Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) vs MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) (2026): PluginCheck
Quick Verdict
Pick Burst Statistics if you want a privacy-friendly, cookieless tracker that works without a cookie banner and stays entirely on your own server. Pick MonsterInsights if you need the official Google Analytics 4 dashboard inside WordPress with deep reporting, e-commerce tracking, and the largest install base in the category.
Both Burst Statistics and MonsterInsights answer the same question: how do you get traffic and behaviour data into WordPress without pasting tracking code by hand. The choice often comes down to whether you want first-party, cookieless analytics or a full Google Analytics dashboard hooked into your site. Privacy, setup effort, and how deep you need to go into GA4 all factor in.
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative)
Simple, lightweight WordPress analytics with privacy-friendly visitor tracking. Cookieless and GDPR-ready. Setup in seconds, no cookie banner needed.
- Active installs 200k+
- Rating 4.9/5 (182)
- Last updated Jul 21, 2026
- Support resolved 100%
- Tested to WP 7.0.2
- Requires PHP 8.0
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy)
The best free Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. See how visitors find and use your website so you can grow your business with powerful analytics.
- Active installs 2M+
- Rating 4.5/5 (3,145)
- Last updated Jul 22, 2026
- Support resolved 30%
- Tested to WP 7.0.0
- Requires PHP 7.2
Where Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) Wins
Privacy and GDPR
Burst is cookieless and GDPR-ready out of the box, so most sites can skip a cookie banner entirely. MonsterInsights sits on top of Google Analytics, which still relies on cookies and typically requires consent under EU rules.
Support resolution
Burst posts a 100 percent support resolution rate across its tickets, the strongest score in this comparison. MonsterInsights sits at only 30 percent, meaning most users are not getting closed responses.
User satisfaction per rating
Burst scores 98/100 from 182 ratings, the highest rating among the two. MonsterInsights is lower at 90/100 across 3,145 ratings, which shows a meaningful gap in day-to-day satisfaction despite its larger audience.
Where MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) Wins
Scale and ecosystem
MonsterInsights has 2,000,000 active installs compared to Burst's 200,000, so documentation, tutorials, and third-party integrations are everywhere. Score contribution is 94/30 for popularity versus 79/30 for Burst.
GA4 depth and reporting
MonsterInsights pulls the full Google Analytics 4 dashboard into WordPress, including e-commerce, custom dimensions, and real-time reports. Burst is a self-hosted analytics tool that is simpler, but does not replicate that GA4 depth.
Maturity and track record
MonsterInsights has 3,145 ratings versus 182 for Burst, giving a much longer history of user feedback. For risk-averse teams that need a known quantity, that longer paper trail is genuinely useful.
Score-by-Score Comparison
MonsterInsights scores 94/30 on popularity with 2,000,000 active installs, well ahead of Burst's 79/30 and 200,000 installs. Both are healthy, but MonsterInsights is the dominant choice in the category.
Both plugins score a perfect 100/25 on maintenance, with recent updates within the last 24 hours of the comparison date. Neither plugin shows signs of abandonment.
Burst scores 98/15 on ratings from 182 reviews, edging out MonsterInsights at 90/15 from 3,145 reviews. Burst's higher score is based on a smaller pool, but the margin is still meaningful.
Burst scores 100/15 on support with a 100 percent resolution rate, the strongest dimension in this comparison. MonsterInsights scores only 30/15, which is the biggest gap between the two plugins.
Both plugins score 100/15 on compatibility, indicating strong performance with current WordPress versions and PHP environments. There is no differentiator here.
The Bottom Line
On raw numbers, MonsterInsights wins on install base (2,000,000 vs 200,000) and GA4 depth, while Burst wins on privacy, support resolution (100 percent vs 30 percent), and user rating (98/100 vs 90/100). For most users who simply want reliable WordPress analytics without a cookie banner, Burst is the better pick because its higher quality score (93.44 vs 86.22) reflects real satisfaction, not just adoption. Pick MonsterInsights only if you specifically need Google Analytics 4 reporting or e-commerce tracking tied to the official GA ecosystem.