Looker Studio alternative will help most of the business for their reporting structure. Looker Studio is a cloud-hosted platform that was formerly known as Google Data Studio. It is used by Google for business intelligence.
GDS is a business intelligence tool that is completely free to use and quite useful as a beginner tool. However, its functions are restricted, particularly if your company is at a stage where it requires predictive or sophisticated analytics.
This is the reason why, despite the fact that GDS continues to be one of the most popular business intelligence tools, other alternatives are giving Google a run for its money in terms of business intelligence.
Looker Studio
Before we get into anything else, let’s get the company that Google purchased out of the way: Despite the fact that Google purchased the Looker firm and renamed its household “Google Data Studio” to “Looker Studio,” the original Looker software is still active and functioning. So, let’s have a look at what differentiates the two:
The benefits of using Looker
Looker is a robust solution that is supported by Google. When it comes to analytics, Looker is fairly robust and enables a certain degree of customisation. You are able to customize your charts and graphs, integrate, examine, and visualize data, and more.
Its data modeling capabilities are highly strong, and they are able to cover a wide range of analytical use cases. Additionally, your non-technical personnel are able to easily generate reports based on a pre-defined collection of data.
It is also important to highlight that the pre-sale crew at Looker is extremely helpful and supportive, and they will be by your side throughout the entirety of the initial setup process.
The drawbacks of using Looker
Looker is tough to browse, in contrast to Looker studio, which can be used and consulted by even people with no prior experience. You require the assistance of a knowledgeable professional who is well-versed in Looker.
There is a requirement for dedicated data professionals who have learnt LookML abilities in order to work with models in order to operate the solution. This implies that only large firms are able to take full advantage of Looker, despite the fact that it is easy to adapt.
Additionally, Looker is only capable of working directly with a single database for each project, and it does not have ETL capabilities. And unfortunately, despite the fact that its pre-sale service is exceptional, there is no after-sale service; all that is available is a Looker developer portal.
Therefore, if you wish to align yourself internally or look to improve, you will encounter a great deal more challenges than actual solutions.
Power BI
And finally, we have PowerBI, the most powerful tool that Microsoft has to offer. Additionally, Google’s most significant rival in the business intelligence (BI) tools industry provides a free version in addition to scaled and increasingly sophisticated versions.
The Benefits of Utilizing Power BI
Visualizations come first and foremost. Power BI provides a wide variety of visually appealing dashboards that are totally customizable and interactive, which are so impressive that they put Google Data Studio to shame.
A particular aspect that is of the utmost significance when dealing with data visualization and visual information. Additionally, Power BI is able to automatically update from cloud-based data sources, which is a process that is performed manually in GDS.
In addition, Microsoft provides customer service around the clock, whereas Google does not. In addition, it provides sophisticated data modeling and forecasting capabilities.
The drawbacks of using Power BI
Unfortunately, Power BI is not the most ergonomic and user-friendly platform by any means. In addition, your data analysts will need to learn DAX (Data Analysis Expression) and Power Query M language in order to make the most of its capabilities.
Additionally, it appears that Google is making greater attempts to ensure compatibility with other environments. Power BI is more compatible with other Microsoft platforms, such as Microsoft Edge and Office 365.
Tableau
Among the alternatives to Google Data Studio, Tableau is without a doubt the most sophisticated option. It offers corporate projections, analysis of strategies, and decision-making that is driven by data.
Tableau has a number of advantages.
In the first place, Tableau provides real-time data, but Google Data Studio requires you to manually update it every time you want the most recent information.
In addition, Tableau supports a wide range of data connections, including database, application, customer relationship management, and so on. Then, Tableau provides a vast library of charts and dashboards that can be customized to meet your requirements.
These charts and dashboards can be seen on a variety of platforms, including computers, mobile devices, and tablets. This is a category in which GDS is severely weak.
In addition, the capabilities of Tableau in terms of charting and exploration are more advanced than those of GDS. Finally, just like Power BI, it is equipped with a comprehensive customer department that is ready to go.
Tableau’s Drawbacks
The most significant advantage that Tableau possesses is also its most significant disadvantage: despite the fact that it is aesthetically pleasing, its primary concentration is on visualization, and it is unable to work with data that has not been cleansed.
It is necessary to perform appropriate data cleaning in the underlying database before you can utilize Tableau in an effective manner. If you combine this with the fact that it is an advanced product for which you require professional data scientists, you end up with a tool that is not at all user-friendly for novices, just like Power BI.
In addition, it does not have any data modeling or data dictionary, which is a problem for professionals. Additionally, it does not have version control or collaboration capabilities when it comes to the construction of data logic and dashboards.
Therefore, you will receive a tool that is more advanced than GDS, but not as advanced as Power BI, while at the same time being more aesthetically pleasing and clean to look at.
Klipfolio.
Another business intelligence tool, Klipfolio, allows you to create smart, data-driven marketing reports for your manager or customer by connecting hundreds of databases, cloud services, and application programming interfaces (APIs).
The benefits of using Klipfolio
In the first place, Klipfolio provides a tool called report automation, which enables marketers to generate and send reports at predetermined intervals (such as weekly or monthly). One of the features that is absent from GDS.
Furthermore, similar to Power BI and Tableau, it provides customer assistance to assist with reporting best practices and to resolve any faults that may be present. In addition to that, it has a white-label capability that allows you to change your report to meet your specific requirements.
Lastly, but certainly not least, this platform is offered as an Agency Starter pack that includes crucial capabilities for a price of $54 per month. This is an attractive pricing for a tool that is more advanced than GDS.
Klipfolio’s Drawbacks and Drawbacks
The meager 300 integrations that Klipfolio offers are insignificant when compared to the 600 that GDS offers. Additionally, if you utilize Google for your complete environment, then you may be able to use GDS for free (provided that you do not make extensive use of connectors).
Finally, if you need dashboard templates, you should be aware that Klipfolio only provides 12 of them, whereas GDS provides 50.
Geckoboard
In a matter of minutes, Geckoboard will enable you to establish a professional real-time dashboard, and its more than ninety pre-built connectors will assist you in connecting to your day-to-day tools in a short amount of time.
It establishes connections with a wide variety of marketing data sources, such as Linkedin advertisements, Salesforce, Google AdSense, Google advertisements, Zendesk, YouTube Analytics, and a great deal of other platforms.
The benefits of using Geckoboard
When it comes to managing massive amounts of data and displaying specific numbers through the use of fundamental preconfigured widgets, Geckoboard may be an extremely helpful tool for marketers.
It is also simple to use, with a user interface that is unambiguous and well-designed. It even includes interaction with Slack, which allows it to provide snapshots of your Slack channels on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
In addition to this, it provides a helpful customer care service that quickly fixes any flaws or problems that users may be experiencing.
Geckoboard’s Drawbacks
Geckoboard is rather pricey, with the $49/month plan covering only one dashboard. However, every rose has its thorn, and Geckoboard is no exception. The fee goes up to $99 a month if you want to utilize three dashboards, but Google Data Studio is completely free to use.
Even more unfortunate is the fact that several Geckoboard integrations are only available to users who subscribe to premium plans, which are more expensive than the basic plan. It is possible that you may argue that its “bang for buck ratio” is not as good as the other tools that we have discussed here.
Which option should one go with?
In the end, if you are considering switching from GDS to another business intelligence platform, you should be aware that each of those tools has its own set of limitations.
The following is a list of some of the best tools that are accessible to you, along with the characteristics that set them apart from others or that prevent them from reaching their full potential.
With the help of this article, we hope that you will be able to make a more informed decision on whether or not to continue with GDS or to go with the alternative.
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