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Knowage vs TIBCO Spotfire 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

Knowage
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
33rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (21st)
TIBCO Spotfire
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of Knowage is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TIBCO Spotfire is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
TIBCO Spotfire1.1%
Knowage0.7%
Other98.2%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

BS
Software Engineer at syntegra
Open-source with great embedding capabilities but the dashboards could be better
I know the initial setup is pretty straightforward. It doesn't take a long time to deploy. Even on your own personal computer, when you want to try it out, it doesn't take too long to get it running. For the initial setup, I'd say it's maybe a four out of five in terms of how easy it is. You need to add these Java dependencies and so forth, which can be a bit boring, however, it's almost perfect. To deploy Knowage usually takes about a day. In terms of the implementation strategy, it's just following the instructions that they give us on the installation and then just knowing how to handle the process. Usually, there is a group of engineers who do that for us and manage the server itself. If a team is knowledgeable, then it doesn't take a long time. When you need a new instance, it's very quick. The implementation strategy is based on just following instructions on the installation process from Knowage. For deployment and maintenance, we need just maybe two people simply to monitor the traffic coming in. However, it's maintained by people who were doing other jobs like maintaining our other server. They just monitor the Knowage server and make sure that it's up and running and that there are no bugs. There are not too many bugs coming out from the debugger.
RA
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Advanced analytics have transformed self-service insights while the interface still needs improvement
The best features TIBCO Spotfire offers, in my opinion, are its built-in advanced analytics and automation services, which make it really powerful compared to typical reporting tools such as Power BI or Tableau. When I mention advanced analytics automation services in TIBCO Spotfire, I mean it handles large data volumes efficiently with stable performance and good refresh speeds that we get. TIBCO Spotfire's integration capabilities are smooth; it seamlessly integrates with SQL databases, cloud systems, and Excel files without requiring heavy IT intervention. TIBCO Spotfire has positively impacted my organization; we now have extensive use, with around 50 plus users across operations, finance, and business strategy teams using TIBCO Spotfire for self-service insights. Since rolling out TIBCO Spotfire to those 50 plus users, we have seen specific outcomes, such as cost and time saving, and decision-making has also become faster using TIBCO Spotfire with its deep analytics.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The concept of engines is quite powerful allowing the user to work with report authoring/provisioning tools of their choice."
"The embedding feature is great."
"We can easily do our own customizations."
"This solution allows us to integrate data from across all client departments, for effective reporting via a single dashboard."
"I find the power of the information links valuable in Spotfire, as it allows complex queries to be handled efficiently."
"The ability to connect to many different data sources is one of the key features. The other would then be the different ways in which that data can be visualized."
"Data discovery is very simple."
"It’s stable and straightforward."
"It's scalable."
"Spotfire is excellent for scientific applications, especially because of its integration with RNG."
"I think having Python included is a big win because you get the chance to customize your algorithm and your in-house development without having a big dependency on a third party."
 

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."
"The dashboard components could be better."
"Development of SpagoBI has now been moved to Knowage. Users interested in further developments of the platform will have to look there."
"The initial setup of TIBCO Spotfire is in the middle range of difficulty. The initial setup of Power BI is easier."
"We would like an easier way to get the product to the cloud. Right now, we have the on-premise version, and we would like to find a way to make it easier to migrate it over to the cloud."
"TIBCO Spotfire and ClickView need improvement in scheduling, which is critical yet lacking in quality."
"TIBCO Spotfire can be improved in several areas. The UI can be enhanced, and the usage and flexibility need to be better compared to other analytical tools."
"Compared to competitors, the UI is quite dated."
"The initial setup is complicated and needs experience and knowledge."
"I would like to see the visualization library in this solution expanded, so that I can increase what I can offer to our clients."
"We encountered difficulties connecting the special data sets, as the post data set did not contain any shared columns, making it difficult to establish a connection between the data sets."
 

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."
"In comparison to other solutions such as IBM Cognos, TIBCO Spotfire is more affordable."
"The solution is affordable one."
"The pricing seems competitive and reasonable. The value delivered by the product far exceeds the cost."
"The ROI is nearly impossible to calculate."
"This product carries a monthly licensing charge, with the amount depending on the features that are to be included. This costs also covers the use of technical support."
"The Tibco sales teams have been very difficult to work with - ignoring requests, misrepresenting level of demand, etc."
"I would describe TIBCO Spotfire as an averagely-priced product."
"The cost is a few hundred dollars per user per year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Hospitality Company
11%
Government
9%
University
9%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
 

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 Business18
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise41
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about TIBCO Spotfire?
TIBCO Spotfire is easy to use. We initiated Spotfire as POC, with support from a tech team based in South Africa. While they assisted with the setup, we conducted the POC ourselves.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TIBCO Spotfire?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for TIBCO Spotfire appears fair, and I think they are fairly priced as far as the features are concerned.
What needs improvement with TIBCO Spotfire?
TIBCO Spotfire can be improved in several areas. The UI can be enhanced, and the usage and flexibility need to be better compared to other analytical tools.
 

Also Known As

SpagoBI
Spotfire
 

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
Allergan, ASSS de Montreal, Avantium, Blue River, Bank of Montreal, Citibank, FrieslandCampina, Hellmann Logistics, Merck, Novartis
Find out what your peers are saying about Knowage vs. TIBCO Spotfire and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.