Microsoft Power BI vs QlikView vs ThoughtSpot comparison

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Microsoft Power BI

QlikView

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Power BI, QlikView, and ThoughtSpot based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP and others in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools.

To learn more, read our detailed BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Report (Updated: August 2025).

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Helped 867,299 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

7.0

Microsoft Power BI offers high ROI due to cost-effectiveness, ease of use, improved analytics, and rapid cost recovery.

Sentiment score

6.5

QlikView offers quick returns and valuable insights despite perceived costs, challenging ROI calculation but often realized within six months.

Sentiment score

6.6

Users find ThoughtSpot beneficial for efficiency and decision-making despite challenges in financial tracking and initial investment costs.

In a world surrounded by data, tools that allow navigation of large data volumes ensure decisions are data-driven.

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

Power BI is easy to deploy within an hour, providing robust security against data leaks.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

The biggest return on investment is the time saving for the customer.

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

Managing Director at Hurricnae

Using ThoughtSpot has resulted in significant time savings and improved business sales by allowing us to identify sellers and buyers across regions, facilitating targeted marketing.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Based on our implementation in one project, we are trying to raise more funding to expand its use.

Sreetej Reddy

Senior Business Intelligence Architect at Mphasis

ThoughtSpot saves a significant amount of time compared to other tools and is very user-friendly.

Subhan Bhanu

Data Analyst at Wipro Limited

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

Microsoft Power BI's support receives mixed reviews; users often rely on community resources for quicker, more effective solutions.

Sentiment score

6.1

QlikView's customer service is praised for responsiveness, community support, and efficiency, though experiences may vary by location.

Sentiment score

6.1

ThoughtSpot support is responsive with mixed feedback; praised for quick responses but criticized for insufficient resources and lengthy processes.

The significant drawback I notice is that Microsoft's size makes it hard to get specific change requests addressed unless they involve a bug.

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

We have a partnership with Microsoft, involving multiple weekly calls with dedicated personnel to ensure our satisfaction.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

The support is good because there is also a community available.

MohammedHamad

Business Development Director at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees

I would rate the customer support a solid 10.

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

Managing Director at Hurricnae

I stopped opening tickets due to insufficient and untimely responses.

Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce

ThoughtSpot provides a dedicated customer success person and the ability to submit tickets online, with a response time of no more than a day.

Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

The knowledge base for ThoughtSpot is less robust compared to others.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.9

Microsoft Power BI offers scalability and integration, though optimizing large deployments may require expertise, especially with complex or large data.

Sentiment score

7.0

QlikView is scalable with proper hardware, though high user counts may require infrastructure enhancements and favor Qlik Sense.

Sentiment score

6.0

ThoughtSpot excels in scalability for large datasets, despite user management challenges, with strong Snowflake integration enhancing automatic scaling.

You expect only a small percentage of users concurrently, but beyond a thousand concurrent users, it becomes difficult to manage.

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

With increasing AI capabilities, architectural developments within Microsoft, and tools like Fabric, I expect Power BI to scale accordingly.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

As more data is processed, performance issues may arise.

Raymond De Rooij

Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

Tableau, Power BI, or Looker have separate tools for preparation, customization, and storytelling.

Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini

The platform does not have technical problems with scaling data or connections.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce

As our data has grown, I have validated huge datasets and complex models without significant issues.

Subhan Bhanu

Data Analyst at Wipro Limited

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.4

Microsoft Power BI is stable and reliable, though large datasets may impact performance; frequent updates enhance its reputation.

Sentiment score

7.7

QlikView is praised for stability and robustness, with some resource intensity issues during heavy data processing but overall reliable.

Sentiment score

6.0

ThoughtSpot is reliable with high stability, though some users report performance challenges and increased costs from integration limitations.

In terms of stability, there's no data loss or leakage, and precautions are well-managed by Microsoft.

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

We typically do not have problems with end-user tools like Excel and Power BI.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

It is very stable for small data, but with big data, there are performance challenges.

MohammedHamad

Business Development Director at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

I use it primarily for large datasets, and it performs faster than regular data visualization tools such as Power BI, which has limits on dataset size.

Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini

The upgrades are smooth with no downtime, which is super important.

Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce

The responsiveness of accessing live data is exceptional and faster than most other BI tools.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Power BI is criticized for high costs, complexity, handling large data, and lacking intuitive interfaces and AI integration.

QlikView's outdated interface, scalability issues, and high costs drive users towards modern tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Qlik Sense.

ThoughtSpot needs better visualization, dashboard customization, data integration, and performance features to compete effectively with Power BI.

This makes Power BI difficult to manage as loading times can reach one or two minutes, which is problematic today.

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

Access was more logical in how it distinguished between data and its formatting.

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

Microsoft updates Power BI monthly based on user community feedback.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

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 to Power BI.

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

Managing Director at Hurricnae

Currently, it is not as customizable as the options available on Power BI or Tableau.

Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini

Handling governance when there are many models and dashboards is complex.

Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce

Enhancing integration capabilities with other tools like DBT would also be beneficial as it would make our lives easier.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Setup Cost

Microsoft Power BI offers flexible pricing, from free to premium, making it a cost-effective business intelligence tool for enterprises.

QlikView's pricing varies significantly, with high setup and user costs compared to Power BI and SAP Crystal Reports.

ThoughtSpot offers competitive pricing, often cheaper than Tableau and more than Power BI, with flexible, negotiable billing options.

I found the setup cost to be expensive

Sebastien TOUSSAINT

Responsable du département Projets et Applications at CHD Vendée

Power BI isn't very cheap, however, it is economical compared to other solutions available.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

The pricing for Microsoft Power BI is low, which is a good selling point.

MohammedHamad

Business Development Director at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees

The license cost per user or per year for QlikView is about 500 Euros annually.

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

Managing Director at Hurricnae

HubSpot is expensive.

Software Engineer (Data specialist) at Salesforce

ThoughtSpot's pricing is reasonable and in line with other BI tools.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Business Intelligence & Reporting Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Valuable Features

Microsoft Power BI excels with seamless data integration, customizable dashboards, and user-friendly features, empowering self-service insights across industries.

QlikView offers dynamic dashboards, self-service BI, and rapid data visualization with its Associative Query Logic and user-friendly interface.

ThoughtSpot offers intuitive search, fast analytics, AI insights, and user-friendly interfaces for efficient, self-service data exploration.

In today's data-driven environment, these tools are of substantial value, particularly for large enterprises with numerous processes that require extensive data analysis.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

Within the organization, Microsoft Power BI is used to create dashboards and gain insights into data, enhancing data-driven decision-making.

Raymond De Rooij

Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

To reduce the need for highly skilled personnel, we can engage someone who is just familiar and has a basic understanding of Microsoft Power BI, while AI can handle the major tasks through either agent AI or requirement analysis.

Shrikrishna Kashid

Senior Technical Service Engineer Expert at Fujitsu

The best features in QlikView are rapid development, the fact that I can do what I want in QlikView, and full control along with ease of use.

For more quotes and insights, download the QlikView report

Managing Director at Hurricnae

Its compatibility with most databases, including the latest from FlexMovely and Redshift, allows users to create joins and worksheets easily.

For more quotes and insights, download the ThoughtSpot report

Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini

This alerting feature is very beneficial for our company at the moment, and we use it extensively.

reviewer2686410

Works

When I upload a data dump, AI analytics suggest possible data visualizations and insights, which I can pin to dashboards or live boards for modification.

Subhan Bhanu

Data Analyst at Wipro Limited

Mindshare comparison

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Power BI	14.5%
Tableau Enterprise	11.0%
Amazon QuickSight	4.9%
Other	69.6%

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Reporting Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
QlikView	4.4%
Microsoft Power BI	24.3%
Tableau Enterprise	20.6%
Other	50.699999999999996%

Reporting

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
ThoughtSpot	1.5%
Microsoft Power BI	14.5%
Tableau Enterprise	11.0%
Other	73.0%

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

Facilitates seamless data aggregation with some outdated visual elements hindering user appeal

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

Real-time data integration is an area for improvement. Although I've worked on several solutions involving real-time integration, it's not very user-friendly and often lags, especially with over a million data rows. This makes Power BI difficult to manage as loading times can reach one or two minutes, which is problematic today. There are challenges with scalability, requiring multiple pages in dashboards to manage these issues. Visualization could be improved as it appears outdated. Users, especially newcomers, find it unappealing and not user-friendly.

