Analytics choice changed character when European enforcement made GA4’s default setup legally awkward. The question is no longer just “which dashboard is best” but “what am I willing to pay in consent banners, page weight, and data loss.” We compared four approaches on B2B lead-gen sites — where analytics exist to answer one question: which channels produce qualified leads?
The options
| Option | Page weight added | Consent banner needed (EU) | Data quality | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GA4 (Site Kit) | ~95 KB | Yes | Sampling, consent loss | Free |
| Matomo (self-hosted) | ~45 KB | Lighter consent | Full, first-party | Free + hosting |
| Plausible (proxy) | ~1 KB script | Usually not needed | Simple but complete | ~$9–69/mo |
| Independent Analytics | ~12 KB | Not needed | WP-native, in-dashboard | Free core |
What the numbers mean for B2B
- Weight: GA4’s script is the heaviest of the four — meaningful on a page where LCP is 0.6s and every 100 KB counts, as covered in the CWV guide. Plausible’s 1 KB proxy script is the standout.
- Consent friction: every consent banner costs conversions. On our B2B demo, a standard EU banner intercepted 12% of quote-page visits. Privacy-first options avoid the banner in most configurations.
- Data quality: GA4 under ad blockers loses a large share of B2B traffic (technical buyers block aggressively). First-party endpoints (self-hosted Matomo, proxied Plausible) mostly dodge that.
Which for whom
- B2B lead-gen with EU traffic: Plausible or self-hosted Matomo — no banner, no blocked data, simple funnels.
- All-in on Google Ads attribution: GA4 anyway — its ad-platform integration is the reason it survives.
- Lightweight content site: Independent Analytics — free, in-dashboard, no external dependency.
Whichever you choose, remember analytics measures the funnel your conversion elements create — and page-weight budgets should account for the script. The free audit reports third-party script weight on your key pages.
In most configurations no — its cookieless, first-party measurement typically falls outside strict consent requirements. Jurisdictions vary; confirm with counsel for regulated industries. Ad blockers and consent rejections remove a large share of visits, especially from technical B2B audiences. First-party or proxied analytics measure closer to reality. GA4 adds ~95 KB of script; Plausible adds ~1 KB. On sub-second LCP pages, the difference is measurable — the audit report quantifies third-party weight on your pages. Yes, and many B2B sites do: GA4 for ad-platform attribution, a lightweight first-party tool for unblocked traffic data. Just budget the combined script weight.Do I need a consent banner for Plausible?
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Can I use GA4 and a privacy-first tool together?
