Looker vs QlikView comparison

Google and Qlik are both solutions in the Embedded BI category. Google is ranked #10, while Qlik is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6. Google holds a 6.4% mindshare in EBT, compared to Qlik’s 8.0% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Qlik users who would recommend it.

Looker

Read 19 Looker reviews

2,532 Views
1,013 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

QlikView

Read 163 QlikView reviews

4,643 Views
1,671 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Looker

QlikView

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

QlikView and Looker are prominent competitors in the business intelligence software category. Looker appears to have the upper hand in data modeling flexibility and SQL integration, while QlikView offers robust in-memory processing.

Features: QlikView's key features include AQL (Associative Query Logic) for flexible data handling, powerful in-memory processing for fast data exploration, and an intuitive user interface for self-service BI. Looker shines with its seamless integration with SQL databases, its proprietary LookML language for crafting business logic, and robust data modeling capabilities that facilitate data sharing and insights.

Room for Improvement: QlikView faces challenges with scalability due to RAM constraints, requires significant IT expertise for setup, and relies on additional ERP and CRM systems to deploy comprehensive BI features. Looker could improve with enhanced visualization capabilities, expanded data source integrations, and better real-time analysis tools. The potential high cost of Looker may also deter smaller enterprises, and it lacks Excel connectivity, which some users seek.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: QlikView is mostly deployed on-premises, which requires significant IT management. However, its community support and technical assistance are strong. Looker is cloud-based, offering flexibility in deployment and broad accessibility. Its customer service is typically praised for efficiency, with communication channels that enhance user experience.

Pricing and ROI: QlikView can be costly due to user licenses and necessary infrastructure, though it offers substantial ROI through efficiency gains. Looker, similarly seen as potentially pricey for small businesses, justifies its cost with features and integration capabilities, often delivering ROI through deeper analytical insights and a subscription-based model.

To learn more, read our detailed Looker vs. QlikView Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Looker vs. QlikView

March 2026

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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:

Categories and Ranking

Looker

Ranking in Embedded BI

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

QlikView

Ranking in Embedded BI

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

163

Ranking in other categories

Reporting (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Embedded BI category, the mindshare of Looker is 6.4%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of QlikView is 8.0%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Embedded BI Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
QlikView	8.0%
Looker	6.4%
Other	85.6%

Embedded BI

Featured Reviews

Kishore Jhunjhunwala

Sr Analytics Consultant at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

A cloud solution for operational reporting but is expensive

Some basic feature that is available in other reporting tools is missing. Looker has the ability to show more than 5,000 rows for operational reporting. Some reporting tools allow users to scroll down to see more than 5,000 rows, but in Looker, you have to download the entire dataset. Looker should consider adding a scroll-down option to allow users to view large datasets on screen without downloading them. Looker has some options for granting users access as viewers. However, viewers cannot download the entire dataset. Only superusers can download the whole dataset on the Explore screen. This is a big limitation, as you cannot give any user viewer access. You can give access to superuser access, which is a cost to the company.

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Srdjan Grbic

Financial Controller with task of Business Intelligence Implementation at a wholesaler/distributor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Daily invoice analytics has become streamlined and complex data modeling is now simplified

We are not using analytics features and possibly predictive analytics and forecasting features in QlikView, although they are available. QlikView is very flexible, but we are currently using only tabular presentation of data because that is what we need. Presenting a large volume of data in QlikView with graphics can be overwhelming for the majority of people who want to see a lot of information in one picture. It would be beneficial to have AI or ML features in QlikView. However, I think they will decommission QlikView, and AI features are already available in Qlik Sense, so you would need to migrate to that platform.

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

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

"We can centralize all our data models."

"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."

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

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

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

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

"The product is easy to use."

More Looker pros

"Its ability to build, very quickly, very complicated models."

"The product’s most valuable feature is its ability to view the entire data available for analysis."

"I had the option to prepare data myself instead of always having to depend on the data team."

"QlikView is an excellent tool, though expensive compared to other BI tools, it provides ETL capability allowing the building of a complete data warehouse within Qlik Sense."

