need Plus.
Pro tracks submissions and conversion rates for 20+ form plugins.
Forms add-on tracks impressions and conversions for WPForms, Gravity Forms, CF7 and others.
Pro records WooCommerce, EDD, SureCart, FluentCart and PMPro sales, refunds and conversion rate.
Enhanced eCommerce for WooCommerce, EDD, MemberPress and more, with revenue and product reports.
Pro Campaigns report and campaign link builder for UTM-tagged URLs.
Campaigns and Source/Medium reports plus a UTM link builder come with the Plus plan.
Pro conversions for eCommerce sales, form submissions and tracked clicks.
Form and eCommerce conversion rates are shown in the Pro-level reports.
Free filters and stats by post type, author, category and publication date.
Tracks author, category, tag, post type, user role, SEO score and focus keyword dimensions.
Scroll depth tracking isn't listed in the free or Pro feature lists.
Scroll depth tracking switches on automatically on Plus or higher.
Reports in WordPress7/88/8
Pages, Referrers, Geographic and Devices reports in the admin plus a dashboard widget.
Lite shows an Overview report and dashboard widget; the full report suite starts at Plus.
Pages report ranks posts and pages, including landing and exit pages.
Overview report lists top posts and pages; Plus adds dedicated Pages and Publishers reports.
Referrers report covers sites, search engines, social networks and AI platforms.
Top referral sources appear in the Lite Overview report.
Country and city reports with a world map, plus device type, browser and OS.
Overview covers top countries and device split; Plus adds a Technology report.
View counts in the Posts list and admin toolbar stats on each page.
Page Insights add-on shows per-post stats in the admin bar and post list; Plus or higher.
No Google Search Console integration is offered.
Search Console keyword report inside WordPress is included from the Plus plan.
Pro sends scheduled HTML email reports daily, weekly or monthly.
Lite sends a monthly email recap; weekly summaries to multiple addresses need Plus.
Free CSV and PDF exports of reports.
Reports can be exported as PDF on Plus and higher; no CSV export is advertised.
Privacy & admin5/55/5
Cookieless, no personal data and no external requests, so the vendor says no consent banner is needed.
EU Compliance add-on (IP anonymising, consent tool integrations) and Privacy Guard start at Plus.
Ignore chosen user roles and IP addresses in the free version.
Admins and editors are excluded by default and further roles can be excluded.
Self-identifying bots such as crawlers and uptime monitors are ignored automatically.
No plugin-level filter; GA4 automatically excludes known bots and spiders.
Share analytics with other roles, optionally limiting authors to their own content.
Lite lets you choose which roles can view reports; Elite adds advanced per-report access control.
Works on multisite; each sub-site gets its own Analytics menu and stats.
Readme confirms multisite support; Elite adds network-level management features.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Independent Analytics Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Pro Standard | $49 per year, 1 site |
| Pro Hobbyist | $79 per year, 3 sites |
| Pro Agency | $199 per year, Unlimited |
MonsterInsights Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Lite | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Plus | $199 per year, 1 site |
| Pro | $399 per year, 5 sites |
| Elite | $599 per year, 5 sites |
| Agency | $799 per year, 25 sites |
Downloads trend
Independent Analytics
21,155 downloads last week
MonsterInsights
118,390 downloads last week
Verdict
Independent Analytics and MonsterInsights are closely matched on features (85/100 and 84/100). The differences are in the details: Independent Analytics adds self-hosted stats and cookieless tracking, while MonsterInsights adds Google Analytics 4 integration and Google Tag manager. Paid plans start at $49/yr for Independent Analytics and $199/yr for MonsterInsights. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Independent Analytics: not included. MonsterInsights: included. Setup wizard connects a GA4 property through Google sign-in and adds the gtag tracking code.
Independent Analytics: included. MonsterInsights: not included. Tracks visits itself and stores all data in your WordPress database.
Independent Analytics: included. MonsterInsights: not included. Sets no cookies; repeat visitors are recognised via a hashed IP and user agent that isn't stored.
Independent Analytics: not included. MonsterInsights: partial. Docs say it runs alongside a GTM container for extra events, but it does not insert GTM itself.
Independent Analytics: not included. MonsterInsights: paid version (Plus). Scroll depth tracking switches on automatically on Plus or higher.
Independent Analytics: not included. MonsterInsights: paid version (Plus). Search Console keyword report inside WordPress is included from the Plus plan.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, Independent Analytics or MonsterInsights?
Independent Analytics and MonsterInsights are closely matched on features (85/100 and 84/100). The differences are in the details: Independent Analytics adds self-hosted stats and cookieless tracking, while MonsterInsights adds Google Analytics 4 integration and Google Tag manager. Paid plans start at $49/yr for Independent Analytics and $199/yr for MonsterInsights. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
MonsterInsights includes 25 of the 27 features we track, against 23 for Independent Analytics. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Independent Analytics free?
Independent Analytics has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $49/yr.
Is MonsterInsights free?
MonsterInsights has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $199/yr.
Feature data last changed 10 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Independent Analytics or MonsterInsights. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.