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Pentaho Business Analytics vs SAP Analytics Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

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
5.4
Pentaho Business Analytics mixed ROI perceptions highlight efficiency gains but unclear returns compared to competitors like QlikView and Tableau.
Sentiment score
6.6
SAP Analytics Cloud boosts ROI by streamlining data automation and reporting, accelerating decision-making and improving business processes efficiently.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Pentaho Business Analytics receives mixed reviews for customer support, with users relying heavily on forums and community assistance.
Sentiment score
6.1
SAP Analytics Cloud support is generally responsive, but users desire quicker responses, more expertise, and improved training resources.
A lot of tools for me as a consultant and for the end user on how to contact SAP support and get issues solved.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
I am satisfied with SAP's technical support team; they provide very good support.
BI Lead Consultant at Intercom Enterprises
We are satisfied with the technical support from SAP because when we reached out, we were able to get very good support from SAP colleagues.
Project Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Pentaho Business Analytics is scalable with good performance but occasionally needs professional help for complex data handling.
Sentiment score
7.3
SAP Analytics Cloud is scalable and versatile, supporting large user bases while integrating well with other SAP products.
SAP Analytics Cloud can be used by a small company, and it can be used by a large corporate.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
I would rate its scalability up to nine on a scale of one to ten.
Project Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
Pentaho Business Analytics is stable but may face Java caching issues, impacting performance and requiring careful cache management.
Sentiment score
7.4
SAP Analytics Cloud is stable and reliable, though minor connectivity and performance issues occur with large datasets and variable updates.
It can handle large datasets.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
You have a chance to test it on your test tenant in small increments, so it should not break your productive reports and productive environment.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
 

Room For Improvement

Pentaho Business Analytics lacks an intuitive interface, robust integration, self-service features, and requires technical expertise, limiting usability.
SAP Analytics Cloud users seek improved integration, compatibility, visualization, programming support, pricing, analytics, documentation, technical support, and interface design.
Pentaho Business Analytics is hard to learn and not suited for initial users as it requires knowledge of operating systems, Java, and other technical skills.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
On the other hand, it is perfectly fitting to the SAP environment, with seamless integration to all SAP modules, not only ERP but also SuccessFactors and other tools from the SAP family.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
Documentation-wise, we see some gaps when trying to connect different solutions.
Project Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find the free Pentaho Community Edition cost-effective, while the Enterprise Edition offers value with support and features.
SAP Analytics Cloud is pricey but valuable for SAP integration, requiring careful cost analysis and license management.
Pentaho Business Analytics is priced similarly to other competitors such as QlikView and Tableau.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
 

Valuable Features

Pentaho Business Analytics provides easy data integration, customizable dashboards, extensive connectivity, and supports efficient data transformation and delivery.
SAP Analytics Cloud is valued for its predictive analytics, integration, user interface, AI features, and cost-effective comprehensive functionalities.
It is a stable product, and it can handle large datasets.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
This functionality is very useful, as once connectivity is done, it allows users to easily populate data and generate reports from the system out-of-the-box.
Project Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The capabilities of SAP Analytics Cloud that I consider the most valuable are that all three functionalities are in one tool, and because they are, you don't have to buy another tool to make planning.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
 

Categories and Ranking

Pentaho Business Analytics
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Operations Analytics (2nd), Reporting (13th)
SAP Analytics Cloud
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Predictive Analytics (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of Pentaho Business Analytics is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Analytics Cloud is 2.2%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP Analytics Cloud2.2%
Pentaho Business Analytics0.6%
Other97.2%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

JB
Founder at SJT Consult
Solution enables effective ETL processes and exhibits high satisfaction
From an integration perspective, Pentaho Business Analytics is not the best tool on the market. There are things done by Apache that are better, though I am not the one implementing them, so this is based on what I have heard about novelties in the market. I do not see the need to extend the coverage of Pentaho Business Analytics's domain. For things that it does not do, there are better solutions on the market, and it would be costly to implement them. Pentaho Business Analytics is a very great tool for very specific standardized scenarios. If you need more complex elastic solutions because the process is different, there are better tools available.
Pavlina Pankova - PeerSpot reviewer
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
Brings reporting, planning, and prediction together in one seamless workflow
I think the areas of SAP Analytics Cloud that could be improved or enhanced are mentioned by users or companies, and they would definitely mention the price in terms of planning licensing. From a consulting point of view, I don't see any major weaknesses. It is reasonably well-developed, and the perfect strength is that innovations are coming on a quarterly basis. It is slightly behind other tools in terms of the number of graphical outputs. Some tools have it faster, but every increment of innovations contains new features. On the other hand, it is perfectly fitting to the SAP environment, with seamless integration to all SAP modules, not only ERP but also SuccessFactors and other tools from the SAP family, for example, integrated business planning for the production planning. This is really a highlight compared to other tools.
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Comparison Review

it_user6978 - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder at Helical IT Solution (Jaspersoft, Pentaho, Talend, Kettle, DWBI, ETL, Ctools, iReport, Jasper Report)
Jun 10, 2013
Jaspersoft vs. Pentaho – Which one to use & is there any need to purchase the commercial edition
Any company (be it technology, manfucaturing, human resource, ecommerce, SME etc) always has the need for Business Intelligence to some or the other extent. If cost is one of the consideration factor, then the 2 BI tools which are at the forefront are Pentaho and Jaspersoft. But, often the same…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
5%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows: 1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle - look for SAP...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pentaho Business Analytics?
Pentaho Business Analytics offers the best value for money. While improvements can be made in some areas, particularly with more cloud-based solutions, it is not in their domain because they do not...
What needs improvement with Pentaho Business Analytics?
From an integration perspective, Pentaho Business Analytics is not the best tool on the market. There are things done by Apache that are better, though I am not the one implementing them, so this i...
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. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...
What do you like most about SAP Analytics Cloud?
In the data warehouse, you're free to make changes. You can make everything text, meaning it's always a string. Even numbers appear as text, giving you the flexibility to work with all columns.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
I normally do not deal with the commercials, so I am not aware of the pricing part of it.
 

Also Known As

Pentaho, Kettle, Hitachi Pentaho Business Analytics
SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cargo 2000 Lufthansa, Marketo, ModCloth, Cardiac Science, Telefonica, ExactTarget, Active Broadband Networks, and Brussels Airport.
Live Oak Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentaho Business Analytics vs. SAP Analytics Cloud and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.