7 Alternatives to GTM4WP Compared

WordPress plugins like GTM4WP and its alternatives help developers not only install GTM but also track data and user actions that would be otherwise impossible to track only with GTM.

However, GTM4WP it is not a perfect solution and not for everyone. Some of you may find it too simple, others may find it too difficult or simply need a specific feature.

And so, I made this comparison for you. To make it fair, I compared only GTM4WP alternatives that are free, since GTM4WP is also a free tool.

P.S. Although I did my best to test everything as well as possible, these tools are big and I might have missed something. If you see that I made a mistake somewhere, please let me know.

Methodology of comparison

For this comparison, I installed all tools on the same website (one by one), set them up and tested the results in Google Tag Assistant.

The website has WooCommerce and uses WooCommerce blocks and a block theme. I chose blocks instead of shortcodes, because blocks are much more difficult to track. The site also uses Cartflows checkout and order confirmation page.

In my tests, I concentrated on:

• ease of use (+documentation)
• GTM-related features
• supported consent management tools (removed – all tools require support for the Consent Mode)
• WooCommerce support
• and finding issues :)

And I started with…

GTM4WP

I started with GTM4WP to set a benchmark for other tools.

Ease of use

GTM4WP is a pretty straightforward plugin. Its settings are clearly described and divided into easy-to-understand sections.

Unfortunately, some functions are useful only for a very limited number of users and I see no point in having them here.

Another thing I don’t like is the documentation, which is not described as “documentation”. Rather, it is a collection of pages linked in different places in the menu on GTM4WP website.

Overall, I give it 7/10.

Features

GTM4WP has a lot of features. Most of them are useful, but there are some, which I cannot imagine myself using.

I like that it can push to the datalayer:

• all basic post and user data
• searched phrases
• events, like navigating form fields, registrations and logging in
• WooCommerce events data (more on this later)
• scroll depth (which improves a lot over the one available as a trigger in GTM)

I also like that you can use the plugin for server-side GTM (although, for some reason, the setting for that is buried in the “advanced” tab).

Plus, GTM4WP has a GTM template, which makes it easier to use the variables in GTM.

The only thing that I am missing here is the option to track metadata. It would benefit specialized sites and stores.

For the features, I give it a solid 8/10. Well done Thomas!

WooCommerce support

The plugin sends information on WooCommerce events:

• add to cart (with an issue)
• view item list
• view_item (with an issue)
• remove from cart (with an issue)
• checkout
• purchase

The plugin also pushes to the datalayer information useful for remarketing (product IDs and SKUs) as well as complete data set for advanced matching or enhanced ecommerce.

But not everything is so great. I had some issues with tracking.

1. When I added 2 grouped products to the cart (from a page that had 3), GTM4WP reported that I added all of them.
2. View_item event did not fire for me when viewing grouped products.
3. The “remove from cart” event did not work in the block cart
4. I have not found a way to track additions to a wishlist

Taking these issues into consideration, I give it 8/10 for WooCommerce support.

Overall

GTM4WP is a good plugin with a solid set of features but also some unfortunate bugs (in WooCommerce tracking). It is a good choice for people who are experienced with GTM. It is 8/10 for them.

PixelYourSite

PixelYourSite is a heavy-hitter. It has been around for years, offering direct integrations with Meta Pixel, Google Analytics and several other popular platforms.

Recently, however, it got GTM support, and so it got into this list.

Ease of use

TLDR; Chaos.

The moment I activated PYS, I was welcomed by huge notifications that take almost the whole screen and show on all pages of WP admin.

When I closed them and got to the PYS settings, I felt immediately confused. There was much going on and many things were screaming for my attention.

The plugin has many settings and they are divided into multiple screens. Unfortunately, placement of some of these settings seems very chaotic. Two Three different menus only add to the confusion.

All sorts of notifications and video links in between these settings make things even worse.

So far, not good.

As for the documentation, it covers other integrations available in PYS but not the GTM module.

All in all, I give the ease-of-use 3/10.

