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MonsterInsights
Freemium Google Analytics plugin from Awesome Motive that adds GA4 tracking and in-dashboard reports, with eCommerce, forms and custom dimensions in paid plans.
Free installs2M+WordPress.org, active
Est. Pro installs~110KLikely 72K–170K
Vendor claims3M+Vendor's own figure
Rating4.5/53,157 reviews
Price from$199/yrFreemium
Last updated16 Sep 2026Version 11.3.0
Overview
MonsterInsights is a Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, owned by Awesome Motive. It does not collect data itself: you sign in with Google, pick a GA4 property, and the plugin places the gtag code on your site and then pulls the numbers back into reports inside the WordPress admin. The aim is to give site owners Google Analytics data without learning the GA4 interface or editing theme files.
The free Lite version handles the connection, tracks outbound links, file downloads and phone clicks, excludes admins and editors from tracking, and shows an Overview report with sessions, pageviews, top pages, top countries, referrals and device split. Lite users also get a monthly email recap. Almost everything else is locked behind a paid licence, and the free dashboard shows upgrade prompts for those reports.
What the paid plans add
- Plus: real-time, Publishers, Pages, Campaigns, Source/Medium, Landing Page, Technology, Site Speed and Search Console reports, scroll and media tracking, Page Insights, weekly email summaries, PDF exports and the EU Compliance add-on.
- Pro: enhanced eCommerce for WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads, form conversion tracking, custom dimensions (author, category, post type, user role, SEO score), coupon and funnel reports, user journeys and ad-platform conversion pixels.
- Elite / Agency: more sites, multisite management, advanced access control, exception alerts and site notes automations.
Recent versions also add AI features, such as a chat assistant that answers questions about your GA data, and every paid plan includes a monthly allowance of AI credits.
Limitations: because data lives in Google Analytics, you still need cookie consent handling in regulated regions, ad blockers can stop the gtag script, and GA4’s own processing delays and thresholds apply. Pricing is high compared with self-hosted tools: the advertised prices are first-year discounts, and renewals are at the full list price. The free version is mainly a setup tool with a basic overview.
Who should pick it: businesses that are committed to Google Analytics and want GA4 eCommerce, form and content tracking set up through point-and-click settings, with readable reports in WordPress, and are willing to pay for Pro to get the most useful parts.
Best for: Sites that want GA4 with eCommerce, form and content tracking configured from WordPress and are prepared to pay for Pro.
MonsterInsights is a capable way to run GA4 without learning Tag Manager, and Pro's eCommerce, form and dimension tracking save real setup time. The free version is thin and renewals are expensive, so it makes sense mainly for businesses that will use the paid tracking features.
Pros
- Connects GA4 through Google sign-in without touching theme code
- Lite tracks outbound links, downloads and phone clicks automatically
- Pro sets up GA4 eCommerce for WooCommerce and EDD in a few clicks
- Custom dimensions for authors, categories and post types without GTM
- Readable reports and per-post Page Insights inside WordPress
- Broad integrations with form, membership and SEO plugins
Cons
- Free version offers little beyond setup and an Overview report
- Renewals are at full list price, double the advertised first-year price
- Depends on Google Analytics, so consent banners and ad blockers still affect data
- Frequent upgrade prompts in the free dashboard
- Multisite management and advanced access control need the Elite plan
Key features
What MonsterInsights highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- GA4 connection via setup wizard
- Overview report inside WordPress
- Dashboard widget with key stats
- Outbound link and download tracking
- Phone and email click tracking
- Excludes admins from tracking
- Role-based report permissions
- Monthly email stats recap
- Headline analyzer in the editor
- Multisite compatible
Pro / paid adds From $199/yr
- Real-time visitor report
- Search Console report in WordPress
- Campaign and Source/Medium reports
- Scroll depth and media tracking
- Per-post Page Insights
- Weekly email summaries and PDF exports
- EU Compliance and Privacy Guard
- WooCommerce and EDD eCommerce tracking
- Form conversion tracking
- Custom dimensions for authors and categories
- User journeys before purchase
- Ad platform conversion pixels
- AI chat assistant for GA data
Feature checklist
25 of 27 features we track in Analytics Plugins, feature score 84/100
Tracking setup 5/7
Google Analytics 4 integration Key
Connects a GA4 property and adds the tracking code for you.
Setup wizard connects a GA4 property through Google sign-in and adds the gtag tracking code.
