Data Catalog Software

Data Catalog Software Overview

Data catalog software helps businesses find, validate, and organize their data assets. A well-constructed, actively maintained data catalog shows users what data assets are available, where they are located, what their relationship is to that data, and other metadata. These products often include machine-learning-based asset and metadata discovery tools to help keep the data catalog comprehensive and relevant.

In addition to automated discovery tools, products in this category often rely on crowd-sourcing for metadata creation and verification. Since this requires high user engagement, these products commonly mimic collaboration tools to engage non-technical users. By enabling all users to comment on, validate, tag, categorize, and discuss the data sources they work with, data catalog software aims to give businesses a comprehensive, up-to-date, easily navigable, and consumable view of their data landscape.

Data catalog software is an evolution of metadata management software. While data catalog products perform metadata management at their core, their focus on crowdsourced data and universal accessibility sets them apart.

Products in this category also commonly include data governance features or support other data governance software. An actively maintained data catalog is also a pillar of a successful data fabric architecture.

Top Rated Data Catalog Products

Data Catalog Products

(1-25 of 32) Sorted by Most Reviews

The list of products below is based purely on reviews (sorted from most to least). There is no paid placement and analyst opinions do not influence their rankings. Here is our Promise to Buyers to ensure information on our site is reliable, useful, and worthy of your trust.

Tableau Desktop

Tableau Desktop is a data visualization product from Tableau. It connects to a variety of data sources for combining disparate data sources without coding. It provides tools for discovering patterns and insights, data calculations, forecasts, and statistical summaries and visual…

Key Features

  • Customizable dashboards (163)
    84%
    8.4
  • Mobile Application (178)
    82%
    8.2
  • Formatting capabilities (159)
    80%
    8.0
Alteryx
Customer Verified
Top Rated

Alteryx aims to be the launchpad for automation breakthroughs. Be it for personal growth, achieving transformative digital outcomes, or rapid innovation, Alteryx converges analytics, data science and process automation to enable users across organizations to make business-altering…

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is Oracles's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform which combines the utility of public cloud with the granular control, security, and predictability of on-premises infrastructure.

Key Features

  • Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime (77)
    85%
    8.5
  • Security controls (76)
    84%
    8.4
  • Operating system support (76)
    83%
    8.3
SAP Data Intelligence
Customer Verified
Top Rated

SAP Data Intelligence is presented by the vendor as a single solution to innovate with data. It provides data-driven innovation in the cloud, on premise, and through BYOL deployments. It is described by the vendor as the new evolution of the company's data orchestration and management…

TIBCO Data Virtualization
Customer Verified
Top Rated
TRUE

TIBCO Data Virtualization is an enterprise data virtualization solution that orchestrates access to multiple and varied data sources and delivers the datasets and IT-curated data services foundation for nearly any solution.

Alation Data Catalog
Customer Verified
Top Rated

Alation offers enterprise data intelligence solutions, including data search & discovery, data governance, data stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation. Alation operates in thethe data catalog market. With its Behavioral Analysis Engine, inbuilt collaboration capabilities,…

Azure Data Catalog

Microsoft's Azure Data Catalog is an enterprise-wide metadata catalog designed to make data asset discovery straightforward, a fully-managed service that lets analysts. data scientists, and developers to register, enrich, discover, understand, and consume data sources.

Denodo

Denodo is the eponymous data integration platform from the global company headquartered in Silicon Valley.

IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog

IBM Watson® Knowledge Catalog is a cloud-based enterprise metadata repository allowing users to catalog knowledge and analytics assets, including machine learning models and structured and unstructured data wherever they reside, so that they can be easily accessed and used to fuel…

Atlan

Atlan is a modern data collaboration workspace (like Github for engineering or Figma for design). By acting as a virtual hub for data assets ranging from tables and dashboards to models & code, Atlan enables teams to create a single source of truth for all their data assets, and…

Cloudera Data Platform

Cloudera Data Platform (CDP), launched September 2019, is designed to combine the best of Hortonworks and Cloudera technologies to deliver an enterprise data cloud. CDP includes the Cloudera Data Warehouse and machine learning services as well as a Data Hub service for building custom…

Qlik Catalog

Qlik Catalog (formerly Qlik Data Catalyst) builds a secure, enterprise-scale catalog of all the data in an organization available for analytics users as a service across lakes, warehouses, transactional systems, and file systems. It is able to recognize, profile, tag, and secure…

Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud

The Collibra Platform is a cloud-based data governance platform from the company of the same name in Brussels, enabling users to gain visibility into their data, collaborate intelligently and enable users to easily access trustworthy data, automate processes, manage compliance and,…

data.world

data.world in Austin offers their metadata management solution, an enterprise data catalog, allowing users to create reusable, extensible data and analysis. Capture context and knowledge as teams work, so it’s easy to understand, check, and build on what they produce.

