By Louise de Leyritz from Castordoc
As data proliferates in modern organizations, it has become crucial to help the data flow into the hands of operational departments (sales, finance, marketing, etc…), allowing them to turn data into business insights.
This explains the recent explosion of Business Intelligence tools. This new trend is not going to stop, and we'd rather bring visibility and structure soon.
At Castor, we believe the first step to structuring the Business Intelligence tools market, is more transparency. For that reason, we put up a list of all the BI tools we heard of.
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This list is still exploratory, may contain errors, or lack information. Please reach out to us, if you notice anything wrong: louise@castordoc.com. Or comment on this Notion.
Get started with Business Intelligence tools
In-depth analysis and evolution
Read the full breakdown by generation and market analysis of BI here.
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What does each column in the benchmark below mean?
Generation:
- 1st generation: Traditional BI.
- 2nd generation: Self-service BI.
- 3rd generation: Augmented Analytics.
User focus:
- Tools focusing on analysts: code are needed to create and generate reports but business users can refresh them. You need to be SQL fluent to engage in meaningful data manipulation.
- Business focused tools: No-code interface allowing business users to engage in real analysis.
Deployment support: Does the solution support a Saas development model, an open-source model? Both?
Data modeling: Can you engage in data modeling through the BI tool platform?
No code interface: Tool proposes a drag-and-drop interface to create powerful, in-depth analyses or simple dashboards + the user can connect, query and visualize your data without writing code.
DW integrations: Which data storage tools does the platform integrate with?
| Name | Website | Generation | Optimized for | User focus | Deployment support | Data modeling | No-code interface | Pricing | Query using | DW integrations | Features | Number of native connectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Generation 2 - Self-service | SMB'smid-market | Analysts | Cloud | free trialFreemium | SQLPythonR | VisualizationPython & R notebooksSQL editorExplorationsCalculated fieldsdrilldowns | |||||
Tableau | Generation 2 - Self-service | Enterprise | Business users | On-premCloud | Contact Onlyfree trial | VisualizationData AnalysisData Preparation | ||||||
Qlik view | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | AnalystsBusiness users | Cloud | free trialContact Only | SQL | discoverycollaborationinteractive dashboardsData Preparation | |||||
Power BI | Generation 2 - Self-service | Enterprise | Analysts | On-premCloud | FreemiumContact Only | DAX | Azure SQL | Visualization | ||||
Domo | Generation 2 - Self-service | Enterprise | AnalystsBusiness users | Cloud | free trialContact Only | SQL | Self-serviceData SharingEmbedded analyticsData apps | |||||
Whaly | Generation 3 - user empowerment | SMB'smid-market | Business usersAnalysts | Cloud | SQL | SnowflakeBigQueryRedshift | Dashboard builderData explorationDrill downVisualizationData SharingEmbedded analytics | 150 | ||||
Alteryx | Generation 2 - Self-service | Enterprise | Analysts | |||||||||
Looker | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | AnalystsBusiness users | CloudOn-prem | Contact Only | LookML | Embedded analyticsVisualizationVersion control | |||||
Metabase | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | CloudOpen-source | Freemium | SQLNo-code | Amazon AthenaRedshiftBigQueryClickhouseCubedruidExasolFireboltMongoDBGoogle analyticsOraclePostgreSQL | SQL editorSelf-service | ||||
Sigma | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | Cloud | free trial | SQLNo-code | SnowflakeBigQueryRedshift | Automatic SQL translationSpreadsheet interfaceEmbedded analytics | ||||
Y42 | Generation 3 - user empowerment | Enterprisemid-market | Business usersAnalysts | Cloud | N/A | No-codeSQL | Data PreparationVisualizationData SharingWorkflow AutomationData Integration | 100 | ||||
Gaphext | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterpriseSMB's | Business users | On-premCloud | FreemiumContact Only | Text querySQL | ML models creationCreate no-code data modelsData explorationData Preparation | |||||
Acho | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | free trialContact Only | Data warehousingData SharingVisualizationData ModelingWorkflow AutomationData EngineeringBusiness IntelligenceData extractionData workflow automation | |||||||
Astrato | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | Analysts | Cloud | Usage based | Snowflake | VisualizationIntegrated writebackLive query | |||||
Superset | Generation 1 - traditional BI | mid-market | Analysts | Open-source | Freemium | No-codeSQL | SnowflakeBigQueryRedshiftClickhouseDremio25 + | Data explorationVisualization | ||||
GoodData | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | Business usersAnalysts | Cloud | Freemium | VisualizationApplication integrationIngestionData IntegrationData PreparationData transformationMetrics management | ||||||
Lightdash | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketSMB's | Data EngineersAnalysts | Open-source | Freemium | SQLNo-code | Self-serviceDbt poweredData Sharing | |||||
Redash | Generation 1 - traditional BI | mid-marketEnterprise | Analysts | On-premCloud | free trial | SQL | SQL editor | |||||
Adverity.com | Generation 3 - user empowerment | Enterprisemid-market | Business usersMarketing Analytics | free trialContact Only | Augmented Analytics | |||||||
Preset | Generation 1 - traditional BI | mid-market | Analysts | Cloud | Contact Only | SQL | VisualizationData explorationSQL IDEEmbedded analytics | |||||