Included
Self-hosted stats Key
Tracks visits itself and stores data in your WordPress database.
All data is collected by and read back from Google Analytics; nothing is stored locally.
Not included
Cookieless tracking Key
Counts visits without setting tracking cookies.
Relies on Google Analytics, which uses cookies; consent integrations are offered instead.
Not included
Real-time stats
Shows who is on the site right now.
Real-time report of current visitors, pages and sources is part of the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Google Tag Manager
Adds or works with Google Tag Manager containers.
Docs say it runs alongside a GTM container for extra events, but it does not insert GTM itself.
Partial
Server-side tracking
Records hits on the server, unaffected by ad blockers.
Paid eCommerce and form events are sent via GA4's Measurement Protocol; pageviews still use gtag.
Partial Pro
Lightweight tracking script
Small or no front-end script, so tracking does not slow pages.
Loads Google's gtag.js asynchronously; paid plans can host the gtag file locally.
Partial
Events & ecommerce 7/7
Link, click & download tracking Key
Tracks outbound links, file downloads and button clicks.
Lite tracks outbound links, file downloads and phone clicks; reports, media and custom events need Plus.
Included
Form conversion tracking
Tracks form views and submissions.
Forms add-on tracks impressions and conversions for WPForms, Gravity Forms, CF7 and others.
Paid version Pro
WooCommerce tracking Key
Tracks orders, revenue and products from WooCommerce.
Enhanced eCommerce for WooCommerce, EDD, MemberPress and more, with revenue and product reports.
Paid version Pro
Campaign & UTM reports
Reports on UTM campaigns, sources and mediums.
Campaigns and Source/Medium reports plus a UTM link builder come with the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Goals & conversions
Set goals and see conversion rates.
Form and eCommerce conversion rates are shown in the Pro-level reports.
Paid version Pro
Custom dimensions
Report by author, category, post type, user role and similar.
Tracks author, category, tag, post type, user role, SEO score and focus keyword dimensions.
Paid version Pro
Scroll depth tracking
Measures how far visitors scroll.
Scroll depth tracking switches on automatically on Plus or higher.
Paid version Plus
Reports in WordPress 8/8
Reports inside WordPress Key
Traffic reports in the WordPress admin, no need to open another tool.
Lite shows an Overview report and dashboard widget; the full report suite starts at Plus.
Included
Top pages & posts
Shows which content gets the most visits.
Overview report lists top posts and pages; Plus adds dedicated Pages and Publishers reports.
Included
Traffic sources & referrers
Where visitors come from.
Top referral sources appear in the Lite Overview report.
Included
Location & device reports
Country, browser and device breakdowns.
Overview covers top countries and device split; Plus adds a Technology report.
Included
Stats per post
Visit numbers shown on each post or in the editor.
Page Insights add-on shows per-post stats in the admin bar and post list; Plus or higher.
Paid version Plus
Search Console data
Search queries and rankings from Google Search Console.
Search Console keyword report inside WordPress is included from the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Email summaries Key
Scheduled email reports with key stats.
Lite sends a monthly email recap; weekly summaries to multiple addresses need Plus.
Included
Export reports
Export to CSV or PDF.
Reports can be exported as PDF on Plus and higher; no CSV export is advertised.
Paid version Plus
Privacy & admin 5/5
GDPR & consent tools Key
IP anonymisation, consent mode or cookie-banner integration.
EU Compliance add-on (IP anonymising, consent tool integrations) and Privacy Guard start at Plus.
Paid version Plus
Exclude users & roles
Leave admins or chosen roles out of the stats.
Admins and editors are excluded by default and further roles can be excluded.
Included
Bot filtering
Filters out bots and crawlers.
No plugin-level filter; GA4 automatically excludes known bots and spiders.
Partial
Report access by role
Choose which user roles can view reports.
Lite lets you choose which roles can view reports; Elite adds advanced per-report access control.
Included
Multisite support
Works across a WordPress multisite network.
Readme confirms multisite support; Elite adds network-level management features.
Included
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Lite
Freeper yearUnlimited
GA4 connection, Overview report, outbound/download tracking, monthly email recap.
Plus
$199per year1 site
Standard reports, real-time, scroll tracking, PDF export, EU Compliance; 5,000 AI credits. First year shown at $99.50.
Pro
$399per year5 sites
eCommerce, forms, custom dimensions, user journeys; 10,000 AI credits. First year shown at $199.50.
