Looker Studio vs Tableau Enterprise comparison

Google and Salesforce are both solutions in the Reporting category. Google is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.8, while Salesforce is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Google holds a 3.1% mindshare in RT, compared to Salesforce’s 20.2% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

Looker Studio

Read 16 Looker Studio reviews

1,842 Views
829 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Tableau Enterprise

Read 308 Tableau Enterprise reviews

18,844 Views
8,480 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Looker Studio

Tableau Enterprise

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 4, 2025

Tableau Enterprise and Looker Studio compete in the BI and analytics category. Tableau seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced visualization and integration features.

Features: Tableau Enterprise provides extensive graphical representations, data source integration flexibility, and drill-down capabilities, making it favored for rich visualization. It also offers dynamic linking of reports, data blending, and R integration for statistical analysis. Looker Studio focuses on seamless integration with Excel and Google Sheets, offering interactive visualization aimed at data exploration and known for excellent accessibility.

Room for Improvement: Tableau users cite its high cost and complexity handling large datasets as issues, along with limitations in advanced data processing. Enhancing data modeling, predictive analytics features, and software integration are suggested improvements. Looker Studio is critiqued for limited capabilities with large data volumes and basic functions, with a need for enhanced live data integration performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Tableau supports on-premises, hybrid, and private cloud deployments, providing robust service infrastructure but faces technical support inconsistencies. Premium plans offer better support experiences. Looker Studio, primarily cloud-based, is praised for user-friendly setup yet faces performance issues. Its integration with GCP offers additional service advantages despite average customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Tableau Enterprise is priced higher, with costs scaling significantly, but offers substantial ROI through productivity and visualization capabilities. In contrast, Looker Studio is free, though enterprise-level features linked to the Google ecosystem might incur additional costs, providing more budget flexibility while delivering seamless data integration value.

To learn more, read our detailed Looker Studio vs. Tableau Enterprise Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio vs. Tableau Enterprise

September 2025

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Helped 872,706 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

Looker Studio

Ranking in Reporting

10th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Tableau Enterprise

Ranking in Reporting

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

308

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (2nd), Data Visualization (1st), Embedded BI (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of Looker Studio is 3.1%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tableau Enterprise is 20.2%, down from 23.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Tableau Enterprise	20.2%
Looker Studio	3.1%
Other	76.7%

Reporting

Featured Reviews

Heron Ziegel

Project Engineer at Quartz Consulting Group

Has supported quick dashboard creation and data sharing but lacks tools for managing multiple reports efficiently

We integrated Looker Studio with other platforms in our data ecosystem; we tried integrating with Sheets, and that went okay, but it could have been better. It could have been better because it needed a very specific format to read the data, so we had to reformat the sheet file. Looker Studio was mostly just helpful in that it provided live updating charts for tracking performance indicators in the organization. Integrating with a database was very difficult because there wasn't a lot of feedback for what was going wrong with the connection. I don't remember if we reached out to support. I didn't personally reach out, but my boss may have. I didn't reach out to support, so I do not have experience with it to rate it. We worked with the free version of Looker Studio initially, and we upgraded at some point to the pro version; I don't remember if we actually paid for it or if it was just a free trial. The pricing was reasonable. I remember doing a price comparison, and it was pretty reasonable, but it did have fewer features than a lot of other software, which was okay for a comparable price but a little cheaper.

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Uzair Faruqi

Head Of Analytics at Mjunction Services

Ease of developing dashboards and receiving strong technical support have enabled efficient data visualization

Introducing custom features, such as NLP-based reports, is not very good in Tableau. My MD has been asking us for a way to write in natural language to request reports that the system should generate, but that isn't very effective with Tableau. As a developer, I can develop an on-demand report in Python quite easily, but exposing a REST API on the Tableau platform is not a very easy task. AI enablement is an area for improvement for Tableau, and that is something they might have to work upon. I have heard that ThoughtSpot is quite better in this regard, but the cost of ThoughtSpot is much higher. ThoughtSpot has lots of natural language-based report generation features that Tableau lacks.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to integrate with a great variety of data sources."

"The best thing about the tool is that it allows you to share information easily and dashboards with colleagues and teammates because it's all online. No matter where you are, as long as you have the Internet, you can connect and use these dashboards. Google made good documentation for this tool. There are many examples of how to use and create dashboards and videos on YouTube. So, I think it's easy to learn."