"You can switch views easily."

"On the positive side, QlikView's scripting is a great asset as it functions as an ETL."

"It is a stable product."

"Associative model - no more cubes."

More QlikView pros

Cons

"The visualization capability of the product is limited."

"Integrations with other BI tools could be better."

"Stability needs improvement."

"The product does not have documented material."

"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."

"The integration with different databases must be improved."

"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."

"It needs to be more user-friendly."

"They could improve the speed."

"For me, it is important to have a mix, what is the "view" and what is the "sense", Qlik Sense. They have two tools, but for me it is important to have only one tool, which combines the functions that we have from one side and the other side."

"The only thing I would improve about it is the fact that it refreshes all the time, and when it does that, it just deletes all the options you had, all the filters that you had selected, so you need to select them from the beginning."

"It would be nice if QlikView could be plugged in into the company's website or an online portal such as QlikSense is capable of. There are ways around but it takes enormous time to develop."

"The user interface and ease of use takes a bit of a learning curve to pick up."

"There is a challenge on the frontend when it comes to browsing data through QlikView, as it isn't entirely compatible with other platforms we use."

"The solution is quite costly."

"Reducing costs is the main improvement needed, as this is the biggest burden currently faced in the South African market, with Microsoft converting QlikView customers due to the perceived cost reduction."

More QlikView cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cheap."

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

"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."

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

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

"The pricing is too high compared to the other solutions on the market."

"Pricing is a bit too high and I think licenses should be unlimited."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one being low price and ten being high price, I rate pricing a four."

"My firm got the product at a cheap price, but in general, I believe that the product is a bit costly."

"I rate QlikView's pricing a five out of ten."

"Qlik is fairly high in terms of pricing."

"It is not very expensive. I think it it is on par with other similar products on the market."

"The setup costs for QlikView are fair as are the yearly maintenance fees. The licensing becomes a bit more expensive and requires some planning for onboarding."

More QlikView pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user79932

Senior Manager - BI Head with 5,001-10,000 employees

Feb 4, 2015

Comparison of SAP BO, Tableau, QlikView, Cognos, Microsoft, OBIEE and Pentaho

1. SAP BO/BI Enterprise scalability Security Ease of use Semantic layer 2. Tableau Visualization Data discovery Turnaround time 3. IBM Cognos Enterprise scalability Security In-memory feature 4. MS BI - Flexibility 5. Pentaho - Open source but still enterprise grade 6. QlikView Data…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Retailer

Computer Software Company

Media Company

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Marketing Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

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	73
Midsize Enterprise	36
Large Enterprise	76

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about QlikView?

If you correctly use the product for your use cases, it provides value for money.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for QlikView?

I would rate the pricing for QlikView as not cheap, but it is reasonable.

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What needs improvement with QlikView?

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Comparisons

Tableau Enterprise vs Looker

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker

Compared 12% of the time

Databricks vs Looker

Compared 9% of the time

MicroStrategy vs Looker

Compared 8% of the time

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform vs Looker

Compared 5% of the time

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Microsoft Power BI vs QlikView

Compared 13% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs QlikView

Compared 12% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs QlikView

Compared 6% of the time

MicroStrategy vs QlikView

Compared 5% of the time

Qlik Sense vs QlikView

Compared 3% of the time

More QlikView Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker

March 2026

Download Looker product report

Buyer's Guide

QlikView

March 2026

Download QlikView product report

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

QlikView is a Business Intelligence tool that allows you to keep tabs on all of your business-related information in a clean, clear, and easy to access database that is intuitive to build and simple to navigate. It is ideal for business owners who wish to improve overall output by creating the most productive system possible.

Qlik

Sample Customers

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

Canon, Gatorade, Amcor, Panasonic, Fila, Cambridge University Hospitals, Global Retail Bank, North Yorkshire Police department, Lanoo Group Publishers, and AonGroep Nederland.

Buyer's Guide

Looker vs. QlikView

March 2026

Free Report: Looker vs. QlikView

Find out what your peers are saying about Looker vs. QlikView and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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