Features

Just like GTM4WP, PixelYourSite also has a lot of features related to GTM. Among other things, it can track:

• post and user data
• WooCommerce events (more on this in a section below)
• form submissions (but not moving through the form fields, like GTM4WP)
• registrations and logins
• downloads
• scrolls
• searches
• 404 pages

In addition, it lets you send to the datalayer custom events when someone visits a specific page – although I can’t really see the use for that in GTM, which can do it internally.

There is also a GTM template for PYS to make the setup easier.

Unfortunately, there is no option to track metadata and use the server-side GTM.

Overall, however, I give it a very good 8/10.

WooCommerce support

It’s a mixed bag.

On one hand, you can track all the typical events, like additions to cart, product views, checkout and purchases. You can also choose how prices and products are tracked (with or without tax, by ID or SKU, etc.).

On the other hand, you have severe limitations in other areas.

1. There is no event for tracking product list views (it is probably also missing in the Pro version)
2. Events do not contain product IDs (not SKUs), which means that you will not be doing any dynamic ads (see screenshot under this list)
3. The purchase event does not contain user data that could be used for advanced matching or enhanced ecommerce.
4. Switching product variants are not tracked as product views
5. When you click “Add to cart” button, the event will be tracked after the page refreshes (if you don’t use Ajax buttons)
6. Clicks in “remove from cart” buttons are not tracked (at least in my setup based on Woo blocks)

Here’s what data the plugin sends to the datalayer after clicking the “Add to cart” button. Product information in the “ecommerce” object are very limited and practically useless for marketing.

All this together does not paint a very nice picture, so I give the plugin’s WooCommerce support a 5/10.

All in all

The free version of PixelYourSite comes with limited GTM support, no documentation for GTM and confusing interface (shared with the Pro). Unfortunately, everyone who wants to use more than basic functions of GTM, will need to invest some time into learning how it works.

As for the features department, it’s a mixed bagand you need to judge yourself if you are OK with the limitations of the free version.

For me personally, it’s a 5/10.

GTM Kit

Before writing this article I have never heard about GTM Kit. But it is good that I did, because GTM Kit is a breath of fresh air and a very solid plugin.

There are many good things about it. Let’s start with…

Ease of use

So far, this is a winner. The moment I activated the plugin I was greeted with simple user onboarding. Surprisingly, one of the steps included importing data from GTM4WP plugin, which I liked a lot.

Next, the main plugin’s page clearly shows the way to the most important sections of the plugin, documentation, tutorials and additional materials.

As for the settings fields, they are clearly labelled and grouped into logical sections.

I liked the fact that none of the options seem to be only for a fraction of users, like the weather information in GTM4WP. This makes the plugin lean.

I also liked that the plugin includes longer descriptions of the more advanced fields. Still, I would not mind longer, proper explanations in the documentation.

For the ease-of-use I give GTM kit 9/10.

Features

It’s a strong one, but not the strongest.

GTM Kit can push to the datalayer information on page, user and WooCommerce events (more on that later). It does not add any other data though, e.g. improved scroll tracking (the one in GTM is awful) or tracking searched phrases.

The plugin also supports server-side GTM – probably via stape.io. I have not tested it though.

Just like the previous tool, GTM Kit does not let you track metadata and does not come with any GTM templates that could make the setup easier.

All in all, 8/10 – GTM Kit has all the most important features.

WooCommerce support

So far, the best.

During my tests I did not have any problem with GTM kit. I repeat – ZERO issues.

All the events were properly tracked and full, correct data was sent to the datalayer. There was even user information useful for setting up enhanced conversions in marketing tools.

Well done. 10/10

Overall

This plugin is great. I give it 9/10 (if the server-side tracking works as intended).

Google Site kit

Google Site Kit is a plugin for the less demanding users who just want to use basic functions of multiple Google products.

Site kit lets them:

• install different Google tools:
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Ads
  • Google Adsense
  • Google Tag Manager
• view (very) basic statistics in WP admin
• view (very) basic data from Google Search Console

However, in this article, I will focus only on the GTM implementation

Ease of use

The interface of Site kit is minimal and there are hardly any configuration settings. As a result, the plugin is very easy to use.

How does it relate to GTM? Well, you can install it and… that’s it.

I will refrain from giving a note to the ease-of-use since it has only one form field to fill in.

Features

Site kit cannot push to the dataLayer any useful information from the database nor implement server-side tracking.

