Google Analytics 4 vs 
Piano Analytics GA4 vs Piano Analytics: Detailed Comparison
GA4 vs Piano Analytics (AT Internet): granularity, media tracking, privacy-by-design, EU data residency, querying capabilities.
A European heritage versus the American giant
Piano Analytics, heir to AT Internet founded in Bordeaux in 1996, holds a unique position in the European analytics landscape. Historically established in media, large enterprises, and the public sector, the tool was acquired by Piano in 2021 while retaining its European DNA and data collection infrastructure based in Europe.
GA4, launched in 2020 and the sole version of Google Analytics since July 2023, imposed a paradigm shift with its event-based model. For European businesses, the choice between these two tools goes beyond a simple feature comparison: it involves questions of sovereignty, compliance, and data strategy.
Data model and granularity
The historical strength of Piano Analytics lies in its data granularity. The tool natively collects highly detailed properties on each hit, with an enriched model for media: article, author, section, scroll depth, active reading time. For a content publisher, this native richness avoids hours of custom configuration.
GA4 relies on a flexible event-based model that requires significant setup work. Each event can carry up to 25 custom parameters (free version), which forces trade-offs. The model is powerful but requires a much more structured planning layer (tracking plan) to achieve the same level of detail.
| Criterion | GA4 | Piano Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Event-based (events + params) | Enriched event-based (native properties) |
| Custom properties | 25 event params, 25 user props (free) | Unlimited (contract-dependent) |
| Media / publishers | Manual configuration | Native properties (article, author, scroll) |
| Querying | Explorations (limited), BigQuery | Data Query (SQL-like, dedicated interface) |
| Sampling | Yes (beyond 10M events) | No (exhaustive data) |
| Real-time | Yes (limited to 30 min) | Yes |
| Attribution | Data-driven (ML) | Multi-touch, configurable |
| Ads connector | Google Ads native | Third-party connectors |
| Data hosting | Google servers (US/EU) | Europe (certified) |
| CNIL exemption | No | Yes (exempt configuration) |
Compliance and proprietary data
Piano Analytics benefits, like Matomo, from a consent exemption possibility validated by France’s CNIL. This is a decisive advantage for publishers who want to measure their entire audience without depending on consent rates.
The tool takes a privacy-by-design approach: data stays in Europe, processing is performed exclusively on behalf of the client, and no data is cross-referenced with a third-party advertising ecosystem. For businesses subject to strict regulatory constraints, this is a compelling argument against GA4.
Data querying and analysis
Piano Analytics’ Data Query interface lets you query raw data with SQL-like syntax directly from the interface. This is a major asset for analysts who want to explore data without going through a third-party tool.
On the GA4 side, advanced analysis goes through BigQuery. The free daily export to BigQuery is an undeniable strength, but it requires SQL skills and GCP infrastructure. For simple analyses, GA4 explorations remain functional but suffer from limitations (cardinality, sampling, number of dimensions).
Cost and positioning
GA4 is free. Piano Analytics is a paid tool positioned in the enterprise segment, with pricing that generally starts around 10,000 euros per year depending on volume and modules. The price gap is considerable, and only a genuine need for sovereignty, media granularity, or strict compliance justifies the investment.
For a standard e-commerce site invested in Google Ads, GA4 remains the rational choice. For a European media group, a public institution, or a business with strict GDPR requirements, Piano Analytics offers a mature and credible alternative with dedicated support and hard-to-match sector expertise.