"Looker's ability to perform aggregation before visualization allows for effective data slicing and dicing."

"The fact that Looker Studio is free and has a free tier was probably the biggest benefit; it is very accessible and not too difficult to use."

"This has improved our organization by allowing people to see their data and develop visualizations themselves."

"The integration with Excel and Google Sheets is a valuable feature, making it easy to access and visualize data."

"I would rate this solution eight or nine out of ten."

"The company dashboard is useful because we could share it via a link as a reminder for everyone to check it weekly. We observed the progress of our portfolio from last week to the current week, allowing us to compare revenues."

More Looker Studio pros

"The most valuable feature is that we can integrate with our own database, and it will displays the KPIs. This is highly required from the business side."

"The most important feature in Tableau is visual analytics."

"The action feature which Tableau has is very useful for us. If we click on one visualization, it will pass the value to another visualization. That interactivity within different visualizations is the most valuable feature of Tableau."

"It provides business users with a tool, so they are not dependent on IT."

"The most valuable part of the solution is the general dashboard features."

"The product has the best features for analytical views and filters."

"It's easy to use."

"When compared to Power BI, Tableau has more readily available resources."

More Tableau Enterprise pros

Cons

"The challenges with Google Data Studio are associated with the security part, making it an area where improvements are required."

"When you physically install a product on one machine instead of the cloud, you have a better visibility, best icon quality, etc.. It's more of an issue with how we are adapting to the transition. We are still in the early moments of using this tool, and we need to go deeper to discover some improvements."

"There are issues with integration and I encountered limits and warnings, especially with my pivot table size."

"The performance of Looker needs improvement, particularly the report loading time, which is critical for business users."

"There is a significant degree of sophistication required to compete with Tableau or Cognos."

"Stability and scalability an be improved for a full ten."

"From the perspective of infrastructure, I cannot provide a valuable opinion on the ease of use and customization options of Looker Studio."

"Other tools might be worth considering if you need more advanced features or support for a larger user base."

More Looker Studio cons

"What is happening, with so many tools coming up in the market, is that people have to continuously get educated in order to use some of the more advanced features."

"Maybe the price could be a bit cheaper, especially if you're a personal developer that uses Tableau just to explore smaller data sets and you're not a company or something like that."

"The cost of owning the solutions from Tableau is much higher compared to any other analytical solutions."

"Improvements in schema security and row/column security need to be made."

"The only issue with the solution is with its prices at a regional level."

"I would like the solution to have certain features allowing the delivery of reports to the email."

"With Tableau, when you're dealing with very large datasets, it can be slow so the performance is an area that can be improved."

"The Hyper Extract functionality is not as strong as that provided by Microsoft SQL."

More Tableau Enterprise cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is available for free."

"The solution is free but the Google Looker is expensive."

"The tool is free."

"I think the tool is cheap because you don't need to pay anything for using the tool. However, when connecting and analyzing other data sources, you should consider where to analyze this information because Google Data Studio doesn't handle much data well. You must also consider how you will connect this data to it. In this case, you might need to hire DevOps or a data team to help with these issues."

"The cost is quite affordable based on feature analysis."

"There is a license for this solution and we pay on an annual basis."

"We pay for the enterprise license for Tableau. The licensing could be cheaper and more flexible."

"Its price is higher than Power BI and QlikView. Tableau costs around $70 per user per month, whereas Power BI is around $8 to $9. QlikView is around $30. Tableau has various prices for various models such as Creator, Designer."

"I like the payment model. For the people who need to create, they buy their licenses. Everyone else can use the free Tableau Viewer. This is much better than some of the competitor products, which require full licences for everything."

"The pricing for Tableau is the same as the other products in the market."

"Its licensing cost should be improved."

"Tableau has core-based and user-based licensing, and it is tied to scalability. The core-based licensing is about you buying a certain number of cores, and there is no restriction on the number of users who can use Tableau. The restriction is only on the number of cores. In user-based subscription licensing, there is a restriction on the number of users. Big companies and government organizations with a lot of users typically go for core-based licensing. User-based subscription licensing is a more common model. It has user roles such as creator, explorer, and viewer. A creator is someone who does the groundwork or development work. An explorer is someone who is into middle management but is not technically savvy, such as a category head. A viewer is like a typical decision-maker in senior management. For each role, Tableau is priced differently. The viewer role has the minimum price, and the creator role has the highest price. This pricing is available on their website. Everybody can see it."

