GA4 Realtime vs a True Live Visitor View
Updated
TL;DR
GA4's Realtime report shows counts: active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, broken down by source, audience, page title and event, plus a snapshot of one user at a time (Google Analytics Help). A live visitor view such as whoisbrowsing shows each person on your site right now, drawn on the real page with their cursor, the page they are on, where they came from and an approximate city.
What GA4 Realtime actually shows
Google describes Realtime as a way to "monitor activity on your website or app as it happens". Its cards are (Google Analytics Help):
- the number of active users during the last 5 and 30 minutes, per minute;
- active users by first user source, medium, source platform or campaign;
- active users or new users by audience;
- views by page title or screen name;
- event count by event name;
- a map, where clicking a city bubble compares those users with everyone else.
There is also a user snapshot: one user's device, app version, location, top events and user properties. Google's comparison table says the snapshot "displays data for a random user", and you click arrows to move to another.
The same page lists a few things to keep in mind:
- It is best effort. "This service could be characterized as a best effort service, prioritizing timely delivery but not guaranteeing it", with no formal service level objective.
- New users are left out of the source card. The "Active users by First user source" card "shows information only for established users". A brand-new visitor has no first user source yet, so you won't find them there.
- App data is batched, so delays "on the order of minutes" are typical for apps.
None of this is a flaw. GA4 is built for reporting, and Realtime is a quick check that your tags and campaigns are working.
GA4 Realtime vs whoisbrowsing
| GA4 Realtime | whoisbrowsing | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Aggregate counts, plus a snapshot of one user (help) | Every current visitor, one line per person |
| Time window | Last 5 and 30 minutes, per minute (help) | Right now: every current visitor |
| On the page itself | Not described in the Realtime docs (help) | Cursor with a fading trail, clicks as ripples, a scroll band for phones, drawn on your real page |
| Where they came from | By first user source, medium, platform or campaign; established users only (help) | Each visitor labelled: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct |
| Location | Map by city; snapshot shows location (help) | Approximate city, such as "near Austin, TX", never an identity |
| Cookies on visitors | First-party _ga and _ga_<container-id>, 2-year default expiry (cookie usage) |
None |
| History | Standard reports keep history; user-level data is kept 2 or 14 months, per your setting (retention) | None. Nothing about visitors is stored |
Counts vs people
The difference shows up the moment something happens. Say a newsletter goes out and traffic jumps.
- In GA4 Realtime you see the active-user count rise, the top pages by title, and the sources of users GA4 has already processed.
- In whoisbrowsing you open the page the newsletter links to and watch the visitors arrive on it: where each one scrolls, what they click, whether they reach the button. The side panel shows how many people are on each page, busiest first, and where each came from.
Neither replaces the other. GA4 tells you the shape of the traffic; a live view lets you see the people in it. If you want to know whether ChatGPT or Perplexity is sending anyone today, whoisbrowsing labels each live visitor's source as they arrive; see see which visitors come from ChatGPT and see where each visitor came from.
When to pick GA4 instead
GA4 is the right tool when you need:
- history and trends: last month vs this month, conversions, campaigns over time;
- reports to share with a team or a client;
- events, goals and funnels tied to your marketing;
- data on European visitors. whoisbrowsing never shows visitors from the EU/EEA, UK or Switzerland, or browsers with Global Privacy Control.
whoisbrowsing does not do any of that, and it is not trying to. It is a live view, not an analytics product.
When a live view is the better tool
A live view earns its place when the question is about right now: a launch, an ad that just went live, a pricing page you changed this morning, or simply "is anyone here?". It also has a smaller privacy footprint: no cookies on your visitors, and in our own words, "Your visitors' browsers send the page, pointer position, clicks, scroll, device type, source, browser and operating system, and time on site. Never keystrokes, form values or page text." Read more on privacy.
Run both
Keep your GA4 tag and add one line:
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
It is under 4 KB gzipped, loads with defer, and never changes how the page looks. Start on /try without signing in, or follow the Next.js guide or any other install guide. Your own browser is never counted, so to test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window while you watch.
Related reading
- Plausible or Fathom vs a live view
- Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing
- All comparisons on /compare, and the product on the home page and how it works
Frequently asked questions
- How far back does the GA4 Realtime report look?
- Google's help page says Realtime shows active users in the last 5 minutes and in the last 30 minutes, per minute, along with cards for source, audience, page title and events.
- Can GA4 Realtime show individual visitors?
- Mostly no. Its cards are aggregate counts. The one exception is the user snapshot, which shows a single user's device, app version, location, top events and user properties, and Google's comparison table says it displays data for a random user.
- Why are new visitors missing from GA4's Realtime source card?
- Google says the 'Active users by First user source' card shows only established users. A new user, or one not yet through normal batch processing, has no first user source yet, so they are not in that card.
- Do I have to choose between GA4 and whoisbrowsing?
- No. GA4 keeps history and reports; whoisbrowsing shows who is on the page right now and stores nothing. whoisbrowsing is one deferred script tag under 4 KB gzipped, so it can sit next to your GA4 tag.