Looker Studio vs XLCubed comparison

Google and Fluence Technologies are both solutions in the Reporting category. Google is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.9, while Fluence Technologies is ranked #33. Google holds a 3.0% mindshare in RT, compared to Fluence Technologies’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Fluence Technologies users who would recommend it.

Looker Studio

Read 14 Looker Studio reviews

2,053 Views
883 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

XLCubed

Read 2 XLCubed reviews

311 Views
174 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Looker Studio

XLCubed

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

XLCubed and Looker Studio compete in the analytics and business intelligence tools category, providing data visualization and reporting solutions. Looker Studio holds the advantage due to its modern data exploration capabilities and extensive feature set, appealing to organizations needing comprehensive BI solutions.

Features: XLCubed provides tight Excel integration for enhanced data modeling and analysis, powerful data grid functionality, and custom formula applications. Looker Studio connects to numerous data sources, provides in-depth visualization, and supports advanced analytics features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: XLCubed deploys using existing Excel infrastructure, minimizing learning curves and offering direct Excel-centric customer service solutions. Looker Studio offers cloud-based deployment for flexibility and scalability, supported by robust customer service for wider data integration issues.

Pricing and ROI: XLCubed presents competitive pricing with a lower setup cost, offering quick ROI by requiring minimal workflow changes. Looker Studio, while having a higher initial setup cost, provides a comprehensive BI platform with extensive data transformation capabilities, often resulting in superior long-term ROI for larger data projects.

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

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio vs. XLCubed

July 2025

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Helped 865,484 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

9th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

XLCubed

Ranking in Reporting

33rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

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 Looker Studio is 3.0%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of XLCubed is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting

Featured Reviews

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.

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it_user1391316

Head of Finance Systems at NHS

Cost effective with great capability, performance, flexibility and visuals

In general, we're happy with the solution but we're always looking to see what else is out there. The thing we've struggled with is our partnership with Tagetik UK, the consultants, and the issue we had gaining access to consultants to develop the solution on our behalf. Thankfully we connected directly with XLCubed and now have a pretty close and good relationship with them so the earlier problem we had of actually getting resources to help us develop has now been solved. One of the things that we've been asking for and would like as an additional feature is a sort of benchmarking functionality. The ability to be able to benchmark, directly against the company digital corporate numbers. That said, there seems to be improved functionality within the latest release that could help us develop that further.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Data Studio integrates seamlessly with other Google products, and we can use it with other APIs if we like."

"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."

"The ability to design complex data models and equations."

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

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

"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."

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

"I am impressed with the tool's scheduling mechanism, refresh mechanism, and different types of charts."

More Looker Studio pros

"I am looking forward to testing their full graphics that are available, as they looked very interesting in the demo."

"Great capability, performance, flexibility, visuals, and the solution is also very cost effective."

Cons

"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."

"Insisting on forums, blogs and community outreach in communications, and posting videos on an established calendar would be useful."

"The tool should improve on live data integration for quicker data reflection."

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

"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."

"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."

More Looker Studio cons

"There should be a better or an easier way to establish that connection to external sources."

"Would like the ability to be able to benchmark."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The product is available for free."

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

"I am still using the two-week trial, but at first sight, the price is reasonable."

"14,000 Pounds per year for licensing."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

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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Comparisons

Amazon QuickSight vs Looker Studio

Compared 42% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker Studio

Compared 16% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs Looker Studio

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Cognos vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

Databricks vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

More Looker Studio Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs XLCubed

Compared 69% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs XLCubed

Compared 31% of the time

More XLCubed Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio

August 2025

Download Looker Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

Reporting

July 2025

Download XLCubed product report

Also Known As

Data Studio

No data available

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

Produce insightful, interactive reports on, company-wide metrics for any business audience. Now all in Excel.
Pixel-perfect financial reporting with the skill sets you already have. No IT required.
Meet XLCubed: The data-connected Excel add-in for all your reporting needs.

Fluence Technologies

Sample Customers

Genesys, Shueisha

Marshalls Ltd, BP Exploration and Production, Thorntons, Ted Baker, Bristol-Myers, Rank Group, ING Bank Genve, Cargill Value Investment, Chloride Power, Auchan, Erste, UEFA, Novartis, Porsche Informatik, Raiffeisen Bank International

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio vs. XLCubed

July 2025

Free Report: Looker Studio vs. XLCubed

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