You can install GTM and that is it.

Features, 1/10

WooCommerce support

Frankly speeking, I did not expect Site kit to track any data from WooCommerce. I checked it only, to confirm it and “tick it off” in this review.

However, it turned out that it does track one WooCommerce event – but not the “purchase” event. It is “add to cart” with some basic product info. Why? No idea.

WooCommerce support gets 1/10.

The verdict

Google Site kit is a very basic plugin targeted at users who just need very basic features. I do not know however, why it includes GTM integration, which is aimed at very a different user group.

I’m giving GTM in Site kit a 1/10.

Tag Pilot FREE

Tag Pilot is a yet another plugin I have never heard about before making this comparison. Let’s see if it is any good.

Ease-of-use

The plugin’s settings page looks very similar to GTM4WP.

The usability is good, however there are some confusing settings that got me thinking a few times. Nothing big, just a little bit annoying.

On the positive side, GTM templates are available straight from the plugin’s settings, which makes things much easier, plus the documentation covers many topics.

All in all, Tag Pilot gets from me one 8/10. Well done.

Features

Not much here. The plugin only lets you install GTM (optionally server side) and that is it.

Unlike GTM4WP and several other plugins in this comparison, Tag Pilot does not push to the datalayer any useful data (like page types, roles of logged-in users, their status, etc.).

Overall, the plugin gives you much less than GTM4WP so it gets 3/10.

WooCommerce tracking

In short, 2/10.

WooCommerce support is a big letdown – it is very limited in the free version of Tag Pilot and full of bugs.

To start off, it lets you only track additions to cart and purchases (the rest is in PRO).

Additions to cart do not come with all the necessary data for remarketing purposes. Product groups are also incorrectly tracked (tracked only the last product in a group and always with quantity = 1).

Purchases do not have duplication prevention, meaning that one order can be tracked many times.

And have I mentioned, that you cannot even choose whether you want to track prices with or without tax, or product SKUs instead of IDs?

Any positives?

Yes, there are built-in statistics with data on the tracked purchases. However, they are not useful if the purchase tracking itself is so inacurate.

Like I said, 2/10.

Final verdict?

Tag Pilot FREE is not very good. Even though it is strong in some areas, it is easy to find better alternatives – just read this text and you will find a few.

For me, overall, it is a 3/10.

GTM Server Side by Stape

For those who did not know, Stape is a provider of server-side tagging solutions. One of their services is hosting servers for sGTM (as an alternative to very expensive Google Cloud Platform).

Stape offers a free plan (with 10k monthly events – pretty low IMHO) and a free WP plugin, which I am going to test.

Ease-of-use

The plugin has only few setting fields and is well documented.

If we stopped here, it would get 8/10 for the ease of use.

A separate thing is the dificulty level of setting up sGTM, which is very confusing. But it is not what I’m reviewing here.

Features

Apart from server-side GTM, Stape has three interesting features.

1. It can prolong cookie lifetime is Safari browsers – it is important for stores with a long time to conversion.
2. supports WooCommerce (more on this below)
3. and webhooks

What are webhooks?

Webhooks let you send data from your server directly to sGTM. Without it, you would have to use Measurement Protocol, which is supported only by Google Analytics. plus, not all data can be freely transferred this way.

Unfortunately, Stape’s plugin does not send to the datalayer any page or user information. This means, no info on types of visited pages, no metadata info, no custom data, eents like form submissions, etc.

They need to be handcoded and sent via one of many methods (Measurement Protocol, webhooks or a GTM web tag).

But is it really a flaw?

Looking at the intended target group, I don’t think so. Stape’s WordPress plugin is aimed at professionals who can add it themselves. For them, Stape’s plugin is a powerful tool, and gets 8/10.

Everyone else will be better off… not using server-side GTM.

WooCommerce support

Just like with other plugins, I also tested how Stape’s plugin supports WooCommerce.

It is good, but could have been better. I noticed, that:

• it does not track views of product teasers (e.g. in categories).
• tracking “add to cart” event on variable products is buggy – it does not send view event when variants change and does not track correct product IDs of variants added to cart
• and finally, it does not push to the datalayer product price without taxes, separate tax values and encoded user information (they are all in plain text)

All in all, I give Stape’s WooCommerce support a 7/10.