Useful for data visualization and business intelligence

Arjun Meda

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

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.

Creates user-friendly analysis environments for large datasets

Sr Data Analytics Consultant at Capgemini

The tool is user-friendly for the end users. It is primarily a search-based tool. Users do not need a technical background to work directly on the dataset. Its compatibility with most databases, including the latest from FlexMovely and Redshift, allows users to create joins and worksheets easily. ThoughtSpot is fast, even with one to ten terabytes of data.

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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…

Seeking lightweight open source BI software

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	134
Midsize Enterprise	57
Large Enterprise	165

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	73
Midsize Enterprise	36
Large Enterprise	75

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Large Enterprise	12

Questions from the Community

There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I wou...

Is Power BI a complete platform or only a visualization tool?

Power BI is an advanced visualization tool oriented to big data with a very complete set of widgets to visualize info...

How does Oracle OBIEE compare with Microsoft BI?

Oracle OBIEE is great in allowing design and creativity per the individual needs of the organization. Dashboards are ...

What do you like most about QlikView?

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

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,...

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 competiti...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ThoughtSpot?

The pricing is on the higher end but reasonable for what ThoughtSpot offers.

What needs improvement with ThoughtSpot?

I do not think there is anything that needs improvement at the moment. It is being improved continuously. They are co...

What is your primary use case for ThoughtSpot?

Clients use ThoughtSpot because of its search facility. It is easy for searching and does not require analysts to pro...

Tableau Enterprise vs Microsoft Power BI

Comparisons

Compared 13% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 9% of the time

Databricks vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 7% of the time

Domo vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 7% of the time

KNIME Business Hub vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 5% of the time

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Tableau Enterprise vs QlikView

Compared 18% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs QlikView

Compared 10% of the time

MicroStrategy vs QlikView

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Cognos vs QlikView

Compared 5% of the time

Qlik Sense vs QlikView

Compared 3% of the time

More QlikView Competitors

Databricks vs ThoughtSpot

Compared 14% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs ThoughtSpot

Compared 11% of the time

Julius AI vs ThoughtSpot

Compared 6% of the time

Looker vs ThoughtSpot

Compared 6% of the time

Hex vs ThoughtSpot

Compared 4% of the time

More ThoughtSpot Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Power BI

Download Microsoft Power BI product report

QlikView

Download QlikView product report

Download ThoughtSpot product report

Also Known As

SSRS, SSAS, MSBI, MS Reporting Services, Microsoft BI Tools, Microsoft Big Data, Power BI Pro, MS BI

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Power BI is a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization. This tool stands out for its ability to merge and analyze data from various sources. Widely adopted across different industries and departments, Power BI is instrumental in creating visually appealing dashboards and generating insightful business intelligence reports. Its intuitive interface, robust visualization capabilities, and seamless integration with other Microsoft applications empower users to easily create interactive reports and gain valuable insights.

Microsoft

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

ThoughtSpot is a powerful business intelligence tool that allows easy searching and drilling into data. Its ad hoc exploration and query-based search features are highly valued, and it is easy to set up, stable, and scalable.

The solution is used for reporting purposes, self-service BI, and embedding into other applications for customers to do self-service analytics. It helps businesses with metrics, KPIs, and important insights by sourcing data from various sources into one golden source and visualizing it in an easy way for the business to consume. The pricing model is ideal, charging for data rather than the number of users.

Sample Customers

Accenture Adidas Aetna AIG Airbus Alibaba Allstate Amazon American Express Aon AT&T Audi Bank of America BASF Bayer Berkshire Hathaway Boeing Coca-Cola Comcast Cisco Coca-Cola Dell Disney Emirates Equinix FedEx Ford GE Google H&M Home Depot Honda IBM Intel JPMorgan Chase Kellogg's Kroger L'Oréal McDonald's Merck MetLife Microsoft Nike Oracle P&G PepsiCo Procter & Gamble Prudential Financial SAP Siemens Snapchat Spotify Starbucks Target Toyota T-Mobile Unilever Visa Walmart WeWork World Bank Xerox

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

Primary Capital Mortgage, Sterling Backcheck, RichRelevance, Rambus, Batteries Plus Bulbs

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools