This article is for those who manage digital platforms, websites, applications, or campaigns and want to measure their performance.
Many rely on Google Analytics; others already use advanced observability platforms like Dynatrace. But where does one tool’s responsibility end, and when is it necessary to use both?
Our goal is to clearly answer the following:
- What is Google Analytics sufficient for – and what is it not?
- What value does Dynatrace add – and when is it justified from a business perspective?
- How can you make an informed decision: is Google Analytics still enough, or is it time to expand your monitoring toolkit?
The Relationship Between Google Analytics and Dynatrace
Google Analytics and Dynatrace are not competitors – they serve different purposes, though there are overlaps in functionality.
Google Analytics is designed for collecting marketing and traffic statistics. It helps us understand where visitors come from, what they look at, how many convert, and which channels perform well.
In contrast, Dynatrace is an end-to-end digital experience and system observability platform that analyzes how web and mobile applications behave in real time, with deep technical insight. It not only shows that something happened, but also explains why it happened, what system-level issue caused it, and what impact it had on user experience and business performance.
The key difference between the two tools:
- Google Analytics provides statistical insight into user behavior – showing where users clicked and how many did so.
- Dynatrace reveals the technical and UX context behind behavior – helping you understand who dropped off and why, or what prevented them from progressing.
What Google Analytics is good for – And where it falls short
Google Analytics is one of the most widely used tools globally when it comes to website traffic, user behavior, or campaign performance analysis. GA4 is the free standard version, while GA360 is the paid enterprise-level solution that offers higher data limits and more advanced integrations.
Google Analytics provides insight into:
- Where users came from (organic, paid, social, direct)
- How many users completed a given action (e.g. purchase, form submission, download)
- Users’ age, gender, location, browser, and operating system
- Campaign performance – via precise UTM parameter tracking
- Daily, weekly, and monthly traffic trends
All of this is accessible through a user-friendly, visually intuitive interface – this is why GA has become the go-to tool for digital marketing teams worldwide.
But there are limitations:
- It does not detect technical issues.
A page may be broken, slow, or return an error, but GA will not flag this. It only shows symptoms – such as declining traffic or an increasing bounce rate. - It does not identify UX-level issues.
It can’t tell you what a specific user did, where they stopped, or when they became frustrated. - It lacks real-time alerting.
GA data is not refreshed in real time. By the time you notice something is wrong, hours – or even days – may have passed, along with lost conversions. - It does not offer root cause analysis.
GA cannot tell you why a metric dropped, nor can it link user behavior to backend latency, JavaScript errors, database issues, or regional performance degradation. - It is not integrated into IT operations.
GA does not interface with operations or application monitoring, and cannot see microservices, APIs, or backend systems.
What Dynatrace adds – And how it differs
Dynatrace was not originally built as a web analytics tool, yet more and more teams are now using it for digital experience analytics – and for good reason.
Dynatrace doesn’t just measure what happened – it tells you why it happened. This makes all the difference when your online presence is tied to sales, conversions, customer service, or brand experience.
What Dynatrace can do that GA cannot:
- Real-time problem detection:
When a page slows down, throws an error, or fails to load properly on a specific device or in a region, Dynatrace alerts you within minutes. - User experience scoring for every session:
Dynatrace automatically evaluates each user session as “satisfied”, “tolerating”, or “frustrated”, based on Apdex scores and concrete technical metrics. - Session Replay – visual user session playback:
You can view how an individual user interacted with your site: where they clicked, what they saw, how far they scrolled, and where they stopped.
This is invaluable for UX optimization, troubleshooting, and design iteration. - Davis® AI – automated root cause and correlation analysis:
Instead of guessing why conversions dropped or a page failed, Davis® analyzes system-wide telemetry and identifies precise causal relationships – automatically, in most cases. - Business impact of technical issues:
Dynatrace not only shows how many visitors came from a campaign, but also how many lost the experience due to technical failures (e.g. a campaign landing page with 60% bounce rate due to slowness).
When is Google Analytics enough – And when do you need Dynatrace too?
Google Analytics is a valuable tool in itself. For small websites with low traffic and limited business exposure, even the free version can be sufficient.
To decide if you need more, consider your digital footprint, associated risks, and business objectives.
Below are three common digital surfaces – websites, apps, and landing pages – to illustrate when GA is enough and when Dynatrace adds meaningful value.
Website
GA is sufficient if:
- The site is static and low-risk (e.g. company profile, blog)
- There’s no login or interactive functionality
- Traffic is predictable and low volume
Dynatrace may be beneficial if:
- The site includes dynamic features (e.g. product search, forms, interactive components)
- User behavior or failure impacts business or reputation (e.g. a broken government form, or a bank login issue)
- UX consistency is critical (e.g. regional availability, device-dependent performance)
Web or Mobile Application
GA is sufficient if:
- The app is only used for marketing (e.g. campaign microsite)
- There’s no login or user-specific data involved
Dynatrace may be beneficial if:
- The app is part of a service or transaction flow (e.g. customer portals, banking apps)
- Technical issues affect real users directly
- You have customer data (e.g. user segment, plan type) to correlate with behavior
Campaign Page / Landing Page
GA is sufficient if:
- The goal is simply to measure interest (e.g. newsletter sign-up)
- Traffic is not business-critical and no backend complexity is involved
Dynatrace may be beneficial if:
- The campaign has significant business impact (e.g. paid search, display advertising)
- Landing page performance directly affects ROI
- Even minimal technical failures lead to measurable losses
Want to know what your business really needs?
Whether you’re using Google Analytics or have already deployed Dynatrace, the core question remains:
Do your current tools truly support fast and informed business decisions?
At Telvice Zrt., we help you assess whether your analytics stack covers the most critical points – and when it makes sense to expand it.Contact us to get the most out of your digital analytics – from both a business and IT perspective.
