COMPARISON · CHECKED 7 OCTOBER 2026
Novra Tracking
vs GTM4WP
GTM4WP is the bridge to Google Tag Manager: you build every tag yourself. Novra Tracking sends your sales to your ad platforms directly, from the browser and from your server, without a Tag Manager container. GTM4WP is free. Novra Tracking is paid once.
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We make Novra Tracking. We compared Novra Tracking Pro 1.0.0 with GTM4WP 2.0.5 using both plugins' code (GTM4WP from WordPress.org) and their public pages, checked 7 October 2026. GTM4WP 2.1 is announced for 26 October 2026; where it changes this comparison, we say so. This is a feature and price comparison, not a tracking-accuracy or speed test.
The short answer
No Tag Manager container needed. GTM4WP adds your Tag Manager container to the site and fills its data layer. Every tag, trigger and variable for GA4, Google Ads, Meta, TikTok and the rest is yours to build there. Novra Tracking loads the tags of 20 platforms itself and can send purchases from your server to 15 of them. Platform access codes are stored encrypted.
Sales that never reach the thank-you page. Novra Tracking sends purchases from your server, queued and retried after a temporary failure. GTM4WP 2.0.5 reports purchases from the browser. Its own setting says a buyer who never returns "needs server side tracking".
Refunds, more shops, consent built in. Novra Tracking sends refunds to Google Analytics, Google Ads and Klaviyo, works with WooCommerce, FluentCart and SureCart, and reads your cookie banner. GTM4WP 2.0.5 has no refund event, connects to WooCommerce only and sets a Consent Mode default without regions. GTM4WP 2.1 is announced to add Easy Digital Downloads and optional refunds to Google Analytics.
Free or paid once. GTM4WP costs nothing. Novra Tracking is a one-time license ($79 to $399) with updates for the life of the license, and your tracking keeps running if the license ends.
Where GTM4WP leads: it is free, works with any tag you can put in Tag Manager, fills the data layer with about 35 page and visitor variables, tracks Contact Form 7 and 13 video and audio players, and has been on WordPress.org since 2013 with 700,000+ active installations. Details below.
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Feature by feature
Green rows first: these are the jobs Novra Tracking does that GTM4WP leaves to your Tag Manager container, handles differently or does not include. Then the features both share. What GTM4WP does better has its own section.
✓ included · ✗ not included or not documented · Notes in grey
Where Novra Tracking gives you more
| What you get | Novra Tracking | GTM4WP 2.0.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Tags for your ad platforms | ✓ Browser tags for 20 platforms, set up by entering an ID. No Tag Manager container needed | ✗ Loads no platform tag. You build each tag, trigger and variable in Tag Manager. Its documentation: you "set up your measurement on top of it in Google Tag Manager" |
| Purchases from your server | ✓ Can send purchases to 15 platforms through their conversion interfaces. Google Ads: optional, off by default | ✗ Sends nothing from your server: its code makes no HTTP request. It can load your container from a server-side Tag Manager domain, but you run that server yourself |
| Queue for server purchases | ✓ Purchases are queued. Temporary failures are retried after 5 minutes and again after an hour | ✗ No queue: it sends nothing from your server |
| Buyer pays but never returns to your shop | ✓ The purchase can be sent from your server | ✗ Purchases are reported from the browser. Its own setting says this "cannot capture orders where the buyer pays via an asynchronous gateway and never returns to the site – that case needs server side tracking" |
| Same ID for browser and server, so a sale counts once | ✓ | ✗ Sets no event ID. You plan the deduplication yourself in Tag Manager |
| Refunds | ✓ Refunds go to Google Analytics, Google Ads (as a correction) and Klaviyo (full refunds and cancellations) | ✗ No refund event in 2.0.5. GTM4WP 2.1, announced for 26 October 2026, adds optional refunds to Google Analytics, sent from the server (beta, off by default) |
