Total Users, Active Users & New Users in GA4 – What’s their Difference

Total Users, Active Users & New Users in GA4 – What’s their Difference

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), tracking user activity is crucial for understanding how people interact with your website or app. However, not all user metrics mean the same thing. Terms like Total Users, Active Users, and New Users may sound similar, but they provide different insights into audience behavior.

For example, do you know the difference between someone who simply lands on your site (Total User) versus someone who actively engages with your content (Active User) or a visitor who is brand new to your platform (New User)?

Misinterpreting these metrics can lead to poor marketing decisions, wasted ad spend, and missed opportunities for growth. We’ll break down each of these user categories with clear definitions, real-world examples, and practical use cases.

GA4 Definitions: Total Users, Active Users and New Users

Here’s how GA4 officially defines each:

  • Total Users: “The total number of unique users who have logged an event.”
  • Active Users: “The total number of active users. You may see Active Users referred to as just users.”
  • New Users: “The number of users who interacted with your site or launched your app for the first time (event triggered: first_open).”

Understanding these metrics is crucial for tracking user engagement, measuring retention, and optimizing marketing strategies. In this blog, we’ll break down each metric, explain their differences, and show you when and how to use them for better decision-making.

Understanding Each Metric

Total Users

  • Think of this as your total audience size.
  • If someone visits today and comes back next week, they still count as one Total User.
  • Example: You have 1,000 unique visitors in a month → Total Users = 1,000.
  • Use it to track long-term growth and brand reach.

Active Users

  • Active Users count those who are actually engaging.
  • They’ve done something: scrolled, clicked, watched a video, etc.
  • Includes returning users, so it’s a better engagement metric than Total Users.
  • Example: 500 people visit today and interact with the site → Active Users = 500.

💡 Key takeaway: High Total Users but low Active Users? You’ve got traffic but no engagement. Fix it.

New Users

  • These are the fresh visitors to your site/app.
  • If a user interacts for the first time, they trigger first_open.
  • Example: 200 people visit your site for the first time → New Users = 200.
  • Useful for tracking how effective marketing campaigns are at bringing in fresh eyes.

💡 Key takeaway: If you have a lot of New Users but a drop in Active Users, you’re not retaining visitors.

Differences Between Total Users, Active Users & New Users

MetricIncludes Returning Users?Measures Engagement?Used for Growth Analysis?
Total Users✅ Yes❌ No✅ Yes
Active Users✅ Yes✅ Yes✅ Yes
New Users❌ No❌ No✅ Yes
  • Total Users = Just a count of all unique visitors.
  • Active Users = Those who are actually doing something.
  • New Users = First-time visitors only.

When to Use Each Metric?

  • Want to see how big your audience is? → Total Users.
  • Want to measure engagement? → Active Users.
  • Want to check how many new visitors you’re attracting? → New Users.

Example: If you run a paid ad campaign, you should monitor:

  1. New Users → Are fresh people coming in?
  2. Active Users → Are they staying and engaging?
  3. Total Users → Is your overall audience growing?

GA4 SQL Query Examples for Each Metric (BigQuery)

If you want to analyze these numbers in BigQuery, here are ready-to-use SQL queries:

Query for Total Users

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT user_pseudo_id) AS total_users
FROM `my_project.analytics_XXXXXX.events_*`
WHERE _TABLE_SUFFIX BETWEEN '20240301' AND '20240331';

👉 Counts all unique users who logged an event in March.

Query for Active Users

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT user_pseudo_id) AS active_users
FROM `my_project.analytics_XXXXXX.events_*`
WHERE event_bundle_sequence_id IS NOT NULL;

👉 Counts only engaged users who triggered at least one event.

Query for New Users

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT user_pseudo_id) AS new_users
FROM `my_project.analytics_XXXXXX.events_*`
WHERE event_name = 'first_open';

👉 Extracts users who visited for the first time.