Knowage vs Looker Studio comparison

Knowage and Google are both solutions in the Reporting category. Knowage is ranked #25, while Google is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.9. Knowage holds a 0.9% mindshare in RT, compared to Google’s 3.0% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Knowage users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Google users who would recommend it.

Knowage

Read 18 Knowage reviews

631 Views
423 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Looker Studio

Read 14 Looker Studio reviews

2,053 Views
883 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Knowage

Looker Studio

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Knowage and Looker Studio are key players in the business intelligence and analytics sector. Looker Studio might hold an advantage with its superior integration with Google services and real-time data capabilities.

Features: Knowage offers open-source customization, robust data mining, and the ability to integrate multiple data sources. Looker Studio provides seamless integration with the Google ecosystem, advanced data visualization, and real-time analytics.

Room for Improvement: Knowage could enhance its user interface, streamline deployment, and improve documentation for technical features. Looker Studio may work on offering greater customization options, better support for non-Google services, and more flexible pricing models.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Knowage provides flexible deployment but can require more time for initial setup, offering community-based support typical of open-source solutions. Looker Studio benefits from the streamlined deployment of Google Cloud Platform and robust customer support through Google's infrastructure.

Pricing and ROI: Knowage, as an open-source tool, entails lower initial costs but might need investments for optimization. Looker Studio follows a subscription model with higher initial costs, yet its integration could yield faster ROI through enhanced insights and reduced time-to-value.

To learn more, read our detailed Knowage vs. Looker Studio Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Knowage vs. Looker Studio

July 2025

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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

Knowage

Ranking in Reporting

25th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (35th)

Looker Studio

Ranking in Reporting

9th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of Knowage is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Looker Studio is 3.0%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting

Featured Reviews

AbdulshukoorMohammed

General Manager Information Technology & Enterprise Applications Manager at OXFORD HOLDING

Easy to customize, cross-platform capable, and very stable

The only challenge here is that it's a Java-based platform. It requires very high technical skills. When we come to the integration with the single sign-on facilities, that part is very challenging. In Power BI and other tools, it's very easy to integrate with active directory and single sign-on, and identity management is very easy in other business intelligence tools. However, when it comes to Knowage, it's a bit heavy, it's time-consuming sometimes, it's not very fast, and definitely not as fast as other business intelligence tools in terms of getting graphical reports. The solution could be cheaper.

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Vijay Subramanyam

Delivery Head at cblsolutions

The ability to perform aggregation before visualization allows for effective data slicing and dicing

Looker's ability to perform aggregation before visualization allows for effective data slicing and dicing. The seamless integration with Excel and Google Sheets and custom filter creation features facilitate detailed trend reports and analysis. Looker has significantly improved productivity by reducing the time spent on creating summary reports from weeks to a day.

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

"We can easily do our own customizations."

"The embedding feature is great."

"The concept of engines is quite powerful allowing the user to work with report authoring/provisioning tools of their choice."

"I can't name the features the way the Knowage community calls them because I still don't know the lingo. However, I can describe them. I like the ability to join more than one report, set all fields on one end, and replicate that on the other reports. I like that a lot. I think it's one of the features that got me using Knowage. They have tables, and I like that too. They took SQL scripts and many other scripts and enabled them to even correlate with Python. That's also one of the best things about Knowage. You could also decide to get information per user role, and this is also a feature that I like in Knowage."

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

"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."

"I find it favorable regarding speed of development, ease of building, and flexibility."

"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 product's initial setup phase is very simple."

"Valuable features include advanced integrated analysis and easy implementation."

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

More Looker Studio pros

Cons

"It would be better if more resources were available to help us learn how to use it. I wanted to use Knowage for a more extended period, but learning materials around the product were not really available and were not really straightforward. I've also seen inconsistencies between versions. For example, under the tools, especially in the cockpit, the way you create reports is now different. You will also find some configurations within a particular state, like a line chart, which differs from version to version. I think consistency is an essential feature in a product, especially for business intelligence products."

"The only challenge here is that it's a Java-based platform. It requires very high technical skills."

"Development of SpagoBI has now been moved to Knowage. Users interested in further developments of the platform will have to look there."

"The dashboard components could be better."

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

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

"The tool has a lot of room for improvement. It's not very professional and allows for only simple tasks like indicating KPIs or quick calculations. It lacks a good calculation-based language like Power BI's DAX, making it less suitable for professional use. Additionally, the variety of visualization tools is limited, and customization options are restricted."

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

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

"The tool should come up with data modeling layer features that are present in other products like Power BI."

"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."

More Looker Studio cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It allows the implementation of an effective reporting system using internal skills at a limited upfront cost."

"Knowage is open-source, and an enterprise edition is also available."

"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 product is available for free."

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

"The tool is free."

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

16%

Hospitality Company

13%

Insurance Company

11%

Marketing Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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...

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What needs improvement with Google Data Studio?

From the perspective of infrastructure, I cannot provide a valuable opinion on the ease of use and customization options of Looker Studio. I can ask our designers how they feel since they have expe...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Data Studio?

We use Looker and Looker Studio, as Looker licenses Looker Studio for data presentation and reporting. With GCP, we use Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, Kubernetes, and we utilize BigQuery extensively. ...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Knowage

August 2025

Download Knowage product report

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio

August 2025

Download Looker Studio product report

Also Known As

SpagoBI

Data Studio

Overview

Knowage (formerly SpagoBI) has a 14-years history. The actual release is the 6.3.

Knowage offers FULL ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES, with a special focus on big data analytics and comprehensive support to rich and multi-source data analysis. Knowage provides different modules, each one focused on a specific domain but mutually combinable (Big Data, Smart Intelligence, Enterprise Reporting, Location Intelligence, Performance Management, Predictive Analysis). Moreover, Knowage is an OPEN SOURCE solution: the source code is freely accessible, everyone is allowed to join the community and build the own business solution to ensure strategic decision-making and improved productivity.

Knowage suite is supported by Engineering Group, the leading Italian software and services company, with about 10,000 people and more than 50 offices worldwide. Maintenance and support services (such as trainings, migration support, proof-of-concepts, etc) are provided by Engineering Group (KNOWAGE Labs) under subscription.

Knowage

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

Sample Customers

FIAT Group, Italian air navigation service provider, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Telecom Italia, ASL Genovese, San Giovanni Battista University Hospital

Genesys, Shueisha

Buyer's Guide

Knowage vs. Looker Studio

July 2025

Free Report: Knowage vs. Looker Studio

Find out what your peers are saying about Knowage vs. Looker Studio and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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