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Head of Marketing - Earned Media
Software | Google Analytics 360
Choosing between GA4 Free and GA4 360 depends on your...
By Narender Singh
Feb 10, 2026 | 5 Minutes | 
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If you run a website or manage digital marketing campaigns, you have probably already migrated to Google Analytics 4. The switch from Universal Analytics was not exactly optional, so here we are. But once you settle into GA4, another question pops up: should you stick with the free version or consider upgrading to GA4 360?
This is not a trivial decision. GA4 360 comes with a serious price tag, so you need to know exactly what you are getting for that money. The free version works perfectly fine for most businesses, but there are specific scenarios where the paid tier makes sense. Let us break down the differences so you can figure out which option fits your needs.
The standard GA4 platform is already pretty powerful. Google has packed in features that used to be exclusive to premium tools. You get event-based tracking, cross-platform measurement, predictive metrics powered by machine learning and integration with Google Ads. For small to mid-sized businesses, this is often more than enough.
The interface takes some getting used to, especially if you were comfortable with Universal Analytics. But once you learn where everything is, the free version handles most analytics needs without breaking a sweat. You can track user behavior across web and app properties, build custom reports and analyze conversion paths.
One thing worth mentioning: GA4 Free has data limits. You can process up to 10 million events per month per property. That sounds like a lot until you realize how quickly event tracking adds up. Every page view, scroll, click, video play and form submission counts as an event. High-traffic sites can hit that ceiling faster than expected.
GA4 360 is the enterprise version. It is designed for organizations that need more data capacity, better support and tighter integration with other Google Marketing Platform tools. The pricing is not publicly listed, but reports suggest it starts around $50,000 per year and can go much higher depending on your traffic volume.
So what exactly does that money buy you? First, the event limit jumps significantly. Instead of 10 million events per month, you get 1 billion. That is a massive difference. If your website processes hundreds of thousands of sessions daily, this headroom matters.
You also get higher data freshness. GA4 Free can have latency in reporting, sometimes showing data with a delay of several hours. With GA4 360, you get faster processing, which helps if you need to make real-time decisions based on current user behavior.
Another major perk is unsampled reporting. Sampling happens when GA4 analyzes a subset of your data instead of the full dataset. This is common in the free version when you apply complex filters or look at large date ranges. GA4 360 gives you access to complete data without sampling, which leads to more accurate insights.
Here is where things get practical. With the free version, you are mostly on your own. Google offers help documentation, community forums and some troubleshooting guides. But if something breaks or you need urgent help, there is no direct line to a support team.
GA4 360 includes dedicated support. You get access to a customer success team that can help with implementation, troubleshooting and optimization. There are also service level agreements that guarantee uptime and response times. For large organizations where downtime or data issues can cost real money, this is worth considering.
If you use other tools in the Google Marketing Platform ecosystem like Display & Video 360, Campaign Manager 360, or Search Ads 360, GA4 360 integrates more deeply with these products. The free version connects with Google Ads just fine, but the 360 suite offers more sophisticated cross-platform attribution and audience sharing.
You can build audiences in GA4 360 and push them directly to DV360 or CM360 for targeting. The data flows more smoothly between platforms, which helps if you are running complex multi-channel campaigns.
Both versions let you create custom dimensions and metrics, but GA4 360 gives you more of them. The free version allows up to 50 custom dimensions and 50 custom metrics per property. GA4 360 bumps that to 125 each. For most businesses, 50 is plenty. But if you track a lot of custom user attributes or business-specific metrics, you might bump into that limit.
This is a big one. GA4 Free includes a limited BigQuery export. You can send raw event data to BigQuery for more advanced analysis, which is genuinely useful. However, the free version only exports a sample of your data if you exceed certain thresholds.
GA4 360 offers full, unsampled BigQuery exports. Every single event gets sent over. If you have a data team that wants to build custom models, run SQL queries, or blend GA4 data with other sources, the complete export is essential. You cannot do serious data science work with sampled data.
GA4 Free retains user-level and event-level data for up to 14 months. You can adjust this to 2 months if you want, but 14 months is the maximum. GA4 360 extends this to 50 months. If you need to analyze long-term trends or look back at historical user behavior over several years, the extended retention becomes important.
Not everyone needs GA4 360. Most businesses will do just fine with the free version. But there are clear use cases where the upgrade makes sense.
If you process more than 10 million events per month, you need the higher limits. If you require unsampled data for accurate reporting, especially when analyzing large segments or long date ranges, the 360 version delivers. Companies that rely on real-time data for decision-making benefit from the faster processing times. Organizations running complex multi-channel campaigns across Google Marketing Platform tools get better integration.
And if you need dedicated support because analytics downtime or errors could impact revenue, the service level agreements are worth the cost.
For startups, small businesses, content sites and even many mid-sized companies, GA4 Free is perfectly adequate. The feature set is strong. The machine learning capabilities are the same across both versions. You get solid reporting, audience building and conversion tracking without paying anything.
Yes, there are limitations. But unless you are hitting those limits regularly, there is no reason to spend tens of thousands of dollars on features you will not use.
The decision between GA4 Free and GA4 360 comes down to scale, complexity and budget. If your analytics needs are straightforward and your traffic is manageable, the free version is the smart choice. If you are dealing with massive data volumes, need complete control over your data, or require enterprise-level support, GA4 360 starts to look reasonable despite the price.
Think about your current limitations. Are you hitting event caps? Do you notice sampling in your reports? Is data freshness a problem? Are you struggling without direct support? If the answer to most of these is no, you are probably fine where you are. If several of these issues are slowing you down, it might be time to have a conversation about upgrading.