How does analytics differ from performance metrics?

The difference is simple:

#Analytics is about people

It answers the questions:

• How do users behave?
• What do they click, where do they stay, where do they drop off?
• What percentage registers, buys, comes back? It's about behavior, segments, funnels, retention, A/B tests. Tools: Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Adobe Analytics.

#Performance metrics are about the tech

They show:

• How fast does the page load?
• How long does the server take to respond?
• How much memory does the application use?
• Are there rendering errors, crashes, lag? It's about speed, stability, and technical quality. Tools: Lighthouse, New Relic, Sentry, Datadog, Web Vitals.

In short: Analytics is about users. Performance is about the system. Both matter. Only together do they give the full picture.