little friendBeta
Sign up free

Compare

Little Friend vs Google Analytics.

All the answers from a tag under 4 KB. Little Friend counts views without cookies, gives crawlers and AI agents their own report, and counts the sales your server confirms.

Why teams choose Little Friend over Google Analytics

  • A script under 4 KB, where the Google tag measured 163 to 181 KB on real sites.
  • No cookies in either privacy mode, and no visitor key in aggregate mode.
  • Crawlers and AI agents in their own report, with evidence for each one.
  • Goals that count only what your server confirms.

Sign up freeSee the install

Side by side.

FeatureLittle FriendGoogle Analytics
Script size, gzipUnder 4 KB (our budget)163 to 181 KB, measured on 8 real sites
CookiesNone, in either privacy modeFirst-party cookies, such as _ga, to tell users apart1
Before consentAggregate mode counts every view with no cookie or visitor keyAdvanced consent mode sends cookieless pings while consent is denied2
Bots and AI crawlersAn Agents report with evidence for each one, and an optional door at your edge that lets them in, slows them down or blocks them. Crawlers are counted from a Vercel log drain or your edge.Known bots are excluded automatically. You can't turn that off or see how many.3
Funnels and journeysJourney timelines, funnels and paths, in journey modeFunnel and path explorations4
Events from your serverServer events, and goals that count only what your server confirmsMeasurement Protocol, meant to add to tag collection5
AI assistants reading your numbersRead-only MCP server for Claude, Cursor and any MCP clientOfficial MCP server, read only6
PriceFree during the betaFree. Analytics 360 is sold under a contract.78

Less to load, more to see.

The bots Google filters out

Google Analytics excludes known bots automatically, and you can't see how many. Google's note Little Friend counts search crawlers, AI crawlers and AI agents apart from people, with the evidence behind each name.

AI agent analytics

Views before consent

Aggregate mode, the default, counts views, sources, pages and goals with no cookie, visitor key or session key. Journey mode adds readable visits, and it can wait for consent.

Cookieless analytics

Sales your server confirms

Send the outcome from your server with a secret key. Mark the goal as server-confirmed, and clicks in the browser stop counting toward it.

Goals and server events

Run both while you try it.

  1. Add the tag next to Google's. One script tag with your site key. Both run side by side. Install
  2. Name what matters. Mark buttons and forms with data-lf, and send purchases from your server. Custom events
  3. Remove the Google tag when you're ready. Little Friend counts from the day you add it, and your dashboard is ready with no setup.

Sources.

  1. Google: cookie usage on websites
  2. Google: known bot-traffic exclusion
  3. Google: explorations
  4. Google: Measurement Protocol
  5. Google: Analytics MCP server
  6. Google Analytics overview
  7. Google: upgrade to Analytics 360

Checked October 6, 2026. Script sizes are our own measurements: how we measured. If something here is out of date, tell us at hello@littlefriend.io and we'll fix it.