Looker vs QlikView comparison

Google and Qlik are both solutions in the Embedded BI category. Google is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0, while Qlik is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.1. Google holds a 7.7% mindshare in EBT, compared to Qlik’s 10.9% 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

2,582 Views
878 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

QlikView

Read 162 QlikView reviews

3,168 Views
1,045 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Looker

QlikView

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

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: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Looker vs. QlikView

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 872,837 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

Ranking in Embedded BI

7th

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

6.8

Number of Reviews

162

Ranking in other categories

Reporting (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Embedded BI category, the mindshare of Looker is 7.7%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of QlikView is 10.9%, up from 7.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Embedded BI Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
QlikView	10.9%
Looker	7.7%
Other	81.4%

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.

Read full review

Arjun Meda

Assistant Vice President at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Useful for data visualization and business intelligence

Many of the features in Qlik Sense need to be available and reintroduced in QlikView. I believe many of the features have been added to QlikView after the layout containers were introduced. QlikView used to be a way more customizable tool than Qlik Sense is in the present time. Improvements are required in the hide and unhide functionality that falls under the layout container feature that has been used in my company in recent times. Hiding off the apps in the app overview tab based on the access was a really good feature that needs to be introduced back in the product since I see that, at the moment, there are multiple groups on the tool, owing to which multiple changes on the QMC part is required to handle the solution. Only the person with access to the dashboard in QlikView could have a link to the dashboard through QlikView's hub or access points. With Qlik Sense, one can see whatever is available in the stream. If a user wants to control everything in the product, then there is no need to make multiple changes in the QMC at the individual app level. The aforementioned area can be considered to improve Qlik Sense.

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."

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

"The product is easy to use."

"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."

"We can centralize all our data models."

"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."

More Looker pros

"QlikView is a scalable solution that multiple users can easily use."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"QlikView is one of the strongest tools, I would say. Also, it has a very vast capability to process the data"

"It enables us to configure various elements, such as dashboard settings, including factors like color schemes and other customization parameters."

"Easy to analyze data by click-through."

"The scalability is there."

"The in-memory feature gives us better insight. It's also easy to drill down into the information and select information."

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

More QlikView pros

Cons

"Integrations with other BI tools could be better."

"It needs to be more user-friendly."

"The product does not have documented material."

"Stability needs improvement."

"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."

"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 visualization capability of the product is limited."

"The integration with different databases must be improved."

"Needs improvement with UI transparency."

"There could be a feature to analyze the sales and accounting data of the client."

"Enhancing user-friendliness would be highly beneficial."

"I really wish the application was easier to use in the development phase."

"They should offer the capability to directly access data from SaaS environments, as it would simplify the migration process, and while it may seem like a minor enhancement, it would be beneficial to our clients."

"QlikView lacks self-service capabilities, which means users depend on the IT team to make changes."

"It is really old. We are moving towards converting everything into a Power BI environment. We want to have a self-service type of BI environment where different levels of users in organizations can log onto a portal and retrieve the data they need or get the necessary insights for decision-making that's important for them or their business unit. They have built a new version of QlikView called QlikSense, which probably competes with newer BI tools, such as Power BI, but they are far behind. That's why we are moving towards a newer tool that's easier to use and has more visualizations to represent the data."

"If a user wanted to see something not included in the application the new object had to be created by a power user or developer because Qlik view's scripting has somewhat of a learning curve."

More QlikView cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

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

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

"The platform's pricing is considered quite expensive, particularly given the dollar-based pricing."

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

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

"QlikView is more expensive than one of its competitors."

"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."

"The pricing is moderate, in the medium price range."

"I rate the product's pricing a three out of ten."

"Qlik is fairly high in terms of pricing."

More QlikView pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Embedded BI solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

872,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user79932

Senior Manager - BI Head at NVidia

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

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Retailer

Media Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Performing Arts

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	75

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 advanced users who have experience with BI tools use Looker, then they may find it t...

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 visualization capability. I can't clean data in Looker, and if I try to do it, ...

See all answers

What do you like most about QlikView?

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

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for QlikView?

The license cost per user or per year for QlikView is about 500 Euros annually, and since we are South African-based, that needs to be multiplied.

See all answers

What needs improvement with QlikView?

In QlikView, I believe the improvement that should be made is to bring the costs down, as you'll have to be competitive with Power BI, aiming for at least a 30% reduction to stop the hemorrhaging t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker

Compared 14% of the time

Databricks vs Looker

Compared 13% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs Looker

Compared 12% of the time

Qlik Sense vs Looker

Compared 9% of the time

Domo vs Looker

Compared 4% of the time

More Looker Competitors

Tableau Enterprise vs QlikView

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs QlikView

Compared 15% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs QlikView

Compared 9% of the time

MicroStrategy vs QlikView

Compared 7% of the time

SAP Analytics Cloud vs QlikView

Compared 3% of the time

More QlikView Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker

October 2025

Download Looker product report

Buyer's Guide

QlikView

October 2025

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

September 2025

Free Report: Looker vs. QlikView

Find out what your peers are saying about Looker vs. QlikView and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

872,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Looker vs. QlikView report.

See our list of best Embedded BI vendors.

We monitor all Embedded BI reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.