More Tableau Enterprise pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

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Product Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

May 2, 2013

MicroStrategy vs. Tableau

After a recent presentation, several attendees asked me about the applications of Visual Insights and Tableau. Many companies are investing in both tools and are trying to figure out the right tool for specific applications Tableau has found its sweet-spot as an agile discovery tool that analysts…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	117
Midsize Enterprise	66
Large Enterprise	183

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Data Studio?

The company dashboard is useful because we could share it via a link as a reminder for everyone to check it weekly. We observed the progress of our portfolio from last week to the current week, all...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Data Studio?

I would appreciate improvements in the data modeling features, as it's not straightforward, and it's not what people in analytics are used to. Specifically, most people using this visualization too...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Data Studio?

I used Looker Studio mainly for reporting, where I created multiple dashboards on it. I wouldn't say I made the most of the usage of the connections because all the connections were based on flat f...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Tableau vs. Business Objects - Which is a better solution for visualization and analysis?

Both tools have their positives and negatives. First, I should mention that I am relatively new to Tableau. I have been working on and off Tableau for about a year, but getting to work on it consta...

See all answers

Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?

Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Amazon QuickSight vs Looker Studio

Compared 39% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker Studio

Compared 16% of the time

Qlik Sense vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

IBM Cognos vs Looker Studio

Compared 3% of the time

More Looker Studio Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 19% of the time

Domo vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 11% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 5% of the time

Databricks vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

SAP Analytics Cloud vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

More Tableau Enterprise Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio

October 2025

Download Looker Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

Tableau Enterprise

October 2025

Download Tableau Enterprise product report

Also Known As

Data Studio

Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Online

Overview

Google Looker Studio is a free tool designed to help users create visually appealing reports and dashboards, making data easier to understand. It allows you to connect to various data sources such as Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and spreadsheets. With Looker Studio, you can create charts and graphs to showcase trends and comparisons, build comprehensive dashboards that provide an overview of your data, and customize reports to match your brand or preferences. Additionally, you can share your reports online or export them as PDFs for wider distribution.

Google

Tableau Enterprise offers powerful features for creating interactive visualizations, dashboards, and maps, including drag-and-drop functionality and easy integration with multiple data sources, promoting real-time collaboration and self-service analysis.

Tableau Enterprise stands out with its ability to create user-friendly, interactive visualizations, making it pivotal for business intelligence applications. Users benefit from its seamless connectivity and advanced analytical functions, facilitating data blending and storytelling. Despite a complex learning curve and high licensing costs, its features like geospatial analysis and efficient content distribution drive its indispensable value for data-driven insights. Enhancements in predictive analytics and support integration with machine learning tools further its capabilities across industries.

What are the most valuable features?

Interactive Visualizations: Enables users to create engaging reports.
Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Simplifies data analysis processes.
Data Integration: Offers seamless connectivity with multiple sources.
Real-Time Collaboration: Supports synchronous data sharing.
Advanced Analytics: Provides predictive analytics and geospatial analysis.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Informed Decision-Making: Facilitates data-driven insights.
Efficiency in Reporting: Streamlines dashboard and reporting tasks.
Cost-Effectiveness: Despite high licensing, value in robust analytics tools.
Customizable Options: Tailors analytics to specific needs.

Tableau Enterprise is widely used for business intelligence, supporting industries like healthcare, telecommunications, and finance. Organizations utilize it to analyze performance indicators, operational insights, and financial analytics, enhancing decision-making through interactive reports and real-time data integration.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

Genesys, Shueisha

Accenture, Adobe, Amazon.com, Bank of America, Charles Schwab Corp, Citigroup, Coca-Cola Company, Cornell University, Dell, Deloitte, Duke University, eBay, Exxon Mobil, Fannie Mae, Ferrari, French Red Cross, Goldman Sachs, Google, Government of Canada, HP, Intel, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Macy's, Merck, The New York Times, PayPal, Pfizer, US Army, US Air Force, Skype, and Walmart.

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio vs. Tableau Enterprise

September 2025

Free Report: Looker Studio vs. Tableau Enterprise

Find out what your peers are saying about Looker Studio vs. Tableau Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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