| Subscription renewals | ✓ Renewals and cancellations are sent from the server | ✗ No renewal events in 2.0.5. It only recognises subscription products |
| Online shops | ✓ WooCommerce, FluentCart and SureCart, with refunds and renewals. Also sites without a shop | WooCommerce only in 2.0.5: FluentCart and SureCart are not in its code. 2.1 is announced to add Easy Digital Downloads |
| Consent Mode v2 with regions | ✓ All consent signals, regions, wait_for_update and url_passthrough | ✗ Sets the Consent Mode "default" command only, with one value per signal for all visitors. No regions |
| Consent update from your cookie banner | ✓ Reads ten cookie banners and the WP Consent API. Server purchases are sent only with marketing consent | Only through its Axeptio, CookieYes and Cookiebot integrations. Another banner has to send the update itself. No WP Consent API |
| Bots and your own visits left out | ✓ Bots, administrators and shop managers are left out by default | ✗ No bot detection. You can exclude user roles, but none is excluded by default |
| Test purchase and accuracy per payment method | ✓ In the dashboard: a test purchase, and per payment method which paid orders reached the confirmation page, were sent from the server or weren't sent | ✗ Neither is in the plugin |
| Warning about a second tag | ✓ The dashboard warns when it finds a Tag Manager container or another Google tag on your home page | ✗ Not in 2.0.5 |
What both do
| What you get | Novra Tracking | GTM4WP 2.0.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Shop events in the GA4 e-commerce format for WooCommerce | ✓ From product view to purchase | ✓ In the data layer, for Tag Manager to pick up. The "Track e-commerce" setting is off by default |
| Shop events in the data layer for Tag Manager | ✓ Every event is also pushed to the data layer in the GA4 e-commerce format (on by default, can be switched off) | ✓ Plus many more values (see below) |
| Google Ads Enhanced Conversions | ✓ | ✓ Hashed email and phone number, only with "Customer data in data layer" switched on (off by default) |
| Google Ads dynamic remarketing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Google Consent Mode v2 default settings | ✓ | ✓ Off by default |
| Login and sign-up events | ✓ | ✓ |
| Page views and searches on a site without a shop | ✓ | ✓ |
| Protection against counting the same order twice | ✓ | ✓ |
| Export and import of your settings | ✓ Secrets are left out | ✓ As a JSON file |
Based on Novra Tracking Pro 1.0.0 and GTM4WP 2.0.5, using both plugins' code (GTM4WP from WordPress.org) and their public pages, checked 7 October 2026. Features can change with updates, and GTM4WP 2.1 is announced for 26 October 2026. Both plugins need your own account at each platform, and sending from the server needs that platform's access token.
Also compared: Novra Tracking vs Pixel Manager · Novra Tracking vs MonsterInsights
What the one-time price gets you
GTM4WP is free, so there is no five-year cost table to show. Novra Tracking is paid once. Here is what that payment gets you, what GTM4WP can cost on top, and what it does not buy.
What you get for the price
Browser tags for 20 platforms, without building tags in Tag Manager
Purchases sent from your server to 15 platforms, queued and retried
The same ID for browser and server, so a sale counts once
Refunds to Google Analytics, Google Ads and Klaviyo
WooCommerce, FluentCart and SureCart
Consent Mode v2 with regions, ten cookie banners, and server purchases that follow the cookie choice
Bots and your own visits left out, a test purchase and accuracy per payment method
Platform access codes stored encrypted
Updates for the life of the license, and a tracking setup that keeps running if the license ends
What GTM4WP can cost besides the plugin
GTM4WP itself costs nothing. It does not send anything to your ad platforms, so the tags are yours to build in Tag Manager. That takes your time, and we have not put a price on it.
