Google Analytics vs. Firebase Analytics

by Moon Technolabs Top Mobile App Development Company

Firebase is Google’s platform for developing mobile app development. Firebase Analytics is one of the tools that bundles with it. It is possible to send events and screen views to Google Analytics, and keep using Google Analytics even if you have decided to use Firebase as your development platform.

Feature Analysis

The two products continue to be developed, thus feature analysis that is done today will probably be less relevant in a year, but the main differences are as following:

Firebase Analytics is focused on mobile. You cannot use Firebase Analytics as web analytics.
Since Firebase Analytics analyzes all of the data and not just a sample, they have an Audience tool, which does not exist in Google Analytics.
Funnel analysis in Firebase Analytics is based on events and not screenviews (although you can define a screenview as an event). This allows better funnel analysis.
It costs a small amount of money to export the user data from Firebase Analytics. It is impossible to export the user data from Google Analytics, without buying the Analytics 360 suite.
Behavior flow is missing from Firebase Analytics, however their Funnel analysis compensates for this.
Notification tool is part of the Firebase platform, which allows you to engage with the users based on specific actions and segmentations.
Firebase Analytics automatically collects basic app usage data, without your intervention.
Firebase Analytics analyzes all the data. Google Analytics analyzes a sample of a data.

Both of the tools have attribution models, funnel analysis and cohorts.

Summary

The biggest disadvantage of Google Analytics is that unless you are willing to spend $100k per year, you will not be able to get information on a user level.

You can easily export the data from Firebase Analytics to BigQuery, and from there the data can start its journey towards your data warehouse, a BI tool such as Tableau or even a simple CSV file.

Firebase Analytics, combined with Google BigQuery, enables you to make decisions that Google Analytics cannot support.

Both Firebase Analytics and Google Analytics are solid and proven tools. Our recommendation is to use Firebase Analytics for mobile apps and Google Analytics for websites.