Google Charts vs. Looker Studio

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Charts
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Google Charts provides a way to visualize data on your website - for free. From simple line charts to complex hierarchical tree maps, the chart gallery provides a large number of ready-to-use chart types. The most common way to use Google Charts is with simple JavaScript that you embed in your web page.N/A
Looker Studio
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Looker Studio is a data visualization platform that transforms data into meaningful presentations and dashboards with customized reporting tools.
$9
per month per user per project
Pricing
Google ChartsLooker Studio
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Looker Studio Pro
$9
per month per user per project
Looker Studio
No charge
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google ChartsLooker Studio
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google ChartsLooker Studio
Considered Both Products
Google Charts
Chose Google Charts
In comparison to Microsoft Power BI, Google Charts has more ease of use for businesses who simply need a way to visually display their data from their reports. Although Power BI may be more robust in more complicated data compilation, Google Charts can still be able to do some …
Chose Google Charts
We selected Google Charts because it is a free tool and is a part of the GSuite.
Looker Studio
Chose Looker Studio
Obviously, Google Data Studio is an improvement over Google Charts, which I believe powers the chart modules used in Data Studio. I think of Data Studio as a convenient way to combine multiple Google Charts in one, easy-to-read report.

In many ways it is similar to SmartDraw's …
Features
Google ChartsLooker Studio
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
8.6
50 Ratings
5% above category average
Looker Studio
7.2
62 Ratings
11% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.144 Ratings6.743 Ratings
Customizable dashboards9.048 Ratings7.561 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.843 Ratings7.359 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
9.3
51 Ratings
15% above category average
Looker Studio
7.7
61 Ratings
1% below category average
Drill-down analysis8.046 Ratings7.251 Ratings
Formatting capabilities10.051 Ratings7.257 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages9.537 Ratings6.829 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.645 Ratings9.759 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
9.0
50 Ratings
9% above category average
Looker Studio
8.2
60 Ratings
0% above category average
Publish to Web9.648 Ratings8.353 Ratings
Publish to PDF9.645 Ratings8.853 Ratings
Report Versioning8.642 Ratings8.139 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.736 Ratings7.942 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.830 Ratings7.724 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
7.7
50 Ratings
4% below category average
Looker Studio
6.6
60 Ratings
16% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.049 Ratings7.460 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization6.047 Ratings7.857 Ratings
Predictive Analytics9.040 Ratings5.230 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings6.06 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
8.8
44 Ratings
3% above category average
Looker Studio
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.943 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.838 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.840 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.831 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
8.2
48 Ratings
5% above category average
Looker Studio
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.046 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application9.629 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.044 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Google Charts
8.4
40 Ratings
8% above category average
Looker Studio
-
Ratings
REST API8.931 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API10.039 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.825 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API8.925 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)5.028 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.827 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google ChartsLooker Studio
Small Businesses
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.7 out of 10
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
IBM Analytics Engine
IBM Analytics Engine
Score 7.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google ChartsLooker Studio
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(61 ratings)
8.7
(56 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(8 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(33 ratings)
8.5
(7 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(32 ratings)
6.7
(10 ratings)
Online Training
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google ChartsLooker Studio
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
We can easily recommend Google Charts to any company that needs a way to visually represent their data. Another great thing about Google Charts is that it is free to use and does not require any membership fees. Although it requires a skilled used to be able to use the charts, the results are great and can be beneficial to any company who is looking to make better decisions.
Read full review
Google
Visualizing cross-channel campaign performance can blend data from a few different sources to compare performance metrics like spend, clicks, and conversions side-by-side in a single view, which helps in quick budget reallocation decisions. When dealing with massive volumes of data (millions of rows) or highly complex queries, Looker Studio dashboards can become slow, laggy, or even crash. Performance issues are a frequent complaint when working with large datasets, making it unsuitable for enterprise-level companies
Read full review
Pros
Google
  • they're free with Google suite and they have backing in terms of powerful Google apps which can be plugged in to perform multiple actions like using Google sheets to import raw data into Google Charts
  • they're the most simple app to use when it comes to creating charts and visual dashboards
  • ease of customization
  • ease of using custom APIs from developers side to help make any types of charts and dashboards you want
Read full review
Google
  • Breath of data - the number of ways to interrogate the data is endless, and the options to view metrics alongside each other make for comprehensive datasets.
