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Knowage vs Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

Knowage
Ranking in Reporting
23rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (32nd)
Microsoft SQL Server Report...
Ranking in Reporting
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of Knowage is 2.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is 2.1%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services2.1%
Knowage2.0%
Other95.9%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Margin Assurance Analyst at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
A stable open source suite for modern business analytics with a useful replication feature
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.
RM
Database Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has supported daily reporting needs and provided consistent deployment functionality
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is not difficult to use, but my main issue is troubleshooting whenever there is any problem, as the logs can be unclear. Perhaps I don't have enough experience with the tool to know where exactly to look, but I do find troubleshooting to be the most challenging aspect; however, outside of that, it's a pretty solid tool, pretty straightforward, and I have no issues with it. The initial setup for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is not an issue for me; however, I find it challenging when we want to secure the endpoint, such as using bindings and so forth, which may be due to my lack of knowledge.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The concept of engines is quite powerful allowing the user to work with report authoring/provisioning tools of their choice."
"I would use SpagoBI if a company wants to use a free tool that has enough features."
"Being able to schedule necessary jobs needed for production jobs and programming run times"
"Nice features available in SpagoBI compared with other open-source BI are Auditing, Collaborative BI, Query By Example, and User Profiling."
"Customer Service: Excellent."
"Our customers really appreciate the self-service BI functionalities."
"It's a great product. It has a lot more features than many other BI tools. You can get the most out of machine learning, the best connectivity to Python, and it cuts across enterprise sections."
"The most valuable features to us are application implementation, development, and analysis."
"We can create quality reports in real time."
"In Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, the installation and configuration are easy."
"I am impressed with the product's seamless integration. It can work with different databases like Oracle."
"Overall, we are very much satisfied with this product."
"The best features of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services are that it is easy to get the reports out because it is integrated with SQL and we have many of these tables."
"The solution's features are all just wrapped up in one nice easy package. I don't need a lot of toolsets to get everything I need done."
"The solution is known for its robust security features."
"With SQL Server Reporting Services, I can create reports and printable reports, known as paginated reports, and it's valuable since it allows me to create documentation using a template, which is difficult to achieve otherwise."
 

Cons

"We expected the community to be bigger than what it currently is."
"We are not happy with the poor graphic user interface. It looks a bit old and sometimes it is not properly user friendly."
"Yes, using Mobile and Desktop Editions, we would sometimes need to restart the service."
"The demands of some jobs would slow Spago and lock the site, preventing any other job from processing."
"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 support is very meager: We had to break our heads to figure out everything"
"Development of SpagoBI has now been moved to Knowage. Users interested in further developments of the platform will have to look there."
"The only challenge here is that it's a Java-based platform. It requires very high technical skills."
"In this solution, the cost should be reduced for the enterprise edition."
"Tableau is more user-friendly because it doesn't need to do any extra programming. It has drag-and-drop functionality."
"Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services needs to improve performance."
"There are occasions during maintenance runs when the Check Point monitoring system reports a lot of blocked sessions."
"The solution's interface is old."
"We have had issues with the refresh interval since we have too many reports scheduled. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is also expensive."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"It would be really nice to have better integration between the solution and Power BI."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Knowage is open-source, and an enterprise edition is also available."
"It allows the implementation of an effective reporting system using internal skills at a limited upfront cost."
"The tool's licensing costs are expensive."
"The pricing is high."
"Value-wise, the solution's pricing is good for the price that we pay."
"The solution is cheaper than its alternatives."
"The solution is expensive."
"The price is pretty good."
"The product pricing is reasonable in terms of suitable features for business."
"The solution is free to use for developers."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Reporting solutions are best for your needs.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
23%
University
9%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
I would consider it cost effective for our environment, and we don't have to invest in another big tool to generate these reports, making it all integrated and easier. Otherwise, you need to write ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is not difficult to use, but my main issue is troubleshooting whenever there is any problem, as the logs can be unclear. Perhaps I don't have enough experien...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?
The use cases for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services are mainly for reporting purposes, to deploy reports. That's what we mainly use it for, allowing business end-users to navigate to the URL ...
 

Also Known As

SpagoBI
SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft SSRS, SSRS, MS SQL Server Reporting Services
 

Overview

 

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
CMS Wire, The New York Times
Find out what your peers are saying about Knowage vs. Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.