Our primary use case of Qlik Sense is as a dashboard. It replaces some Excel grids we used to provide to people. We are currently serving only a few business units but are working on expanding to all other BU over time. We normally use this tool by loading data from our data warehouse into a QDF (Qlik deployment framework). This allows for better reusability at the cost of duplicate apps. We have also recently begun using Qlik Sense to load data from other sources, such as excel to help other business units that previously had no BI at all.
Business Intelligence Developer at Bonduelle SAS
Set analysis is great for its power user capabilities but the QMC needs more work
Pros and Cons
- "Set analysis is great for its power user capabilities such as performing an IF on an aggregated column. The ability to create custom coloring expressions based on values is also a good idea although not as easy as I wished it was."
- "The QMC needs more work. Some of the features should be available directly from the hub. Too many duplicates/publish. Intelli-sense when loading a stored qvd would help so much with remembering column names. The pop-up windows are too small when working in the QMC."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Qlik Sense did not improve our organization. Its use was forced by our parent company. We already have Cognos installed with dashboarding capabilities. The tool is good but we already have a clean data warehouse which means a lot of redundant work to load qvd files. It feels like Qlik was invented with a quick create report/throwaway when done mindset. We are not a company built around this so it makes reusing code very difficult. I must say the setup is easy and the user token is very flexible.
What is most valuable?
Set analysis is great for its power user capabilities such as performing an IF on an aggregated column. The ability to create custom coloring expressions based on values is also a good idea although not as easy as I wished it was. Its new trellis feature is great for not having to redo a lot of small charts multiple times and scales well over time. The ability to create presentations in the tool itself is good for users. This prevents having to copy/paste lots of images in an external document.
What needs improvement?
The QMC needs more work. Some of the features should be available directly from the hub. Too many duplicates/publish. Intelli-sense when loading a stored qvd would help so much with remembering column names. The pop-up windows are too small when working in the QMC. There is no reason why all the front-end is responsive but the publish windows are too small for most app titles to show up completely. I wish you could work directly in a published app instead of having to duplicate it to your content then publish it again when done. I also wish you could create folders in your own content to make sorting your apps easier.
Buyer's Guide
Qlik Sense
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about Qlik Sense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Qlik Sense for almost 2 years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We still use IBM Cognos but only for it's Excel grid features.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I was not part of the evaluation team.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I was not part of the evaluation team.
What other advice do I have?
Good software but not for us at the moment.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Works at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy to find information and to shrink large charts but needs to needs to offer basic competitive functionalities
Pros and Cons
- "Showing a miniature version of the chart if the case chart is bigger than the screen resolution allows us to have full context at all times."
- "They should generally focus more on the evolution of current capabilities rather than doing everything but only at 50% effectiveness."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a self-service for business users without heavy knowledge of IT products. It allows them to create their own content either on custom data or pre-prepared structures and calculations by IT. On top of that, there is also IT-prepared end-to-end content and global reporting covering mobile reporting mainly in big pharmaceutical corporations.
We are running an on-premise version in the cloud on Amazon EC2 and Azure.
We are using also additional Qlik products such as Mobile, GeoAnalytics, nPrinting, Alerting, and Qlik Data Catalyst.
How has it helped my organization?
Qlik Sense is a great tool if you want to start with simple self-service inside your company and get familiarized your business partners with company data and extend a user's data literacy.
For that, Qlik also provides various programs to help a company adopt the tool. These include the Qlik Continous Classrooms, Data Literacy program, etc.
The only disadvantage is the custom language which users need to learn from scratch even though we are finding it more user-friendly than DAX or MDX for multidimensional querying of data.
What is most valuable?
The Insight Advisor (Natural Language Processing) feature allows users to find information through a chat bot which also recommends interesting views on data. It's a very nice feature.
Showing a miniature version of the chart if the case chart is bigger than the screen resolution allows us to have full context at all times. Alternative dimensions and measures in charts help to limit the number of visualizations on-screen and make analytics easier for business users.
What needs improvement?
Providing the same basic capabilities as its competitors - such as an easy setup of colors, pixel-perfect reporting (if needed), better control of visual behavior of visualizations (currently legend and axis names are missing based on screen resolution), et cetera, is needed.
They need much better server management. Currently, even a single application can crash the whole server.
They should generally focus more on the evolution of current capabilities rather than doing everything but only at 50% effectiveness.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for over three years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did use Cognos and PowerBI and we switched because of the demand of our clients.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. We are partners of Qlik company
Buyer's Guide
Qlik Sense
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about Qlik Sense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Co-Owner at Alvarium
Easy to set up with excellent technical support and easy collaboration capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The data is incredibly easy to share with colleagues."
- "There is no downside."
What is our primary use case?
We use this product for data visualizations and interpretation. We are having success with identifying opportunities through seeing our weaknesses. In my time coaching the sales team, I had to find a way for everyone to have access the as much information as possible. Qlik made this very easy for us. Giving the sales team access to data empowered them and also provided them with confidence and the resolve to take all the opportunities that were available in the market. I am amazed at how well this worked.
How has it helped my organization?
We use this product for data visualizations and interpretation. We are having success with identifying opportunities through seeing our weaknesses. In my time coaching the sales team, I had to find a way for everyone to have access the as much information as possible. Qlik made this very easy for us. Giving the sales team access to data empowered them and also provided them with confidence and the resolve to take all the opportunities that were available in the market. I am amazed at how well this worked.
What is most valuable?
The data is incredibly easy to share with colleagues. This enables us to sit together to identify opportunities. Having the sales team sitting around a table accessing the same data made it very easy for them to work together. In an industry where co-operating is a dirty word, my team relished the opportunity to build a strong team to take on the rest of the industry. They excelled at following up and reminding customers that the opportunity was theirs and not ours. Being able to have your say at the right time really helped pave the way for the team to win.
What needs improvement?
The product is easy to use and provides us with more than what we need. The data is incredibly easy to share with colleagues. There is no downside.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This product runs well in most countries - even with limited connectivity.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is limitless. You can scale it.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support for this product is exceptional.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did use something else, however, the product was not relevant anymore.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy.
What about the implementation team?
We did get outside assistance and the vendor was excellent.
What was our ROI?
We have about a 100% return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is expensive, but a worthwhile step.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at Alchemex and Excel.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Works at University of Kent
Clean to view, easy to use and intuitive to develop with
Pros and Cons
- "It is extremely clean to view, easy to use, and intuitive to develop with. There are a host of online resources to provide assistance to new users."
- "Moving forward I would like to see more features that are currently available in QlikView, such as being able to better customize coloring within charts. I would also like to see the ability to add calculated dimensions to the selections tool in the page."
Qlik Sense has assisted my company in providing management information to users across all levels of the organization. It is extremely clean to view, easy to use, and intuitive to develop with. There are a host of online resources to provide assistance to new users.
The setup is easy and painless, as is data integration and application deployment.
I would recommend this platform to any business looking to pick up a new BI solution, or any that have an existing BI platform but who might be looking to change.
In terms of improvements, Qlik Sense is being constantly updated and new features are being added all the time. Moving forward I would like to see more features that are currently available in QlikView, such as being able to better customize coloring within charts. I would also like to see the ability to add calculated dimensions to the selections tool in the page.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior BI Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive ETL capabilities, good visualization options, and frequently updated
Pros and Cons
- "Time-saving efficiencies have translated into genuine bottom-line improvements via the reduction in FTE."
- "The SaaS offering is being enriched quickly in order to attract new customers to that space and encouraging existing customers to make the switch. The Enterprise solution is therefore lagging behind SaaS in features."
What is our primary use case?
Qlik Sense is used as a Business Intelligence and analysis tool as part of a dual BI tool strategy. The software is hosted on two multi-node environments; production and ad-hoc.
The production environment hosts the main reporting suite of apps, while the ad-hoc environment is used for one-off or ad-hoc analysis as well as pre-development. A third environment is used for testing releases or developing extensions and features.
NPrinting is also used to supplement the capability of Qlik Sense in cases where the users aren't able to access the environment. This happens, for example, with external or third-party reporting, etc.