Elite
$599per year5 sites
Multisite, advanced access control, UserFeedback Elite; 15,000 AI credits. First year shown at $299.50.
Agency
$799per year25 sites
25 sites, 20,000 AI credits. First year shown at $399.50.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use MonsterInsights?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
2M+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
3M+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~110K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: WordPress.org shows 2M+ free installs, which could mean anything from 2M to 3M. The vendor says 3M+ sites, so we put the free count halfway between the middle of that range and the vendor figure, at about 2.8M. Website scans by WPoptic find the paid plugin (folder google-analytics-premium) on 33,140 live sites; they find the free version on 1,037,303 sites against about 2.8M WordPress.org installs, so each site found stands for about 2.7, giving 88K. About 2.8M free installs x 14% (the usual share of free sites that also run the paid version when many key features are paid, lower for very large free bases) gives 380K. Combining these (weighted average) gives about 110K. Likely range: 72K to 170K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
116,501 downloads last week, 282M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 11.3.0 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 16 Sep 2026 (48 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 5.6.0+, PHP 7.2+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 4 of 6 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 14 Sep 2007 |
Company & policy
| Refund policy | 14-day money-back (source, 10 Oct 2026) |
|---|
MonsterInsights compared
Alternatives to MonsterInsights
Independent Analytics
Privacy-friendly, self-hosted WordPress analytics with cookieless tracking and reports in the admin; Pro adds real-time, campaigns, clicks, forms and sales.
85
Burst Statistics
Self-hosted, privacy-focused WordPress analytics with goals, real-time stats and optional cookieless tracking; Pro adds UTM, forms and WooCommerce.
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Site Kit by Google
Google's free official plugin that connects Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager, AdSense and PageSpeed Insights and shows their data in WordPress.
70
ExactMetrics
Freemium Google Analytics dashboard plugin from Awesome Motive, a close sibling of MonsterInsights, adding GA4 tracking and reports to WordPress.
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WP Statistics
Long-running self-hosted WordPress analytics plugin with cookieless tracking, detailed content, referral and geo reports, and paid add-ons for marketing.
73
FAQ
Is MonsterInsights free?
Yes. MonsterInsights has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $199/yr.
How many sites use MonsterInsights?
WordPress.org reports 2M+ active installations of the free version. The vendor claims 3M+ sites in total. We estimate around 110K sites run the paid version.
Does MonsterInsights have google analytics 4 integration?
Yes: included. Setup wizard connects a GA4 property through Google sign-in and adds the gtag tracking code.
Does MonsterInsights have self-hosted stats?
No: not included. All data is collected by and read back from Google Analytics; nothing is stored locally.
Does MonsterInsights have cookieless tracking?
No: not included. Relies on Google Analytics, which uses cookies; consent integrations are offered instead.
Does MonsterInsights have link, click & download tracking?
Yes: included. Lite tracks outbound links, file downloads and phone clicks; reports, media and custom events need Plus.
Does MonsterInsights have woocommerce tracking?
Yes: paid version (Pro). Enhanced eCommerce for WooCommerce, EDD, MemberPress and more, with revenue and product reports.
Does MonsterInsights have reports inside wordpress?
Yes: included. Lite shows an Overview report and dashboard widget; the full report suite starts at Plus.
Does MonsterInsights have email summaries?
Yes: included. Lite sends a monthly email recap; weekly summaries to multiple addresses need Plus.
Does MonsterInsights have gdpr & consent tools?
Yes: paid version (Plus). EU Compliance add-on (IP anonymising, consent tool integrations) and Privacy Guard start at Plus.
Is MonsterInsights free?
There is a free Lite version on WordPress.org that connects GA4 and shows an Overview report. Most reports, eCommerce, form and scroll tracking require a paid Plus, Pro, Elite or Agency licence.
Does MonsterInsights store analytics data on my site?
No. It sends data to your Google Analytics property and reads it back through Google's APIs, so you need a Google account and GA4 property.
Which plan do I need for WooCommerce tracking?
Enhanced eCommerce tracking and the eCommerce, coupon and funnel reports are part of the Pro plan or higher.
What does renewal cost?
The pricing page shows 50% off the first year; renewals are charged at the full list price, for example $399/year for Pro.
Can I use it with Google Tag Manager?
Yes, the docs say it can run alongside a GTM container, but you should avoid adding pageview triggers in GTM to prevent duplicate tracking.
Last updated 10 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.