Why doesn’t HubSpot analytics match my Google Analytics (GA)? It’s a common question, especially when a company starts using HubSpot for the first time, or if they’ve chosen to build a new website in HubSpot.
Accurate website data and analytics is key for most marketing teams, and not understanding the data or the differences in data can lead to false conclusions and incorrect data.
In this case, we’re going to focus on an often underlying cause for data misalignment between HubSpot and GA: HubSpot cookie consent and cookie tracking.
But before going into that, a few basics to check or think about:
If you’re using a combination of HubSpot for website hosting, the HubSpot cookie consent banner and tracking via Google Analytics, then there’s a strong chance you’ll see a difference in user and session traffic in Google Analytics compared to HubSpot’s traffic analytics.
In a best-practice set-up that supports GDPR and EU cookie law compliance for HubSpot-hosted websites, the Google Analytics tracking script only fires when a visitor explicitly opts in to cookie tracking via the HubSpot banner.
This is managed by the use of both the cookie consent banner and the Google Analytics (GA4) Integration.
Although it’s a best practice set-up, the traffic and user numbers reported in Google Analytics will likely be lower than in HubSpot (in some cases significantly).
This takes into account some key user behaviours, in which HubSpot cannot share the data with Google Analytics:
In the case of the above, the data will not be passed to Google Analytics and the numbers reported will differ to what’s reported in HubSpot.
While HubSpot can only pass the data to Google Analytics in the event that a user explicitly opts in to cookie tracking, the platform can still record an anonymous visit to the website if someone has visited the website and declined cookie tracking. This visit would still count as a session in HubSpot’s traffic analytics.
In the case of tying this data back to contacts in the CRM, there are limits to how far the HubSpot tracking will work if someone hasn’t accepted cookies. Essentially, it can only attribute the original source data (meaning the visitor’s very first point of entry) to an individual contact if that contact has accepted cookies. Otherwise, the cookie isn’t set to track the visitor until the point that they convert, and the conversion can’t be attributed back to the first entry point.
Where a contact has declined cookies or simply ignored the cookie banner, there isn’t a mechanism to tie their conversion back to the original source because the individual didn’t opt in for this tracking to be linked to their visit.
As mentioned, HubSpot and Google Analytics track website data in slightly different ways. While both tools cover the basics, how each platform approaches tracking is slightly different.
For example, in HubSpot, it’s possible to track traffic analytics (sessions and new sessions) and break the data down by country, device, browser, source/channel etc. This closely aligns with Google Analytics.
If you’re also using HubSpot Smart CRM or any of the other Hubs (Marketing, Content, Sales, Service, Commerce or Data), then the website data is also applied to different object records i.e. contacts, companies, deals etc.
What HubSpot can’t do is GA-style user metrics like “new users” or “total users” as defined in GA4. HubSpot’s model is session and contact-based, not user-based. Google Analytics also has some additional advanced segmentation: combining filters such as hostname, country, and new/returning visitor status is more limited and less flexible than what GA4 allows.
If you do want to track new user data in HubSpot, here’s a way to get close to the GA4-style insights:
For those looking to use Google Analytics with minimal data loss, while remaining compliant, Google offers an advanced solution.
If a user declines cookies, the standard integration simply blocks the GA4 script entirely. However, by properly implementing Google Consent Mode (GCM v2) alongside your HubSpot banner, you can inform Google Analytics of the user's consent choice without setting tracking cookies.
Instead of blocking tracking completely, GCM uses this consent signal to enable behavioral and conversion modeling. This means:
This is the most effective technical path to align your GA4 reporting with the higher traffic metrics seen in HubSpot.
While you can’t force users to consent to cookie tracking (at least not in compliance with GDPR and EU regulations), you can take steps to improve the chances of visitors accepting cookies.
Review your cookie banner
Test whether changing the consent banner design/wording/positioning can improve acceptance rates (even small lifts can recover lost attribution), and therefore pass more data to Google Analytics, or even track more accurately in HubSpot.
Review your marketing activity and website content
Visitors to the website are more likely to accept the cookie policy if they know and trust the brand. Don’t expect first time visitors to just accept cookies, and instead, ensure that the content you have on your website is highly relevant to your audience.
Whether the main driver is organic search, social media, ads, email, the intention should be to align the call to actions with the content that the user sees. This helps to build trust and context.
It might be that you can never quite close the gap between HubSpot and Google Analytics, so you’ll need to decide on a source of truth that aligns with your reporting and stick with it. At least with a main source of truth, you can benchmark the data and then track and analyse it in a way that aligns with your goals and KPIs.