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Alation Data Catalog vs erwin Data Catalog by Quest 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)
erwin Data Catalog by Quest
Ranking in Metadata Management
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Metadata Management category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 15.3%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Data Catalog by Quest is 3.6%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.…
Andres-Martinez - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps with metadata management, saves time, and allows us to do impact analysis on any changes
There are always ways to improve things. For example, we can use AI to be able to find out something. When we are typing something, if we don't know the exact term, Artificial Intelligence would be useful to find terms that are phonetically or syntactically similar. Instead of having to type in the exact name, they can provide those in the list. So, they can provide AI support for the search because when you have thousands and thousands of terms, it is hard to remember all the names. There were some issues when drawing the data models. If you have more than 500 or 600 tables, it takes a long time to display those in the right position on the screen. That can also be improved. They need some caching and some parallel pipelines working on the backend in order to divide it into sections.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Alation Data Catalog was very useful for sharing SQL queries easily in a platform."
"We can customize templates based on our use cases."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"Alation Data Catalog's best feature is the SQL query publication."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI feature."
"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 platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms."
"The data catalog feature is pretty good."
"When you combine it with data lineage, every time you need to make a change, it allows you to do impact analysis on any changes and then connect to the end-users or data stewards so that they can be aware that a change is coming. That's one of the main benefits we use it for."
 

Cons

"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."
"Although the solution performs far better in terms of data cataloging, its data governance capabilities need improvement."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"Alation Data Catalog is not user-friendly for business users. Its user experience is comparable to a Wikipedia page, lacking good visualization."
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."
"Alation Data Catalog needs to develop a lot in terms of data governance and would be improved with a built-in interactive data quality solution."
"There is room for improvement with respect to the connector and how to connect to the structured and unstructured database."
"There are always ways to improve things. For example, we can use AI to be able to find out something. When we are typing something, if we don't know the exact term, Artificial Intelligence would be useful to find terms that are phonetically or syntactically similar. Instead of having to type in the exact name, they can provide those in the list. So, they can provide AI support for the search because when you have thousands and thousands of terms, it is hard to remember all the names."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"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."
"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"Erwin Data Catalog is very expensive."
"I am not very familiar with its pricing. I know it is not cheap, but it is also not super expensive. It depends on the company size. For a company making $1 million, it is very expensive. For a company making 10 million and above, it might be okay."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 ...
Which ETL tool would you recommend to populate data from OLTP to OLAP?
There are two products I know about * TimeXtender : Microsoft based, Transformation logic is quiet good and can easily be extended with T-SQL , Has a semantic layer that generates metat data for cu...
 

Also Known As

Alation
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
Balfour Beatty Construction, Banco de México, BFSI Canada, CenturyLink, Daktronics
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. erwin Data Catalog by Quest and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
861,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.