If you also want server-side tracking through Tag Manager, you run a server-side Tag Manager server. According to Google, its default setup is recommended for testing limited traffic only, and once you upgrade it you can expect to spend $30 to $50 per server per month. Google also recommends running several servers (Google, "Server-side tagging overview", checked 7 October 2026). Hosting providers sell this as a service. Stape, for example, lists a free plan for up to 10,000 requests a month and a Pro plan at $17 a month, billed $200 yearly, for up to 500,000 requests (stape.io/price, checked 7 October 2026). Novra Tracking sends from your own WordPress site and needs no extra server.
The price does not buy speed. We have not run benchmarks. If you are happy to build your own tags and a free plugin is enough, GTM4WP is a good choice, and it costs nothing.
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Which one is right for you?
Choose Novra Tracking if …
You want your sales sent to your ad platforms without building tags in Tag Manager.
You want purchases sent from your server, queued and retried, also when the buyer never returns to your shop.
You need refunds sent to Google Analytics, Google Ads or Klaviyo.
Your shop runs on FluentCart or SureCart, or you manage sites on different shop systems.
You want your cookie banner to decide, with Consent Mode regions, and platform access codes stored encrypted.
You'd rather pay once than build and run the setup yourself.
You don't need the data layer values, form and media tracking or the free price that GTM4WP offers.
Choose GTM4WP if …
You want a free plugin, and you are happy to build your tags in Tag Manager.
You want any tag or tool in Tag Manager, not only the 20 platforms Novra Tracking covers.
You want a rich data layer for your own reports: page, visitor and site variables, Contact Form 7, forms and video and audio players.
You use several containers or environments, or a server-side Tag Manager setup of your own.
You want a plugin with a track record since 2013.
Or keep your container. Novra Tracking also pushes its events to the data layer, so a Tag Manager container you keep can still use them. If that container already sends purchases to the same platforms, switch those tags off first, or both would report the same sale.
Not sure? Install Novra Tracking on your own site and judge it there, with your own ad data. If it's not the right fit, request a full refund within 30 days.
Where GTM4WP is stronger
A fair comparison names both sides. These are the areas where GTM4WP does more today.
It is free.
GTM4WP costs nothing and is licensed under the GPL. It has no Pro version. Novra Tracking is a paid plugin.
Any tag, any tool.
Through Tag Manager you can add every tool and script you can put in a container, for example Hotjar or Mixpanel, with your own triggers and variables. Novra Tracking has a fixed list of 20 platforms.
A rich data layer.
GTM4WP offers about 35 settings for page, visitor and site values in the data layer, among them post type, categories, author, word count, reading time, login status and user role, plus browser, operating system and device. It also has a cache-safe mode for full-page caching (experimental, off by default). Novra Tracking pushes its shop events to the data layer and nothing more.
Forms, video and audio.
GTM4WP tracks Contact Form 7 (with optional GA4 events such as generate_lead), when visitors enter and leave form fields, and video and audio events for 13 player types, among them Vimeo, SoundCloud, Wistia, Spotify and Twitch. Novra Tracking does not.
More Tag Manager settings.
It supports several containers, environments, a custom domain and path for loading the container, an allow and block list for tag types, a switch for production only and AMP.
A long track record.
GTM4WP has been on WordPress.org since 2013, with 700,000+ active installations and a rating of 4.5 out of 5 from 155 reviews there (checked 7 October 2026). Novra Tracking is at version 1.0.0 and has no independent reviews or benchmarks yet. Check each server connection with the test purchase on your own accounts.
More on the way.
GTM4WP 2.1 is announced for 26 October 2026 on WordPress.org (its author calls the dates "a plan, not a promise"). It is announced to add Easy Digital Downloads and refunds to Google Analytics sent from the server, off by default and marked as beta. The rows "Refunds" and "Online shops" above describe version 2.0.5. If you read this after 26 October, check the current version on WordPress.org.
If none of these is a must-have for your sites, Novra Tracking covers the rest – with no tags to build, and you pay for it once.
Good questions.
Clear answers.
Is GTM4WP really free?
