| Feature | Google Analytics 4 | Custom Dashboard (Grafana/Metabase) | Enterprise BI (Power BI/Looker) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (standard) | Free self-hosted / from €15/user cloud | From €8/user/month (Power BI) |
| Setup complexity | Low — tag-based implementation | Moderate — requires data pipeline | High — data warehouse + modelling |
| Real-time data | Limited (up to 30-minute delay) | Real-time with proper setup | Near-real-time |
| Custom metrics | Event-based — flexible but limited UI | Full SQL access — any metric definable | Advanced calculated fields (DAX/LookML) |
| Data ownership | Google-hosted — subject to data policies | Full ownership (self-hosted) | Depends on deployment |
| Integration depth | Web + app analytics focused | Any data source with SQL/API | Deep enterprise stack integration |
| Best for | Website analytics, marketing teams | Product teams, custom KPIs | Enterprise reporting, cross-department |