  • Data visualisation and customisation - the options for presenting data and separating out across pages allow for clean visuals and segmented information.
  • Easy shareability/usability - a quick and simple tool to introduce colleagues to, and easy to grant access for them to be able to view the data, without having to understand the setup itself.
Read full review
Cons
Google
  • I would like a couple more introductory videos or a live chat option for when you run into an issue. I think this is a Google-wide problem, not only linked to Google Charts.
  • I have run into some issues with the Dynamic Data but also admittedly could potentially dive in deeper and investigate.
  • It would be great if Google Charts made it possible to integrate Google Chat into the platform.
Read full review
Google
  • It needs better handling of complex logic. We often need workarounds to perform complex custom calculations, and it can be really unpleasant at times.
  • Felt it got slow with a larger data set, and in one minor report, we had to set up time filters so that calculations during spikes could be traced more quickly.
  • Compare to competition they need to improve with notification things.
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
Google Charts is a good product. It's widely supported with deep documentation and a large community. But for me, it wasn't customizable enough. When we started with simple charts, it was great, but as we got deeper and more complex, our needs outgrew the library. If I was going forward, I would choose a more barebones library with more freedom and extensibility.
Read full review
Google
It is the simplest and least expensive way for us to automate our reporting at this time. I like the ability to customize literally everything about each report, and the ability to send out reports automatically in emails. The only issue we have been having recently is a technical glitch in the automatic email report. Sadly, there is almost no support for this tool from Google, but is also free, so that is important to take into consideration
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Usability
Google
Google Charts is about as easy to use as the rest of their applications. The UI is very well thought out, allowing you to add what you need, and customize it to your exact liking. The default theme is actually really nice, which helps as most of the time, customizing is not needed.
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Google
Looker Studio is easy to use, and it offers a sufficient variety of predefined visualizations to choose from. It's easy for us, and anyone can set up basic reporting without extensive data visualization skills. The interface layout is easy to understand, and it doesn't take long to get used to.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Google
Google charts is always available and provides fast output.
Read full review
Google
No answers on this topic
Performance
Google
Connectivity is occasionally very slow.
Read full review
Google
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Google
As a free tool with massively powerful, infinitely customisable charts that can be dynamically updated - Google Charts is my favourite data visualisation tool. However, my hatred of JavaScript does jade my view on it. This is the price of the tool though, and I'm glad it's available for me.
Read full review
Google
I give it a lower support rating because it seems like our Dev team hasn't gotten the support they need to set up our database to connect. Seems like we hit a roadblock and the project got put on pause for dev. That sucks for me because it is harder to get the dev team to focus on it if they don't get the help they need to set it up.
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Online Training
Google
The online training was solely done through self training on google's guide to charts.
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Google
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Google
Easy to implement
Read full review
Google
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Google
Google Charts stacks up better since it is free and does not have the constant pressure for cost overruns, add-ons, annual maintenance and implementation services. The speed of using Google Charts is quick, saving users potentially weeks in getting up and going. For the readers of websites with limited resources, the application shows up nicely is look and feel with charts. Great way of showing data visually.
Read full review
Google
Looker Studio is far easier to implement, stand up, and learn. The interface is simpler and user-friendly for various levels of data visualization/analysis knowledge and experience. The biggest benefit of Looker Studio, however, is its ease of connection to GA data and speed. Furthermore, since it is an online program/tool, it requires less CPU/battery/storage on the user's device.
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Scalability
Google
Google Charts is essential for quick, easy, reporting. There are opportunities for advanced features.
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Google
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Google
  • teams were easily able to create charts and find out progress on our learning courses and thus take actionable insights to their managers, professors
  • students could also know their progress on various courses from one single view, same for instructors in terms of imparting education
  • sales team could learn which kind of courses sold more to focus more on those areas
Read full review
Google
  • Free, so the only investment is time
  • Because it doesn't have native support of non-Google sources, it can cost more money than Tableau
  • The time spent formatting the templates or building connectors can have a negative impact on ROI
  • As a agency, charging for the reporting service is profitable after the first month or two after building the dashboard.
Read full review
ScreenShots