Looker vs Looker Studio vs Tableau Enterprise comparison

The compared Looker and Looker Studio solutions aren't in the same category. Looker is ranked #8 in EBT , with an average rating of 7.5, and holds a 7.7% mindshare in the category. Looker Studio is ranked #8 in RT , with an average rating of 7.6, and holds a 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Looker users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of Looker Studio users who would recommend it.

Looker

Read 19 Looker reviews

2,459 Views
811 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Looker Studio

Read 16 Looker Studio reviews

1,807 Views
813 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Tableau Enterprise

Read 308 Tableau Enterprise reviews

18,291 Views
2,744 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Looker

Looker Studio

Tableau Enterprise

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Looker, Looker Studio, and Tableau Enterprise based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Qlik, MicroStrategy and others in Embedded BI.

To learn more, read our detailed Embedded BI Report (Updated: October 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Embedded BI

October 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:

Mindshare comparison

Embedded BI Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Looker	7.7%
Tableau Enterprise	23.9%
Qlik Sense	11.2%
Other	57.2%

Embedded BI

Reporting Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Looker Studio	2.6%
Microsoft Power BI	23.3%
Tableau Enterprise	20.1%
Other	54.0%

Reporting

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Tableau Enterprise	9.2%
Microsoft Power BI	12.7%
Amazon QuickSight	4.5%
Other	73.6%

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

Anton Nenov

Credit Risk Manager at ITF Group JSC

A BI tool to analyze data from multiple sources with an easy initial setup phase

I can say many things about the parts that need to be improved in Looker. The main area of concern in Looker is probably related to blending the data from the different sources, including the data present internally in the company and on the cloud. Blending data from different sources is not something that can be done easily.

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Heron Ziegel

Project Engineer at Quartz Consulting Group

Has supported quick dashboard creation and data sharing but lacks tools for managing multiple reports efficiently

We integrated Looker Studio with other platforms in our data ecosystem; we tried integrating with Sheets, and that went okay, but it could have been better. It could have been better because it needed a very specific format to read the data, so we had to reformat the sheet file. Looker Studio was mostly just helpful in that it provided live updating charts for tracking performance indicators in the organization. Integrating with a database was very difficult because there wasn't a lot of feedback for what was going wrong with the connection. I don't remember if we reached out to support. I didn't personally reach out, but my boss may have. I didn't reach out to support, so I do not have experience with it to rate it. We worked with the free version of Looker Studio initially, and we upgraded at some point to the pro version; I don't remember if we actually paid for it or if it was just a free trial. The pricing was reasonable. I remember doing a price comparison, and it was pretty reasonable, but it did have fewer features than a lot of other software, which was okay for a comparable price but a little cheaper.

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Uzair Faruqi

Head Of Analytics at Mjunction Services

Ease of developing dashboards and receiving strong technical support have enabled efficient data visualization

Introducing custom features, such as NLP-based reports, is not very good in Tableau. My MD has been asking us for a way to write in natural language to request reports that the system should generate, but that isn't very effective with Tableau. As a developer, I can develop an on-demand report in Python quite easily, but exposing a REST API on the Tableau platform is not a very easy task. AI enablement is an area for improvement for Tableau, and that is something they might have to work upon. I have heard that ThoughtSpot is quite better in this regard, but the cost of ThoughtSpot is much higher. ThoughtSpot has lots of natural language-based report generation features that Tableau lacks.

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

"Looker allows you to generate the most optimal SQL queries in a DC through UI actions. We had signed a contract with Google Cloud to use BigQuery. That was the primary reason we adopted Looker. It works better with BigQuery than any other BI platform. We also like how this tool was developed. It was designed with an eye toward microservices architecture."

"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. I didn't face any issues with stability."

"The stability of Looker has been good since I have been using it. However, it depends on what components are being used."

"It's quite effortless to navigate through various applications and review their updated data in real-time."

"It is a pretty stable solution because it is a cloud-based product."

"From a developer's perspective, the way the functionality's being handled is great."

"The product is easy to use."

"We can centralize all our data models."

More Looker pros

"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."

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

"The fact that Looker Studio is free and has a free tier was probably the biggest benefit; it is very accessible and not too difficult to use."

"The integration with Excel and Google Sheets is a valuable feature, making it easy to access and visualize data."

"The solution is free so that is a good feature."

