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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 embedding feature is great."
"We can easily do our own customizations."
"The concept of engines is quite powerful allowing the user to work with report authoring/provisioning tools of their choice."
"We particularly like the data angling feature of this solution. This gives us the ability to work on data transformations, join files, and carry out other data preparation tasks all in a single tool."
"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."
"The solution is an affordable one."
"I appreciate Spotfire's range of visualization options, advanced analytics features, and seamless integration with other TIBCO products."
"The most valuable features of TIBCO Spotfire are visualization. It's very nice, clear, and, flexible. You can analyze many data types and the user interface is very good."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
"Live Query data on demand, R and Python integration, and the ability to write HTML and JavaScript text areas are all valuable features."
"R and automation services."
 

Cons

"The dashboard components could be better."
"The only challenge here is that it's a Java-based platform. It requires very high technical skills."
"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."
"Development of SpagoBI has now been moved to Knowage. Users interested in further developments of the platform will have to look there."
"I would like more easy-to-implement analytical algorithms. At the moment they include things like forecasts and regressions. They need to add a lot more of these types of things to the product because not everyone is a data scientist."
"When you do the data loading, it is slow."
"Our política in the company is to hire or get licenses year by year, but most recently, TIBCO Spotfire asked us to have a three-year license term. That made things a little bit tougher for the commercial relationship."
"I think TIBCO Spotfire could be improved; the user interface could be more modern and intuitive for first-time users."
"The layered features within Spotfire can make it a bit complicated sometimes as compared to Power BI."
"Compared to competitors, the UI is quite dated."
"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."
"The way TIBCO Spotfire is designed, in my opinion, is the reason why it lags a bit, especially compared to other BI tools like Qlik."
 

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."
"In comparison to other solutions such as IBM Cognos, TIBCO Spotfire is more affordable."
"The Tibco sales teams have been very difficult to work with - ignoring requests, misrepresenting level of demand, etc."
"The cost of TIBCO Spotfire could improve. It should be less expensive. It's the most expensive visualization tool in our company."
"The pricing seems competitive and reasonable. The value delivered by the product far exceeds the cost."
"I would describe TIBCO Spotfire as an averagely-priced product."
"The solution is affordable one."
"The ROI is nearly impossible to calculate."
"The price-point for this solution is negotiable depending on usage levels."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Hospitality Company
10%
Insurance Company
10%
University
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
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 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.
880,490 professionals have used our research since 2012.