How has it helped my organization?
Qlik Sense has enabled the simplification of reporting and increased the efficiency of its production. Time-saving efficiencies have translated into genuine bottom-line improvements via the reduction in FTE.
Its implementation has improved the ways of working in the BI teams and stakeholder engagement improvements have been noted. Moderate cost-saving efficiencies from decommissioning legacy software and recycling hardware have been recognised, as well as delivering a far better customer experience for users.
What is most valuable?
Qlik's comprehensive ETL capability makes it stand out from other vendors. The ability to connect to a wide variety of data sources and its ability to transform the data quickly and efficiently is extremely powerful; especially when speed to market is the priority for app development.
The front end has more than enough capability and visualisation options available and rarely is there any limitation that cannot be surmounted quickly and efficiently.
A steady stream of updates ensures that the product keeps moving forward and the output looks great on mobile devices.
What needs improvement?
The SaaS offering is being enriched quickly in order to attract new customers to that space and encouraging existing customers to make the switch. The Enterprise solution is therefore lagging behind SaaS in features. As such, the user needs to invest additional expenditure to ensure that all the services are available for the Enterprise solution.
A lot of the features available in QlikView have now been introduced to Qlik Sense so it would be good to see that effort continue to go into developing front-end capability further still.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Qlik Sense for seven years.
How are customer service and technical support?
Support was extremely good in the early days of QlikView, possibly less so since Qlik has been sold.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it through the vendor. Excellent service and "aftercare".
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager - Enterprise Analytics & Business Intelligence at Meritor
Powerful data engine and insight advisor that promotes data-driven decision-making
Pros and Cons
- "We can bring data from multiple sources and easily blend it in Qlik and create a data model (star schema)."
- "Error handling is an area that needs to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use Qlik Sense as a Corporate Analytical Tool. It is used by every functional group for creating their dashboards including but not limited to Supply Chain, Purchasing, Finance, Operations, Quality, Engineering, Warranty, Legal, etc.
We are using Qlik as a self-service analytics tool. We are using Qlik to implement some of the self-service processes, too.
We also use Qlik NPrinting to complement our Qlik Sense environment. This is mainly used for automated report bursting based on certain conditions. This takes away a lot of the manual process of creating Excel-based files on a recurring basis.
How has it helped my organization?
Qlik brought awareness to data-driven decision-making. More and more people in the organization are now motivated to use analytics (dashboards built-in to Qlik) for their data and reporting needs. We were able to eliminate lots of Excel files and lots of manual processes used for data acquisition and manipulation that were happening on a recurring basis.
The best impact was during COVID. We were very quickly able to create a COVID war room to keep a track of our customer and supplier operation and start our operation in a safe mode and then align it with customer and supplier Ops.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is Qlik's data engine, as it is so much better than other tools. We can bring data from multiple sources and easily blend it in Qlik and create a data model (star schema).
The insight adviser is another high point because it makes it so much easier to communicate with your data. Users are able to create their own sheets and do their own analysis without worrying about data acquisition and data quality. The addition of natural language search has made this a lot more user-friendly and has opened up a lot of use cases.
What needs improvement?
Error handling is an area that needs to be improved. There is not much help on that and some of the error messaging is not very helpful. On many occasions, we have struggled to figure out what's wrong, as the error message did not help and we had to go through the hoops of going to a Qlik partner and then going to the support.
Provide some built-in functionality to migrate apps from one environment to another and make it easy for organizations that are pushing for self-service analytics.
I would like to see them make the Hub better in terms of usability, like adding personal preferences, favorites, etc.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Qlik Sense for three years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes, we used a different visualization tool before Qlik. At the time we made the switch, we did a comprehensive evaluation based on a list of our success criteria and Qlik scored more points compared to other tools. Some areas where Qlik scored more are data load, security and performance.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
My advice is to just look for what your organization's needs are. Every org is different and may need different licensing and architecture.
Just go and use Qlik. You will never look back. Happy Dashboarding !!!