"What I appreciate about Looker Studio is mostly the clean visuals, which is good, as I prefer a dashboard with a clean aesthetic rather than feeling sort of an old Windows type of dashboard."

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

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

More Looker Studio pros

"The most valuable feature is the aggregation function."

"Data Interpreter: Which can identify issues or potential errors with your imported data."

"The most valuable feature is the geographic data analysis."

"Tableau is saving me time, money, and resources, which I would rate as ten."

"It is a stable solution."

"The most valuable feature is that we can integrate with our own database, and it will displays the KPIs. This is highly required from the business side."

"It's the ease of use. It is also a self-service tool so it decreases the burden on having centralized IT-type teams or developers."

"Tableau is very flexible and easy to learn. It has drag-and-drop function analytics, and its design is very good. It is a very good tool, and it basically brings life into data with good design. We have been creating a lot of interactive visualizations and dashboards. It has a public version. There are public communities from where you can get a lot of examples for practice."

More Tableau Enterprise pros

Cons

"The main area of concern in Looker is probably related to blending the data from the different sources, including the data present internally in the company and on the cloud."

"It needs to be more user-friendly."

"The product does not have documented material."

"Stability needs improvement."

"The integration with different databases must be improved."

"The visualization capability of the product is limited."

"Integrations with other BI tools could be better."

"Looker doesn't connect to Excel, which is a huge disappointment because a lot of data is presented in Excel. Also, it can't consume data directly from REST APIs, which is necessary. Looker needs to expand its horizons when it comes to data sources. The inability to connect to different data sources is hampering our use cases. Currently, it only has an ODBC connection that connects to a database. It needs to connect to other data sources, such as Excel, APIs, and different platforms."

"The challenges with Google Data Studio are associated with the security part, making it an area where improvements are required."

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

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

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

"I would appreciate improvements in the data modeling features, as it's not straightforward, and it's not what people in analytics are used to."

"It's not yet a replacement for a complete BI tool."

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

"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

"From a customer's point of view, I have noted that after the acquisition by Salesforce, the customer service for Tableau has declined significantly."

"There are restrictions in scheduling reports. For instance, we cannot send the entire Excel file reports via email within Tableau."

"With Tableau, there is a gap in its ability to handle very large-scale data."

"Tableau's data blending feature could use some improvement. Previously, I used other tools, such as Alteryx, for data blending because Tableau had limitations."

"I would like Tableau Prep to be integrated with Tableau Desktop. I would also like more customizations for tables."

"If I have to develop any, for example, pie charts, I can develop them just fine. However, if I have to develop a donut chart, that I cannot do it in a simple way. There are tricks that I need to use if I have to design a donut chart. It should be more flexible and provide more visualization options."

"Whenever it comes to specialized visualization, Tableau is an absolute failure."

"Requires a lot of user training."

More Tableau Enterprise cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Looker is expensive and could be made better by reducing it."

"It is cheap."

"The price of Looker usually depends on the solution's provider, but it is usually cheaper than the other products in the market. Looker is offered at different prices for different companies."

"It's not cheap, but it's not expensive for big companies."

"I do not have to make any payments to use the solution."

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

"The tool is free."

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

"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."

"Tableau is a little cheaper as compared to Power BI and other technologies that we have used in the past. However, if the business users in our organization want to make presentations, Tableau has been asking us to purchase a Tableau Creator license, and $35 per month is expensive for business users. Power BI is giving a free desktop version for business users to connect to any data source and build their own dashboards. That's why we have proposed to use Power BI for most of the business users in our organization."

"The product's price is relatively inexpensive and manageable for enterprise-level companies."

"For the use and the capability of the software, it's $70 per month, and that is quite inexpensive."

"The price is definitely a point because smaller firms don't use Tableau as it's an expensive tool."

"The cost is high."

"It is a bit difficult for some people when they hear $70.00 per month, as some solutions are available for less than $10.00 or for free."

"We pay for the enterprise license for Tableau. The licensing could be cheaper and more flexible."

"It is fairly expensive. I have no idea what they paid. We were on an enterprise license, so whatever it is they licensed at the enterprise level is what we paid."