Yes. GTM4WP is free on WordPress.org, licensed under the GPL, and has no Pro version. It adds your Tag Manager container to the site and fills the data layer. The tags that send your sales to Google, Meta or TikTok are yours to build in Tag Manager. Server-side tracking through Tag Manager needs a server-side Tag Manager server that you run yourself.
What do I pay for with Novra Tracking?
A one-time license ($79 for 1 site, $149 for 5, $249 for 25, $399 for unlimited sites) with updates for the life of the license. You get browser tags for 20 platforms, purchases sent from your server to 15 of them, refunds, WooCommerce, FluentCart and SureCart, consent handling and encrypted platform access codes. You do not pay for speed. We haven't run benchmarks.
Does GTM4WP send my sales to Meta, TikTok or Google Ads?
Not by itself. GTM4WP 2.0.5 writes your shop events to the data layer, and the tags you build in Tag Manager send them on. Its code makes no request to any platform. It can load your container from your own server-side Tag Manager domain, but the server and its server-side tags are yours to run. Novra Tracking sends from your WordPress site, no container needed. It can send purchases from your server to 15 platforms, and to Google Ads if you switch that on.
Will GTM4WP 2.1 change this comparison?
In two rows. GTM4WP 2.1 is announced for 26 October 2026. According to its author, it adds Easy Digital Downloads and optional refunds to Google Analytics, sent from the server through the Google Data Manager API with a Google Cloud service account. Both are announced as off by default and marked as beta. This page compares version 2.0.5, the version on WordPress.org on 7 October 2026. The announcement describes refunds to Google Analytics only. Novra Tracking sends refunds to Google Analytics, Google Ads and Klaviyo.
Do I need WooCommerce?
Not for Novra Tracking. It works with WooCommerce 8.0+, FluentCart 1.6+ or SureCart 4.9+, and also on sites without a shop, where it tracks page views, searches, sign-ups and logins. GTM4WP also runs on a site without a shop, but its shop events are for WooCommerce only in version 2.0.5.
Can I run Novra Tracking and GTM4WP together?
Novra Tracking also pushes its events to the data layer in the GA4 e-commerce format (on by default), so a Tag Manager container can still use them. We haven't tested the two plugins together. Both would report a purchase to the same platforms if your container has its own purchase tags, so switch those off first. If you rename GTM4WP's data layer, Novra Tracking's events do not go there, because it pushes to the standard dataLayer. Novra Tracking does not switch GTM4WP off. Its dashboard warns when it finds a Tag Manager container on your home page.
How do I switch from GTM4WP to Novra Tracking?
Open your container and note the IDs your tags use: your Google Analytics measurement ID, the Google Ads conversion ID and label, your pixel IDs, any server access tokens and your consent settings. Rehearse on a test site, with test properties that are not connected to your live campaigns. Switch off the purchase tags for the platforms Novra Tracking will send, in your container, then install Novra Tracking, enter the IDs (most fields also accept the whole snippet) and choose a consent mode. Keep GTM4WP and your container if you use them for other tags. Run a test purchase to check the connections, and keep your container until you've checked your numbers. To go back, switch Novra Tracking's platforms off or deactivate it, and switch your container's tags on again. If Novra Tracking isn't the right fit, request a full refund within 30 days. The Novra Tracking documentation explains each setting. For a longer walk-through, read our step-by-step switch guide.
Will Novra Tracking recover more sales than GTM4WP?
We don't promise that. We haven't run accuracy tests or benchmarks, and neither route guarantees that a platform credits a sale to an ad. The difference is who builds the setup: with GTM4WP you build the tags in Tag Manager, with Novra Tracking the plugin sends them. The best test is your own data: install Novra Tracking, run a test purchase and compare your numbers.
PAY ONCE. KEEP IT.
Conversion tracking without a Tag Manager container – paid for once.
Browser tags for 20 platforms, server connections for 15 of them, WooCommerce, FluentCart and SureCart, and a license that only brings updates. No tags to build, no yearly renewal, and your tracking never depends on your license.
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