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Alation Data Catalog vs Collibra Catalog comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 3, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alation Data Catalog
Ranking in Metadata Management
2nd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (7th)
Collibra Catalog
Ranking in Metadata Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Metadata Management category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 14.9%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Collibra Catalog is 10.7%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Metadata Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Alation Data Catalog14.9%
Collibra Catalog10.7%
Other74.4%
Metadata Management
 

Featured Reviews

Brahma Lam - PeerSpot reviewer
Has metadata cataloging features but needs changes in domain model
The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature.  The tool's domain model needs to be changed.  Alation Data Catalog is stable.  The solution is scalable.  Alation Data Catalog's deployment is easy. I rate it a nine out of ten. Deployment takes only two to three hours to complete.…
Tejbir Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates data quality monitoring and AI governance with a complete suite of tools
When I initially started with Collibra, it was just a data cataloging platform with governance workflows around it. Now they have acquired a lot of other tools, or they have merged or acquired different platforms. It is a complete suite of tools for managing data. We can monitor data quality and take actions on the profiling results obtained by running data quality checks. Collibra helps catalog data assets, monitor the health of data assets, and take necessary actions. If we find data quality issues, it also provides a medium to capture those issues and how to remediate them. The workflows allow the creation of custom workflows based on needs. The newest addition in their tool suite is AI governance, which allows cataloging all AI models currently deployed or even in the pre-production stage. It helps document model meanings and the risks involved, thus managing all risks related to AI deployments.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We had some of our data science engineers, who had built out some cloud-based data and data products for users. They were spending a lot of their time, up to 30 to 35% of their time, answering questions about the data and helping people understand how to use it. Once they were able to document that information within Alation, they were only focusing on around 5% of the high-value questions that really couldn't be solved through the catalog itself. It freed them up to be more productive, it made their end-users more productive, and it made the adoption rate of their data products rise more quickly because people were able to get to using them."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"Alation Data Catalog provides a nice interface for connecting to the database, querying the data, and working on it."
"We can customize templates based on our use cases."
"Alation Data Catalog's best feature is the SQL query publication."
"The most valuable features of Alation Data Catalog are the simplicity in onboarding data sources, the security in securing the data sources, and the way the various users of Alation Data Catalog communicate with each other through a messenger."
"The solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."
"Alation Data Catalog was very useful for sharing SQL queries easily in a platform."
"We have had no complaints about the stability."
"Gartner identifies Collibra Catalog as the leader, which aligns with our observations."
"Except for data quality, everything is perfect."
"Collibra Catalog's best feature is the data quality checker."
"Collibra Catalog allows us to automate metadata management, significantly saving time, effort, and finances."
"Collibra Catalog has significantly enhanced data governance and compliance for our team, primarily through its valuable feature of endpoint lineage enabling visual representation of the data."
"Using lineage and Collibra Catalog has helped me overall improve the trust and transparency regarding data origin and transformation."
"The workflows allow the creation of custom workflows based on needs."
 

Cons

"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"The product's data governance features need improvement."
"Although the solution performs far better in terms of data cataloging, its data governance capabilities need improvement."
"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"Data observability within Alation would be incredibly helpful for addressing these challenges"
"Alation Data Catalog is not user-friendly for business users. Its user experience is comparable to a Wikipedia page, lacking good visualization."
"I know that this has been on their roadmap and they're working on it, but as a whole, there's an untapped reservoir of capabilities within their article features that could be used and built upon."
"Collibra Catalog could improve its automation to increase the efficiency of the software."
"If the price is a bit reduced, that would be better."
"More automation and artificial intelligence involvement are necessary. Reducing required employee involvement and enhancing ease of use are vital."
"If it can become more user-intuitive and work on integrating with communication platforms like Slack or Teams, it would significantly help business users."
"There is an issue with Collibra Catalog's pricing model, especially for organizations with many databases, as the initial package comes with a limited number of connectors."
"In Collibra Catalog, the main area that has room for improvement is the search functionality. It should be more natural language oriented instead of searching for exact names."
"I'd like to see more integration with other reporting sources."
"One of the very key drawbacks is that automation for access provisioning is not available. If I discover a data set or data product in the marketplace and want to access the data, this feature doesn't exist at all."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"A three-year agreement is better than a one-year rolling 12-month agreement from a price point of view. I'd recommend looking at a three-year deal because you can't stand up a catalog and produce value in 12 months."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"Collibra offers a per-user licensing model."
"I think they can bring a few more features and align better with other quality products."
"The product is highly priced compared to other vendors."
"Collibra Catalog is fairly priced - I would rate their pricing seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alation Data Catalog?
The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alation Data Catalog?
The price difference between Alation Data Catalog and Collibra was not significant. Collibra is a little bit expensive than Alation, but I presented the benefits of having that platform, so that li...
What needs improvement with Alation Data Catalog?
Alation Data Catalog is not user-friendly for business users. Its user experience is comparable to a Wikipedia page, lacking good visualization. In a fast-paced world, we need to grasp information ...
What do you like most about Collibra Catalog?
The data lineage capability is valuable as it shows how different sources are connected and how data flows, which is crucial for projects like migrations. Moreover, data lineage visualization in C...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Collibra Catalog?
Pricing is not under my purview as I am an architect. The platform team handles the licensing aspects.
What needs improvement with Collibra Catalog?
I have utilized the sophisticated search capability in Collibra Catalog, and it can be improved by implementing more natural language search capabilities. Currently, we need to enter the asset name...
 

Also Known As

Alation
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
AXA XL, DNB, Adobe, PMI, Holland America Line, UC Davis Health, Cox Automotive
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. Collibra Catalog and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.