More Tableau Enterprise pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user6330

Product Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

May 2, 2013

MicroStrategy vs. Tableau

After a recent presentation, several attendees asked me about the applications of Visual Insights and Tableau. Many companies are investing in both tools and are trying to figure out the right tool for specific applications Tableau has found its sweet-spot as an agile discovery tool that analysts…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Retailer

Media Company

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	117
Midsize Enterprise	66
Large Enterprise	183

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Looker?

With Looker, I have experienced benefits in terms of usability and shareability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Looker?

I do not have to make any payments to use the solution. In the beginning, Looker may work fine for its users. If adva...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Looker?

The visualization capability of the product is limited. From an improvement perspective, the product should have more...

See all answers

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. W...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Data Studio?

I would appreciate improvements in the data modeling features, as it's not straightforward, and it's not what people ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Data Studio?

I used Looker Studio mainly for reporting, where I created multiple dashboards on it. I wouldn't say I made the most ...

See all answers

Seeking lightweight open source BI software

It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik ...

See all answers

Tableau vs. Business Objects - Which is a better solution for visualization and analysis?

Both tools have their positives and negatives. First, I should mention that I am relatively new to Tableau. I have be...

See all answers

Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?

Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use....

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker

Compared 14% of the time

Databricks vs Looker

Compared 13% of the time

Qlik Sense vs Looker

Compared 9% of the time

MicroStrategy vs Looker

Compared 9% of the time

More Looker Competitors

Amazon QuickSight vs Looker Studio

Compared 40% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker Studio

Compared 15% of the time

Qlik Sense vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform vs Looker Studio

Compared 4% of the time

More Looker Studio Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 20% of the time

Domo vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 11% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 5% of the time

Databricks vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

Julius AI vs Tableau Enterprise

Compared 3% of the time

More Tableau Enterprise Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker

October 2025

Download Looker product report

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio

October 2025

Download Looker Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

Tableau Enterprise

October 2025

Download Tableau Enterprise product report

Also Known As

No data available

Data Studio

Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Online

Overview

Looker is a powerful data analytics platform that empowers businesses to explore and analyze their data in real time.

With its intuitive interface and robust features, Looker enables users to easily create and share interactive dashboards, reports, and visualizations.

The product's advanced data modeling capabilities and seamless integration with popular data sources make it a top choice for organizations looking to gain valuable insights from their data.

Google

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

Tableau Enterprise offers powerful features for creating interactive visualizations, dashboards, and maps, including drag-and-drop functionality and easy integration with multiple data sources, promoting real-time collaboration and self-service analysis.

Tableau Enterprise stands out with its ability to create user-friendly, interactive visualizations, making it pivotal for business intelligence applications. Users benefit from its seamless connectivity and advanced analytical functions, facilitating data blending and storytelling. Despite a complex learning curve and high licensing costs, its features like geospatial analysis and efficient content distribution drive its indispensable value for data-driven insights. Enhancements in predictive analytics and support integration with machine learning tools further its capabilities across industries.

What are the most valuable features?

Interactive Visualizations: Enables users to create engaging reports.
Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Simplifies data analysis processes.
Data Integration: Offers seamless connectivity with multiple sources.
Real-Time Collaboration: Supports synchronous data sharing.
Advanced Analytics: Provides predictive analytics and geospatial analysis.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Informed Decision-Making: Facilitates data-driven insights.
Efficiency in Reporting: Streamlines dashboard and reporting tasks.
Cost-Effectiveness: Despite high licensing, value in robust analytics tools.
Customizable Options: Tailors analytics to specific needs.

Tableau Enterprise is widely used for business intelligence, supporting industries like healthcare, telecommunications, and finance. Organizations utilize it to analyze performance indicators, operational insights, and financial analytics, enhancing decision-making through interactive reports and real-time data integration.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

Yahoo!, Etsy, Kohler, Hipcamp, Hubspot, Kickstarter, Venmo, Dollar Shave Club, 600+ customer

Genesys, Shueisha

Accenture, Adobe, Amazon.com, Bank of America, Charles Schwab Corp, Citigroup, Coca-Cola Company, Cornell University, Dell, Deloitte, Duke University, eBay, Exxon Mobil, Fannie Mae, Ferrari, French Red Cross, Goldman Sachs, Google, Government of Canada, HP, Intel, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Macy's, Merck, The New York Times, PayPal, Pfizer, US Army, US Air Force, Skype, and Walmart.

Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Qlik, MicroStrategy and others in Embedded BI. Updated: October 2025.

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