Birst Reviews

Name: Birst
Brand: Infor
Rating: 3.7 (20 reviews)

Vendor: Infor

3.7 out of 5

20 reviews
76% willing to recommend

What is Birst?

Birst Networked BI and Analytics eliminates information silos. Decentralized users can augment the enterprise data model virtually, as opposed to physically, without compromising data governance.

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Birst is the #15 ranked solution in top Embedded BI Tools and #29 ranked solution in top Reporting Tools. PeerSpot users give Birst an average rating of 7.4 out of 10. Birst is most commonly compared to Microsoft Power BI: Birst vs Microsoft Power BI.

Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

Featured Birst reviews

Sreenivas K

Principal Engineering Manager I at Host Analytics Inc

Dashboards and self-service reports. These are widely used by customers in the EPM domain Most of our customers are interested in dashboards and self-service reports. We are able to offer them these features with this solution. Customer support takes lot of time to get a solution The report…

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it_user566175

Director BI Services at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

* Cloud based: One platform with all the ETL, connectivity, report and dashboard tools in one product. This allows for faster development and no integration problems. * Network BI: (The ability to share data marts/stores/ERP/CRM/RDBMS data, etc.) This is a unique feature for data virtualization in the cloud. It enables Enterprise BI in the cloud. * The ability to deploy DWHs at lightning speed. This affords 60% faster development than traditional BI projects. * Supports mobile connectivity and interaction. All the information, anytime and anywhere on your desktop, smartphone, or tablet. * It is a step towards self-service-BI because of the user-friendly interface. This is the best cloud based BI platform/solution out there.

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it_user653898

Manager Data Services at a logistics company with 201-500 employees

I would like to see stronger in-built permissions capabilities. Everything we need to do can be done and passed to the product using an API. It would be nice if we could define the rule set within Birst. The addition of easy-to-use predictive analysis is coming in Birst 6, which is a missing piece right now.

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Birst mindshare

Product category:

As of August 2025, the mindshare of Birst in the Reporting category stands at 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting

PeerResearch reports based on Birst reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Reporting	Aug 20, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Aug 20, 2025	Download
Comparison	Birst vs Microsoft Power BI	Aug 20, 2025	Download
Comparison	Birst vs Tableau Enterprise	Aug 20, 2025	Download
Comparison	Birst vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services	Aug 20, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Microsoft Power BI	4.0	25.3%	93%	326 interviews Add to research
Tableau Enterprise	4.2	20.7%	89%	307 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Valued features of Birst include robust data visualization, cloud-based scalability, and seamless integration with ERP/CRM systems. The comprehensive suite supports ETL, reporting, and dashboards without additional tools. Networked BI ensures consistent metrics across departments. Birst's intuitive dashboards enhance user interaction while enabling agile development with built-in connectors for quick model deployment. Users appreciate the single-window development, mobile accessibility, and drag-and-drop functionality that facilitate end-to-end BI process with customizable reporting formats.

"Dashboards and self-service reports. These are widely used by customers in the EPM domain."

Room for Improvement

Birst's performance could benefit from improvements in in-memory processing and real-time streaming to handle complex calculations and large data sets efficiently. Licensing and hidden costs pose challenges with additional connector fees. Customization options in measure calculations and visualization functionalities need enhancement. The user interface lacks intuitiveness, while query generation and the ETL process require optimization. Admin modules and customer support also need updating to enhance user experience and system manageability.

"Customer support takes lot of time to get a solution."

ROI

Birst has significantly enhanced visualization capabilities, making it a standout choice for demonstrations. Companies gain substantial ROI by reselling subscriptions and offering professional services to clients. Birst's impact extends beyond visualization, giving sales teams a robust new tool and enabling support staff to access previously unavailable data. Its influence permeates company operations, showcasing its broad utility and effectiveness.

Pricing

Enterprise buyers find Birst's subscription-based pricing negotiable, with pricing influenced by data types via connector license costs. While the licensing model presents a higher entry point in regions like Australia, it offsets infrastructure expenses. Birst is often 40% to 65% cheaper over three years compared to other tools, thanks to inclusive hosting costs. Buyers are encouraged to negotiate and assess Birst's extensive capabilities before committing, ensuring the product meets urgent feature requirements.

"Please negotiate on the price and purchase the latest version."

Service and Support

Birst's customer service receives praise for having dedicated Customer Success Managers who are highly responsive, fostering strong user relationships. Technical support is generally rated positively, with quick response times and helpful guidance, though feedback varies, with ratings ranging from 3/10 to 10/10. Some users highlight excellent support, while others note an average experience. Users value high-quality service and the technical expertise of tier one support, with issues occasionally arising due to time zone synchronization.

Deployment

Birst's initial setup is generally straightforward due to its cloud-based nature, requiring no server installation. While day-to-day users find it easy, administrators may face complexities in areas such as data model configuration and transformation syntax. Third-party implementers can help streamline the process. Some experienced complexity with professional services and customization needs. Time to market and analytics development are rapid, though advanced features can introduce challenges.

Scalability

Birst's scalability is a mixed experience. Some find it robust and easily scalable, highlighting its core features as advantageous. Others face challenges with data processing time, extraction, and incrementing data load. Minor issues occur with data connectivity and rendering, needing optimization. While some manage without encountering difficulties, others see potential slowdowns with larger datasets. Successfully scaling is possible with additional cost or adherence to guidelines. Birst stands out for offering control and security, despite some limitations.

Stability

Many users report no stability issues with Birst, though some experience problems during upgrades or with large datasets. Instances of slow dashboard load times and backend errors are notable concerns for some. While some migrations lead to errors, others observe improvement and effectiveness in handling large daily data influxes. Certain environments face scaling challenges, yet others achieve satisfactory performance.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Birst Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

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Learn more about Birst

A unified semantic layer maintains common definitions and key metrics.
Birst’s two-tier architecture aligns back-end sources with line-of-business or local data. Birst’s Automated Data Refinement extracts data from any source into a unified semantic layer. Users are enabled with self-service analytics through executive dashboards, reporting, visual discovery, mobile tools, and predictive analytics. Birst Open Client Interface also offers integration with Tableau, Excel and R.

Birst goes to market in two primary ways: as a direct sale, for enterprises using Birst on internal data to manage their business; and embedded, for companies who offer analytic products, by embedding and white-labeling Birst capabilities into their products.

Birst’s is packaged in 3 available formats: Platform and per-user fee; by Department or Business Unit; by end-customer (for embedded scenarios).