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Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) vs. Looker

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Cloud Data Studio (formerly 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

    Looker

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/ALooker is a BI application with an analytics-oriented application server that sits on top of relational data stores. It includes an end-user interface for exploring data, a reusable development paradigm for data discovery, and an API for supporting data in other systems.N/A
    Pricing
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    Editions & Modules
    Looker Studio Pro
    $9
    per month per user per project
    Looker Studio
    No charge
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
    Additional Details—Must contact sales team for pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    Chose Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    Looker Studio is great for free, simple Google-centric dashboards, while Power BI offers strong Microsoft integration, AI, and deep data prep (Power Query/DAX) for corporate users. Tableau excels in advanced visual exploration for complex data, though often much pricier. Fullst…
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    The free version of Looker Studio is still better than the leading enterprise-embedded BI tools, despite its weaknesses. The leading embedded BI platforms have terrible visualizations that can be spotted a mile away. They are also primarily locked to a grid, making it very hard …
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    Google Data Studio is widely available and accessible, can be shared easily, and it only takes 20-30 min to build a rudimentary dashboard. It has very little setup and does not rely on internal data architecture and development. For later development purposes, Tableau, Power …
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    This is starting to feel redundant but we just Google Data Studio to supplement the areas that are lacking in our other BI tools. Because it's free it's an easy decision to make. It does not allow us the deep diving that we get with others but is often simpler to use, more …
    Incentivized
    Google
    Chose Looker
    Looker works and exists in the Google ecosystem. If you are a Google Cloud Platform user, Looker is a no brainer. There is also Looker Studio, the small (free) brother with less features which is basically a report only viewer/creator. The reason we choose Looker is because can …
    Incentivized
    Chose Looker
    The dev/production environment distinction is constructive. Before, in Data Studio, all changes had to be made, which was very inefficient and risky as far as version control goes. Having a more centralized and organized space for all our data visualization is more helpful than …
    Incentivized
    Chose Looker
    Google Looker Studio is an online tool for converting data into customizable, informative reports and dashboards. It is a free tool that turns performance data into informative, easy-to-read, easy-to-share, and fully customizable dashboards & reports. Google Looker Studio turns …
    Incentivized
    Chose Looker
    Looker provides really excellent customer service in comparison to other similar products. The sharing aspect of Looker is also a big plus, which allows multiple users to access the data at the same time. We have also found it to stand out among competitors with its dashboard …
    Incentivized
    Chose Looker
    Unfortunately, I was not in charge of the decision to select Looker as it was before my time. I can see why the decision was made as I do see the potential. We have felt the need to supplement Looker with another free tool and, if our integrations weren't so deep and our …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    40 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    85 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    38 Answers
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    75 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    40 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    87 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    33 Answers
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    69 Answers
    Features
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) and Looker
    Feature
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    7.0
    62 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Looker
    7.4
    134 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports6.643 Ratings6.4110 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards7.361 Ratings8.2133 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.259 Ratings7.5115 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) and Looker
    Feature
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    7.7
    61 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Looker
    6.8
    132 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Drill-down analysis6.851 Ratings6.3128 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities7.057 Ratings6.6130 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.129 Ratings5.555 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration9.759 Ratings8.8131 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) and Looker
    Feature
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    8.1
    60 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Looker
    7.9
    128 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Publish to Web8.453 Ratings7.7105 Ratings
    Publish to PDF8.653 Ratings7.8113 Ratings
    Report Versioning8.139 Ratings7.984 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling7.942 Ratings8.2110 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers7.524 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) and Looker
    Feature
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    6.6
    60 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Looker
    6.6
    128 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.160 Ratings7.7124 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.757 Ratings7.5110 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics5.330 Ratings4.66 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining6.46 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) and Looker
    Feature
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    -
    Ratings
    Looker
    7.3
    128 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings7.5120 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings7.2105 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings7.2122 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.360 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) and Looker
    Feature
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
    -
    Ratings
    Looker
    5.2
    95 Ratings
    39% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings4.991 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings5.885 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    Small Businesses
    Chartio (discontinued)
    Score7.5 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Jet Reports
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Zendesk Explore
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP Lumira Discovery (legacy)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (63 ratings)
    8.0
    (134 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (14 ratings)
    8.8
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.7
    (10 ratings)
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (51 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (51 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google Cloud Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Looker
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    When data drives potential for new orders, Looker earns its place in our tech stack. If, on the other hand, we are hoping for pipeline generation, Looker is useful if you are willing to repeatedly go check customer utilizations .... it is not appropriate if you are hoping to automate data analysis for this purpose.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Show visited pages - sessions, pageviews - which programs are viewed the most.
    • Displays session source/medium views to see where users are coming from.
    • It shows the video titles, URLs, and event counts so we can monitor the performance of our videos.
    • It gives a graphic face to the numbers, such as using bar charts, pie graphs, and other charts to show user trends or which channels are driving engagement.
    • Our clients like to see the top pages visited for a month.
    • I like the drop-and-drag approach, and building charts is a little easier than it was before.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Documentation is scarce, and very difficult to find when you need it.
    • Pricing is unclear, particularly as you look to scale your reports across the business.
    • Data from other sources is not represented in the system as well as first party Google services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    I give it this rating because it deems as effective, I am able to complete majority of my tasks using this app. It is very helpful when analyzing the data provided and shown in the app and it's just overall a great app for Operational use, despite the small hiccups it has (live data).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Looker is relatively easy to use, even as it is set up. The customers for the front-end only have issues with the initial setup for looker ml creations. Other "looks" are relatively easy to set up, depending on the ETL and the data which is coming into Looker on a regular basis.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    No objections
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    Somehow resources heavy, both on server and client. I recommned at least 50Mbs data rate and high performance desktop comouter to be abke to run comolex tasks and configure larger amount of data. On the other hand, the client does not need to worry when viewing, the performance is usually ok
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Never had to work with support for issues. Any questions we had, they would respond promptly and clearly. The one-time setup was easy, by reading documentation. If the feature is not supported, they will add a feature request. In this case, LDAP support was requested over OKTA. They are looking into it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    Very satisfied, easy to implement
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Looker Studio, you can easily report on data from various sources without programming. Looker Studio is available at no charge for creators and report viewers. Enterprise customers who upgrade to Looker Studio Pro will receive support and expanded administrative features, including team content management. So it's good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    Perfect price to performance
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Looker has a poignant impact on our business's ROI objectives. As an advertising exchange we have specific goals for daily requests and fill, and having premade Looks to monitor this is an integral piece of our operational capability
    • To facilitate an efficient monthly billing cycle in our organization, Looker is essential to track estimated revenue and impression delivery by publisher. Without the Looks we have set up, we would spend considerably more time and effort segmenting revenue by vertical.
    • Looker's unique value proposition is making analytical tools more digestible to people without conventional analytical experience. Other competing tools like Tableau require considerably more training and context to successfully use, and the ability to easily plot different visualizations is one of its greatest selling points.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Looker Screenshots

    Screenshot of a Looker dashboard with a geo chart.