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IS Application Programming Manager at COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK OF CONNECTICUT INC
High-performance, modern visuals, and provides ability to retrieve and manipulate data from anywhere
Pros and Cons
- "My organization now has data from disparate systems at their fingertips in a way that lets them get the answers they need when they want it."
- "The augmented intelligence features don't work well for the analytical user."
What is our primary use case?
We use Qlik Sense as an on-premise enterprise self-service BI solution with a single physical Windows server.
We also have value-added products to support our solution including Qlik GeoAnalytics and Qlik Nprinting. We have dual-use licenses with QlikView for all of our users. All licensing is based on individual user names and access, which allows for unlimited use per user.
The end-users range from senior-level executive management to individual contributors such as data and business analysts. All development is performed via web browser and no desktop client is necessary.
How has it helped my organization?
My organization now has data from disparate systems at their fingertips in a way that lets them get the answers they need when they want it. We previously relied on manually intensive legacy reports that provided static data and information.
Customers would need to constantly request updates to their analysis to answer additional questions and turnaround times were often days to weeks. Now, insights are gained within seconds, which has reduced reporting requests significantly from all areas of the organization.
What is most valuable?
QlikView was a framework for rapid application and dashboard development. Qlik Sense takes that rapid development to a whole new modern level.
I can stand up new dashboards and data discovery tools often within one to two days.
The speed of execution, modern visuals, and the power to get and manipulate data from anywhere are why you should choose this product.
Qlik's performance is among the fastest in the industry due to its in-memory architecture, which allows data to be loaded and cached in RAM for maximum efficiency.
What needs improvement?
The augmented intelligence features don't work well for the analytical user. They are difficult to set up correctly and often don't generate anything insightful.
The SaaS options often include these extra features and they are rolled out sooner and automatically. Unfortunately, this is not an option for my organization at this time. There have been updates that include some new chart times but it's still lacking some common modern ones.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Qlik Sense for about two years and have been using QlikView for about 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Have had no issues with stability or downtime since implementation
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Performance is industry leading and scales directly with hardware as you would expect
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
Setup was significantly more complex than QlikView and some of the competition but allows for more modern and robust administration.
What about the implementation team?
Our in-house team was responsible for the initial setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For on-premise enterprise users, a number of additional features come at a premium cost.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Safety Data Analyst at Novo Nordisk
Good visibility on a single pane of glass, and one-click reporting saves us time
Pros and Cons
- "The drag and drop functionality provides an easy and fast development approach."
- "We have faced some issues with NPrinting, so I feel there is some improvement needed such that it would allow the use of variables and calculative fields from Qlik."
What is our primary use case?
We are in the Pharma industry and we get a lot of patient-related data for our products. This data contains post-marketing cases and clinical cases that my organization conducts, and we use Qlik to analyze the data.
We also use Qlik in some of the reporting we do with health authorities with different affiliates. We track the information sent to affiliates, whether the reporting was done on time or not.
We use the GxP setup, so it is very controlled and split by three different environments: Dev, Val, and Production.
How has it helped my organization?
It has improved the amount of time it takes to get information out to the business in a few ways. It gives a detailed and high-level overview on one single page. We can generate reports with a single click, which saves a lot of time.
It has also helped by providing cleansed data to analysts so that they can create their own analysis. It also created an associate model that connects different data and combines them into one single view. We have a complex setup for our patient-related data and Qlik has fixed it.
What is most valuable?
On one click, it filters out most of the information, which gives an opportunity to drill down into the data. The drag and drop functionality provides an easy and fast development approach.
The associative searching and filtering capability is a unique feature among other BI tools, and one does not need to deeply understand the underlying data.
The powerful data handling and preparation ability to transform data is very helpful.
The associative model that connects the relevant column by looking at the same column names is a good feature.
What needs improvement?
We have faced some issues with NPrinting, so I feel there is some improvement needed such that it would allow the use of variables and calculative fields from Qlik.
The reload error could be explained a bit more in detail, and if they can also include a debug mode in the load script while writing code, that could also advance the performance and minimize the effort.
Lastly, if the Qlik Continuous Classroom could be available for free for trained users, that would be great.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Qlik Sense for approximately the past five years.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, the product is very good so far.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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