Site Kit vs privacy analytics on WordPress

Google Site Kit makes it easier to set up GA4 and Search Console in WordPress. Privacy-friendly analytics like PureMetrix does a different job: counting visitors without cookies, with data hosted in the EU.

Different jobs

Site Kit is a plugin that connects your site to Google's services. PureMetrix is an analytics tool of its own: it counts visitors without cookies, hosts data in the EU (Hetzner) and connects to WordPress through its own plugin.

If you want Search Console data (how people find you in Google search), Site Kit (or Search Console on its own) still helps. Which tool counts your visitors is a separate decision. Guide: Search Console and analytics.

Cookies and consent

GA4 installed via Site Kit brings Google's cookies and Consent Mode (Google's system that adjusts tracking to the visitor's banner choice). PureMetrix stores no cookie on the visitor's device; daily unique visitors are counted with a hash that uses a salt which changes every day. Visitor statistics then usually no longer need the cookie banner, provided the other tools on your site don't require one.

Script weight

PureMetrix loads a script under 3 KB. GA4 alone is typically around 135 KB, plus any other Google tags.

When to keep Site Kit

Your organisation requires GA4.
You rely heavily on Google Ads conversion tracking.
You only wanted an easier way to connect Search Console.

When to prefer PureMetrix

EU clients ask for cookieless analytics and a DPA (data processing agreement).
Editors need a simpler dashboard.
Ad blockers block third-party trackers and you want the /px proxy (tracking via your own domain).
WooCommerce purchases should be recorded on the server, not only in the browser.

Running both

Some teams keep Search Console via Site Kit and use PureMetrix for visitor statistics. That makes sense. Running two complete analytics tools side by side forever, without a clear reason, does not.

Site Kit’s job vs privacy-first analytics

Site Kit makes it easier to connect Google services to WordPress. With GA4 it also brings GA4’s cookies and Consent Mode. Privacy-first analytics like PureMetrix has a different aim: cookieless measuring, EU hosting, a lighter script and goals, without depending on Google’s ecosystem.

Keep Site Kit when your organisation has standardised on Google Ads and Analytics. Switch, or run both for a while, when cookie banner refusals and ad blockers keep costing you data.

Running both: clear rules

If you keep both, give each a job: GA for ads, PureMetrix for on-site statistics and goals. Never average the two visitor counts into one number. Exclude your own team’s visits in both tools, or the gap turns into an argument.

When keeping Site Kit makes sense

If Search Console, Ads and Analytics are already managed together, Site Kit saves setup work. The privacy impact comes from GA4 and the related tags, not from the Site Kit plugin itself. Teams that are happy with Consent Mode don’t need to remove Site Kit just for the sake of it.

Teams that want fewer cookies and a faster WordPress front end should test PureMetrix for their visitor statistics and keep only the Google pieces their ads really need.

Agree who reports what

Write a one-page summary: which tool reports ad return (ROAS), which reports on-site goals, which reports search impressions. Two sets of numbers without a clear owner lead to weekly debates. A PureMetrix shared link can be the on-site view for clients, while Search Console data stays in Google’s interface.

Plugin weight on the front end

Depending on which modules are switched on, Site Kit can load several Google scripts. Check which modules are active. Privacy analytics aims for a single small script. If both run, make sure you are not loading two scripts that count the same pageviews.

Switch off Site Kit modules you don’t use, even if GA stays for ads.

Search Console without GA

You can limit Site Kit to the Search Console module and measure on-site behaviour with PureMetrix. That split means fewer cookies without losing your search data. Switch off Analytics modules you no longer need, then check in your browser's developer tools (Network tab) which scripts still load.

If ad tracking has to stay in Google, keep one small Ads tag that only loads with consent, and let PureMetrix handle on-site behaviour. Don’t force one tool to do both jobs badly.

Not on WordPress? Same cookieless product via the HTML snippet, Shopify, or Next.js.