What are the strengths and weaknesses of using GA for a project?

I want to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of using GA so I can decide if its the best option for my project.

Following some of my own research and a discussion with @nelsonic, these are some of the following observations I've made about the strengths and weaknesses of using Google Analytics:

| *Strengths* | *Weaknesses* |
|----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Free | An independent platform that admins must remember to review (separate from the other admin functionality of the product) |
| Page view data | Not built with an event-based / journeys / goal achievement focus |
| Good for pre-sign up flows | Can't store personal customer data e.g. email addresses |
| Can be customised more for events with Tag Manager | Not good for agile development such as cohort analysis, action based journeys |
| | Not so good at post sign up / logged in flows |

I have the following further questions in follow up to our first discussion:
- We discussed GA not having good 'cohort analysis' tooling. I watched a couple of tutorials on its cohort analysis and wanted to know more about specifically what you think it lacks? (Not having done cohort analysis before and therefore not really knowing what to look for)
- The same goes for 'retention'
- Whilst GA is not built with events as the primary focus, it seems as though google tag manager can help resolve this issue. @nelsonic do you think that tag manager successfully helps capture events/ goal completion?
- Are there any other links/materials you could share to help deepen my research?