Alation Data Catalog vs Pentaho Data Catalog comparison

Alation and Hitachi Vantara are both solutions in the Metadata Management category. Alation is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.4, while Hitachi Vantara is ranked #13. Alation holds a 15.3% mindshare in MM, compared to Hitachi Vantara’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 71% of Alation users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hitachi Vantara users who would recommend it.

Alation Data Catalog

Read 12 Alation Data Catalog reviews

5,708 Views
1,598 Comparison Views

71% willing to recommend

Pentaho Data Catalog

Read 1 Pentaho Data Catalog review

216 Views
216 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Alation Data Catalog

Pentaho Data Catalog

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Alation Data Catalog and Pentaho Data Catalog based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica, Alation, Collibra and others in Metadata Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Metadata Management Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Metadata Management

July 2025

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Helped 862,499 peers since 2012

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

Ranking in other categories

Data Governance (7th)

Pentaho Data Catalog

Ranking in Metadata Management

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

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 Pentaho Data Catalog is 0.8%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Metadata Management

Featured Reviews

Brahma Lam

Developer at CVS Health

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.…

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Lisa Williams

Manager, Office of Enterprise Data Management at State of Arizona

Helps make metadata available from our transactional databases, data warehouse, document management system, and GIS

As I've said, we've tagged a lot of fields that are related to specific processes, like the driller's log or, for example, if you want to get a license to be a well driller. Now, what I'm having to do for the consultants is create an Excel spreadsheet that has the name of the tag and a description of it. I'm now creating a data silo. What would be helpful is a place, inside Lumada Data Catalog, where you can describe the tags that you're using. Otherwise, anybody coming into the system, or seeing the tag from the outside in one of the reports, is going to say, "What is that tag really referring to?" and has to know where my spreadsheet is.

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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's best feature is the SQL query publication."

"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 solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."

"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."

"Alation Data Catalog was very useful for sharing SQL queries easily in a platform."

"The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."

"Given the relatively low level of maturity, Alation's most relevant feature at the moment is a user interface that's easy to navigate, which helps us find and understand the data. So while Alation has a lot more functionality, our pain point right now is being able to easily find, understand, and trust the information to use it."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI feature."

More Alation Data Catalog pros

"The ability to easily and quickly ingest new data sources is the most valuable feature... I'm not an especially technical IT person, but my data governance lead and I are able to ingest the data, quickly profile it, and do data identification and tagging."

Cons

"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."

"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."

"Although the solution performs far better in terms of data cataloging, its data governance capabilities need improvement."

"Alation Data Catalog is not user-friendly for business users. Its user experience is comparable to a Wikipedia page, lacking good visualization."

"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."

"The product's data governance features need improvement."

"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."

"Data observability within Alation would be incredibly helpful for addressing these challenges"

More Alation Data Catalog cons

"We've tagged a lot of fields that are related to specific processes... What would be helpful is a place, inside Lumada Data Catalog, where you can describe the tags that you're using. Otherwise, anybody coming into the system, or seeing the tag from the outside in one of the reports, is going to say, "What is that tag really referring to?" and has to know where my spreadsheet is."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."

"We can afford it. We got a three-year contract... If it were to go up and price a lot, I don't know if I would be able to keep it."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

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.

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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...

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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 ...

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Comparisons

Microsoft Purview Data Governance vs Alation Data Catalog

Compared 45% of the time

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Alation Data Catalog

Compared 13% of the time

Collibra Governance vs Alation Data Catalog

Compared 10% of the time

Atlan vs Alation Data Catalog

Compared 5% of the time

IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog vs Alation Data Catalog

Compared 3% of the time

More Alation Data Catalog Competitors

No data available

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Alation Data Catalog

July 2025

Download Alation Data Catalog product report

Buyer's Guide

Metadata Management

July 2025

Download Pentaho Data Catalog product report

Also Known As

Alation

Hitachi Lumada DataOps - Data Catalog

Overview

Alation pioneered the data catalog market and is now leading its evolution into a platform for a broad range of data intelligence solutions including data search & discovery, data governance, lineage, stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation.

Thanks to its powerful Behavioral Analysis Engine, inbuilt collaboration capabilities, and open interfaces, Alation combines machine learning with human insight to successfully tackle even the most demanding challenges in data and metadata management. With Alation, analysts are empowered to search, query and collaborate on their data to achieve faster, more accurate insights.

Trusted by 400+ enterprises worldwide like Salesforce, Nasdaq, LinkedIn, Finnair, and Cisco.

Alation

Data intelligence delivered across all structured and unstructured data. A data culture fostered by trusted & actionable data with observability, lineage, quality and reliability.

Hitachi Vantara

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.

Information Not Available

Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica, Alation, Collibra and others in Metadata Management. Updated: July 2025.

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