Power BI, Metabase, Tableau, or Looker? How to Choose the Right Business Intelligence Tool for Your Company?

In the world of Business Intelligence (BI), there are numerous tools available to help analyze and visualize data, enabling informed decision-making. Investing in this area can be worthwhile even in the early stages of projects. However, choosing the right tool from the many available options can quickly become complex and confusing. In this blog post, we simplify the decision-making process with a few guiding questions and discuss four established tools based on these criteria.

6 Key Questions for Choosing the Right BI Tool:

1. What is the budget for BI tools? Is there room for paid solutions, or should it be an open-source option?

2. How complex are the analysis requirements? Are simple visualizations sufficient, or do you need to map complex data models?

3. What data sources need to be integrated? Are you working with SQL databases, Google Sheets, or specific tools like Salesforce or Personio? Is there a central data warehouse, or should individual data sources be connected separately?

4. How large is the team, and what technical expertise is available? Are you looking for a user-friendly solution, or do you have the resources for more complex tools?

5. How important are visualizations and dashboards? Should the tool primarily present data clearly, or should it enable complex analyses?

6. How scalable does the tool need to be? Will the BI tool need to adapt and expand as the company grows, or is a basic set of reports sufficient for the foreseeable future?

Metabase

• Budget: Metabase offers a free, open-source version, making it ideal for companies with a limited budget. Query storage and dashboard creation are free. Besides the open-source version, Metabase also offers paid plans with more advanced features. More info.

• Analysis Requirements: Metabase is excellent for simple, exploratory analyses but has limited capabilities for complex visualizations.

• Data Sources: It integrates seamlessly with SQL databases and Google Sheets (via plugins). However, integration with tools like DATEV or Personio requires custom solutions.

• Team & Expertise: Metabase is very user-friendly and suitable for teams without deep technical knowledge.

• Visualizations: The visualizations are basic but sufficient for fundamental analyses.

• Scalability: Suitable for smaller companies but limited in scalability for very large datasets.

Power BI

• Budget: Power BI Desktop is free and allows the creation of comprehensive, interactive dashboards, but they cannot be published. To share reports easily, the Power BI Pro plan is required, costing €9.40 per user per month, which is very affordable. For larger datasets, a Power BI Premium license is recommended (around €20 per user per month). More info.

• Analysis Requirements: Power BI offers versatile visualizations and advanced analytical functions.

• Data Sources: Strong integration with Microsoft tools like Excel and Azure; also compatible with Google Sheets, Salesforce, HubSpot, and many others.

• Team & Expertise: Especially suitable for teams already working within the Microsoft ecosystem. Easy to learn for Excel users.

• Visualizations: Diverse and attractive visualizations, well-suited for interactive dashboards.

• Scalability: Highly scalable, though performance issues may arise with very large datasets.

  
  

Tableau

• Budget: Tableau Public offers a free version, but it’s usually not practical for businesses since all created visualizations are publicly accessible. However, it’s a good starting point to get familiar with Tableau. Explore Tableau Public.

  Business licenses range from €15 to €75 per user per month—the €15 viewer license allows only viewing, not creating dashboards, making Tableau significantly more expensive compared to Power BI. Use the Tableau pricing calculator to estimate costs: Tableau Pricing Calculator.

• Analysis Requirements: Tableau offers powerful data manipulation and is renowned for its visually appealing, interactive dashboards.

• Data Sources: Compatible with SQL, Google Sheets, Salesforce, and others. DATEV and Personio require third-party connectors.

• Team & Expertise: Steeper learning curve but supported by a large community and extensive training resources.

• Visualizations: Industry-leading in visualization quality. Ideal for companies that prioritize aesthetically pleasing presentations.

• Scalability: Highly scalable, particularly suited for companies with large datasets and professional analytics teams.

  
  

Looker

• Budget: Looker is costly and offers customized pricing, often aimed at larger enterprises. More info.

• Analysis Requirements: Looker uses LookML for complex data modeling, enabling consistent and in-depth analyses.

• Data Sources: Compatible with many data sources such as SQL, Google Sheets, and Salesforce. API integrations allow for further customization.

• Team & Expertise: Requires technical expertise for setup and usage. Ideal for companies with a dedicated BI team.

• Visualizations: Flexible but less intuitive for quick visualizations compared to Tableau.

• Scalability: Extremely scalable, ideal for large enterprises with complex data requirements.

  
  

Initial Recommendation

• For startups and companies without a large data team: Metabase and Power BI are the best options. Metabase is perfect if you have a limited budget and need simple analyses. Power BI offers a cost-effective yet powerful solution, especially if you’re already working within the Microsoft ecosystem.

• For large enterprises with professional BI teams: Looker and Tableau are the top choices. Looker is suited for companies that require complex data models and have a technical team in place. Tableau is ideal for businesses that value high-quality visualizations and have the resources to create complex dashboards.

  
  

Need help selecting and implementing the right BI tool for your company? Let’s discuss it!