Amazon Quick Sight | Generation 1 - traditional BI | mid-marketEnterprise | Cloud | Pay per Session | Embedded analytics | |||||||
Mprove | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | AnalystsBusiness users | Open-source | free trialContact Only | SQL | Self-serviceVersion control | |||||
ToucanToco | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | CloudSelf-hosted | free trialContact Only | No-code | SnowflakeBigQueryRedshiftAzure SQLPostgreSQLMongoDB | GlossaryRow permissionsCreate no-code data modelsEmbedded analyticsDashboard builderData PreparationVisualization | ||||
Sisense | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Analysts | On-premCloud | free trial | SQL | Snowflake | VisualizationData Preparation | ||||
Holistics.io | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | Business usersData Engineers | Cloud | free trial | No-code | BigQueryDataBricks | VisualizationData IntegrationData warehousing | ||||
AnswerRocket | Generation 3 - user empowerment | Enterprisemid-market | Business usersAnalystsData Engineers | Cloud | Contact Only | Create no-code data modelsVisualizationData Integration | ||||||
Data Pine | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | AnalystsMarketing Analytics | Cloud | free trialContact Only | Data PreparationData SharingDashboard builderVisualizationMetrics management | ||||||
Atscale | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Analysts | Cloud | Contact Only | Redshift | Data Movement | |||||
Baremetrics | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterpriseSMB's | AnalystsBusiness users | Cloud | Contact OnlyUsage based | |||||||
Tellery | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-market | Analysts | Open-source | free trial | SQL | Data IntegrationMetrics managementDashboard builderPerformance analysis | |||||
Statsbot | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Analysts | Open-source | FreemiumContact Only | SQL | Cube | Data AnalysisSelf-serviceData Preparation | ||||
Polyture | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Business usersAnalysts | Open-source | FreemiumContact Only | No-codeSQL | SnowflakeShopifyMySQL | VisualizationData SharingData warehousingDashboard builderCreate your own data pipeline | ||||
Bipp | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | AnalystsBusiness users | Open-source | Contact Only | No-codeSQL | SnowflakeClickhouse | VisualizationCreate no-code data modelsDashboard builder | ||||
Veezoo | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterpriseSMB's | Business users | On-premCloud | free trialContact OnlyFreemium | Text querySQL-based language | SnowflakeBigQuery | VisualizationData PreparationDashboard builderVersion control | ||||
Trevor | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-market | Open-source | free trialContact Only | SnowflakeBigQuery | VisualizationDrill downDashboard builderSQL IDE | ||||||
Zepl | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterpriseSMB's | Data Engineers | Open-source | free trialContact Only | Data warehousingML models creationVisualizationData exploration | ||||||
Varada | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | AnalystsData Engineers | On-prem | Contact Only | SQL | DataBricks | |||||
Incorta | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketEnterprise | Analysts | Open-source | free trial | MySQLRedshiftOracle | ||||||
Metric insights | Generation 1 - traditional BI | Enterprise | Open-source | Contact Only | ||||||||
Cluvio | Generation 1 - traditional BI | mid-marketEnterprise | Data Engineers | Open-source | Contact OnlyFreemium | SQLR | SnowflakeBigQueryRedshiftOracleMySQL | Dashboard builderData Preparation | ||||
Microsoft analytics | mid-marketEnterprise | Open-source | N/A | |||||||||
Macheye | mid-marketSMB's | Business usersMarketing AnalyticsAnalysts | Open-source | Freemium | No-code | SnowflakeDremioMySQL | VisualizationEmbedded analytics | |||||
Scuba | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | Open-source | FreemiumContact Only | No-code | Data PreparationVisualizationWorkflow AutomationDashboard builderCreate no-code data modelsAugmented analytics | |||||
Endor | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | Open-source | Contact Only | No-code | Data PreparationVisualization | |||||
Explo | Generation 2 - Self-service | SMB's | Marketing AnalyticsBusiness usersAnalysts | On-premOpen-source | N/A | SnowflakeBigQueryRedshiftMySQLClickhouse | Data PreparationVisualizationDashboard builder | |||||
Einblick | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketSMB's | AnalystsBusiness users | Open-source | free trial | PythonNo-code | SnowflakeMySQLOracle | VisualizationData SharingML models creation | ||||
DataHero | mid-marketEnterprise | Business users | Open-source | free trial | VisualizationDashboard builderEmbedded analytics | |||||||
Targit | Generation 1 - traditional BI | Enterprise | Business users | Open-source | Contact Only | Visualization | ||||||
Verb data | Generation 3 - user empowerment | mid-marketEnterpriseSMB's | Business users | Open-source | free trial | No-code | MySQL | VisualizationDashboard builderCreate no-code data modelsData Modeling | ||||
Splashback | mid-marketSMB's | Open-source | free trial | Data Sharing | ||||||||
Glean | Generation 2 - Self-service | mid-marketSMB's | Cloud | Undisclosed | No-code | RedshiftSnowflake | VisualizationDashboard builder |
Additional features definition (feel free to add yours) :
Data exploration: Explore the underlying query of every chart without breaking the actual dashboard. Allow non tech user to answer more complex questions.
Dashboard builder: build dashboards that suits our needs: your brand color, etc…
Drill down: Click on a chart to have access to the underlying data of which records are at play to describe your metric.
Metric layer: Define your metric layer so that your users can reuse those metrics in charts or exploration.