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Google Cloud Datalab vs Qlik Sense comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 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

Google Cloud Datalab
Ranking in Data Visualization
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (18th)
Qlik Sense
Ranking in Data Visualization
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
Embedded BI (3rd), AI Data Analysis (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Data Visualization category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Datalab is 1.2%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qlik Sense is 4.8%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Visualization Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qlik Sense4.8%
Google Cloud Datalab1.2%
Other94.0%
Data Visualization
 

Featured Reviews

LJ
System Architect at UST Global España
dashboards are good and data visualization is more meaningful for the end-user
Access is always via URL, and unless your network is fast, it would be a little tough in India. In India, if we had a faster network, it would be easier. In a big data environment, like when forcing your database with over a billion records, it can be tough for the end-user to manage the data. You need to have a single entity system in each environment. It's not because of GCP, but it would be great to have options like MongoDB or other similar tools in GCP. Then, we wouldn't always need to connect to the cloud and execute SQL queries. Even if your application is always connected to its database, the processing can be cumbersome. It shouldn't be so complicated. Once the data is collected, it should be easily sorted.
PawanSingh3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Data visualization has become faster and flexible and now enables quick multi-source reporting
Qlik Sense is very easy to use, but sometimes integration is a bit challenging. In our case, we wanted to integrate the cloud version of Qlik Sense, and Qlik Sense is not supporting the on-premises version, so we moved to the cloud version. We had a lot of challenges when integrating Qlik Sense SSO with the reports that we wanted to show on our web app or mobile app. There were a lot of challenges along with that, but eventually, we overcame those challenges, and things are working fine now. The integration part is one point for improvement; it could be more simple because I found some complexities with it. The single sign-on part is a little tricky and is not straightforward. We have done multiple rounds with their technical team, and although it got resolved later on, I think that it could have been better.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For me, it has been a stable product."
"The infrastructure is highly reliable and efficient, contributing to a positive experience."
"All of the features of this product are quite good."
"The APIs are valuable."
"In MLOps, when we are designing the data pipeline, the designing of the data pipeline is easy in Google Cloud."
"Google Cloud Datalab is very customizable."
"It's an easy-to-use solution that gives business users incredible insight into your business."
"Qlik Sense is a very powerful and useful tool, and it is very worth mastering, especially for people like me, who are much more visual than coders."
"It offers good control. Loading the logs is also a good thing."
"The best part of Qlik Sense is that you can upload any data and visualize it."
"Unique data visualizations created based on - among others - customer reviews and hands-on experience. Qlik is an experienced company in the Business Intelligence / Data visualization area, that doesn't necessarily mean it is the best solution, however, based on my personal experience it is much more complex than Power BI and Tableau as I've had some things to do with these two concurrent softwares."
"A great analysis tool helps us in many ways for showing the great potential of our ERP through Qlik tools."
"The Nprinting is useful."
"We have been using Qlik Sense Enterprise for two and a half years, and it has been one of the best decisions we made."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the graphical user interface. So that the initial user would use it properly, that would be a good option."
"The product must be made more user-friendly."
"Even if your application is always connected to its database, the processing can be cumbersome. It shouldn't be so complicated."
"The interface should be more user-friendly."
"Connectivity challenges for end-users, particularly when loading data, environments, and libraries, need to be addressed for an enhanced user experience."
"We have also encountered challenges during our transition period in terms of data control and segmentation. The management of each channel and data structure as it has its own unique characteristics requires very detailed and precise control. The allocation should be appropriate and the complexity increases due to the different time zones and geographic locations of our clients. The process usually involves migrating the existing database sets to gcp and ensure data integrity is maintained. This is the only challenge that we faced while navigating the integers of the solution and honestly it was an interesting and unique experience."
"The product could be less expensive."
"More options for the layout."
"There are occasional stability problems, but Qlik support is excellent at correcting anything that arises."
"The product could be improved by implementing a user-feedback ranking system."
"Some of the charts are still a bit basic and screen rendering on different sized monitors can be an issue."
"I would like to see more native features from QlikView integrated into Qlik Sense."
"Moving forward I would like to see more features that are currently available in QlikView, such as being able to better customize coloring within charts. I would also like to see the ability to add calculated dimensions to the selections tool in the page."
"The security rules should be made easier to use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap."
"The pricing is quite reasonable, and I would give it a rating of four out of ten."
"It is affordable for us because we have a limited number of users."
"The product is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"Licensing could be cheaper."
"Qlik Sense and its pricing model can follow any scalability."
"The costs can initially become quite high. Make sure you have a clear understanding of who will truly use the product as opposed to someone that will simply receive the end report."
"The license mechanism of Qlik is quite complicated and not exchangeable. Such as 2016, they charge licenses by token, 1500$ for a token / 1 user. 2018: they change to 2 kinds of licenses: professional 1500$ / user, analyzer 800$ / user. 2019: they support subscription with 70$ Monthly for professional, 40$ monthly for analyzers, but for those you’re using perpetual licenses, they don't support acquiring more subscription licenses. The maintenance fee yearly are also high, 20% of the perpetual license."
"Costs are a little high on the license/token side. However, if you look at the TCO, it is not too bad, particularly against Power BI."
"Know your needs when going into the purchasing decision."
"You will spend more time on educating your staff than licensing the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Construction Company
18%
University
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise88
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Google Cloud Datalab?
Access is always via URL, and unless your network is fast, it would be a little tough in India. In India, if we had a faster network, it would be easier. In a big data environment, like when forcin...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Datalab?
It's for our daily data processing, and there's a batch job that executes it. The process involves more than ten servers or systems. Some of them use a mobile network, some are ONTAP networks, and ...
What advice do you have for others considering Google Cloud Datalab?
Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. Google Cloud is very good. Once you go through the features of Google Cloud, it's a good idea to get a GCP certification so you have an idea of how it ca...
Seeking lightweight open source BI software
It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik Sense, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, etc. I have recently started using Cognos Enter...
Seeking lightweight open source BI software
There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows: 1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle - look for SAP...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qlik Sense?
It is not about performance. It is just about how expensive it is to implement.
 

Also Known As

No data available
QlikSense, Qlik Analytics Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Abbvie, Airbus, Barclays, BT Openreach, BMW, Daimler AG, HSBC, IKEA, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Mail Group, Sanofi, Siemens, Wendy'', Vodafone, Volvo
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Datalab vs. Qlik Sense and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.