All together

Stape’s WordPress plugin is a capable tool but to show its true potential needs a good developer and someone experienced with GTM. For them, the plugin gets 8/10. Everyone else…should not use it. They will get better results with classic GTM and other plugins that can automate more.

Beehive: Google Analytics Dashboard & Visitor Stats

Next in the line we have Beehive: Google Analytics Dashboard & Visitor Stats.

This is a simple plugin which, on the first glance, is very similar to Google Site Kit.

Just like the Site kit, it shows simple stats from Google Analytics in admin and GTM support.

On the other hand, it does not let you connect Search Console nor Google Ads. Choose what you need.

Ease of use

So far, the winner. You will have no problems using it.

The plugin has only several settings, which are well described. Plus, there is nice documentation and easily available links to video tutorials.

All in all 10/10.

Features

It’s good.

Beehive can push to the datalayer some common variables, like post id, author, category, date, user role, status, etc.

The plugin also automatically tracks data from other plugins of the same developer (WPMUDEV). For now, it looks good.

What’s missing?

There is no GTM template, server-side tracking (but this is for MUCH more advanced users), tracking metadata and tracking events (to replace the ones in the GTM, that are not very well thought out).

And so, for non-ecommerce features, the plugin gets a pretty good 6/10.

WooCommerce support

There is not much to say here. Beehive does not support WooCommerce. 1/10.

All in all

The plugin is easy to use, has good documentation and well-rounded, but basic GTM features for non-ecommerce sites.

WP Full Picture Free

The last alternative to GTM4WP is WP Full Picture (link to WP repository page).

Since I am its author, I will not be giving it points. I leave it for you to decide how it compares with other GTM4WP alternatives.

Unlike other tools on this list, WP Full Picture lets you install tracking tools and manage consents with built-in consent banner and other privacy tools.

The closest similar tool is PixelYourSite premium bundle with an additional consent banner plugin.

Ease of use

WP Full Picture is a modular plugin. There are modules for integrating tracking tools, GTM, a Custom Scripts module (if you don’t need GTM) and of course, privacy tools.

Settings are divided into logical sections and come with built-in documentation (although there is a separate one too).

Features

GTM integration in WP Full Picture lets you track a range of different events and data.

You can track and push to the datalayer:

• form submissions
• clicks in links and page elements
• views of element on page
• scrolls
• page data (language, title, ID, categories and more)
• user data (role, status, location, etc.)

Again, we cannot track metadata (it’s only in Pro). Server-side GTM is also not available (in any version) and there is no template to easily set up variables in GTM.

On the positive side, WP FP comes with its own GDPR-compliant consent banner and sends consent information (consent mode v2) to GTM, so you don’t need to worry about that.

WooCommerce tracking

WP Full Picture tracks main ecommerce events and sends them to the dataLayer.

• view item list
• view item
• add to cart
• remove from cart
• checkout
• purchase
• add to wishlist

All events are sent with additional event and product data, but in the Free version you cannot send to the datalayer user’s physical address and email for enhanced ecommerce.

You can also set, how your products and purcahses will be tracked – with or without tax, SKU as ID (or not), how to track variants, etc.

All in all

WP Full Picture is the only Free plugin that lets you install tracking tools and manage consents. How well does it do? It is for you to decide.

What is the best GTM4WP alternative?

Well, it all depends what you need.

If you are looking for the best possible sGTM integration, then Stape’s plugin is the best with GTM Kit (possibly) on the same level (I have not tested GTM Kit with sGTM). GTM4WP itself is coming third.

If you just need to use a standard web container and WooCommerce tracking, then you can choose GTM4WP, GTM Kit or WP Full Picture. Any of them will be good choice.

If you do not need WooCommerce, and just need something simple (but not barebones) then I would go with Beehive. I would steer clear from Site Kit, which, for me, is just a misunderstanding.

And finally, if you want to save yourself time and confusion with setting up consent banners with GTM then I would recommend WP Full Picture. There is no free alternative to this combo.

So, what do you think about this comparison? Do you think I did justice to these tools? Please share your thoughts in the comments and have a nice day!