Zaloni Arena

Zaloni's end-to-end DataOps software, Arena, provides a collaborative metadata catalog that connects multi-cloud and on-premises data silos, highly-controlled data quality, tokenization and governance tools, and extensible, self-service data enrichment and consumption. Zaloni works…

ancoraDocs

ancora Software is a provider of Business Process Automation solutions including Advanced Data Capture. ancoraDocs, the company's flagship product, that helps companies eliminate manual steps in their business processes such as; document classification, document analysis, manual…

Precisely Data360 Govern

Data360 Govern, formerly from Infogix and now from Precisely since the 2021 acquisition, is an enterprise data governance, catalog and metadata management solution. Data360 Govern translates highly technical metadata into meaningful business information that can benefit everyone…

ThinkData Works

Data is the backbone of effective decision-making. However, varied sources, inconsistent formats, and evolving compliance landscape make it challenging to manage. ThinkData Works provides a catalog platform for discovering, managing, and sharing data from both internal and external…

IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog

IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog (IGC) is a web-based tool that allows users to explore, understand and analyze information. It provides a common business language and vocabulary to enable a deeper understanding of data assets - structured, semi-structured and unstructured.…

Cambridge Semantics Anzo

Cambridge Semantics in Boston offers Anzo, a data catalog that lets anyone find, connect and blend any enterprise data into analytics-ready datasets. Anzo’s graph data models provide business users with a visual map of enterprise data that is presented by the vendor as easy to understand…

Select Star

Select Star is a fully automated data discovery platform that helps users find, understand & use company data. Column and table-level relationships are displayed with data lineage, catalog, and automated documentation. Select Star aims to help companies to create a system of…

Castor

Castor is a collaborative, automated data discovery & catalog tool, that aims to redesign how data people collaborate. It provides a single source of truth to reference and document all the knowledge related to data within a company. When looking for a table related to customers,…

Secoda

A solution enables users to search, document and manage data, with data catalog, lineage, docs, dictionary, analysis and data requests in one collaborative and searchable platform. It is presented as a Data Enablement Platform built for data teams but designed to support anyone, that…

Stemma.ai

Stemma is a fully managed data catalog with automated metadata, personalized experience, and enterprise management - powered by the open-source data catalog, Amundsen. Stemma's purpose is to make data-based decisions with absolute confidence, with a mission to make data within…

Acryl Data

Acryl Data offers a managed oversion of the open source metadata management platform and data catalog, DataHub. The managed solution provides enterprise-grade data discovery and modern data governance within a SOC-2 compliant platform.

Learn More About Data Catalog Software

What is Data Catalog Software?

Data catalog software helps businesses find, validate, and organize their data assets. A well-constructed, actively maintained data catalog shows users what data assets are available, where they are located, what their relationship is to that data, and other metadata. These products often include machine-learning-based asset and metadata discovery tools to help keep the data catalog comprehensive and relevant.

In addition to automated discovery tools, products in this category often rely on crowd-sourcing for metadata creation and verification. Since this requires high user engagement, these products commonly mimic collaboration tools to engage non-technical users. By enabling all users to comment on, validate, tag, categorize, and discuss the data sources they work with, data catalog software aims to give businesses a comprehensive, up-to-date, easily navigable, and consumable view of their data landscape.

Data catalog software is an evolution of metadata management software. While data catalog products perform metadata management at their core, their focus on crowdsourced data and universal accessibility sets them apart.

Products in this category also commonly include data governance features or support other data governance software. An actively maintained data catalog is also a pillar of a successful data fabric architecture.

Data Catalog Software Features

Most data catalog products have the following features:

  • Metadata discovery
  • Business glossary
  • Data analysis
  • Natural language search
  • Integrated commenting and collaboration
  • Data governance tools
  • Pre-built connections to data sources
  • Tools for creating custom connections
  • Access control

Data Catalog Software Comparison

When evaluating data catalog software, keep the following comparison points in mind:

Ease of Use: Although the user experience is important for any tool, it’s absolutely critical for a successful data catalog implementation. The value you’ll get from a data catalog is strongly related to the degree of employee adoption. A data catalog solution with an inviting, easy-to-navigate interface will encourage more contribution and interaction with the platform. Try out multiple product demos with employees of varying roles and skill levels to see which one is a better fit for your organization.

Training and Culture: A data catalog with an intuitive UI still isn’t worth much if your employees don’t know about the tool and understand its importance. Before and during implementation, you’ll need to train users on the tool and teach them how it can help them and their co-workers. Some vendors may offer training and onboarding programs to help get you started. If you prefer to do training without vendor support, be prepared to devote the necessary time and resources.

Connections: Some data catalogs are designed to work best with specific data systems, like Oracle or Azure. Other vendors are independent, and create their product with varied ecosystems in mind. If you already have a suite of data tools from a specific vendor, check to see if they offer a data catalog solution. No matter what you choose, make sure you pick a product that connects to as many of your existing data sources as possible. Some products let you create custom data connectors, but custom work will take additional time and maintenance.

Start a Data Catalog Software comparison here

Pricing Information

Pricing for data catalog software is not commonly provided. Where pricing is available, it varies widely based on feature set. Some data catalog products are add-ons to existing subscriptions and may start as low as $1 monthly per user. Other products are comprehensive data platforms in their own right and are much more expensive, starting around $4,000 monthly for 10 users, with each additional user starting at $400 per month.

Your best bet is to contact a vendor. They often offer free demos of their products, which can help you decide if their product is a good fit for your needs. They’ll also be able to provide you with a quote customized to your use case.

Data Catalog Software Best Of Awards

The following Data Catalog Software offer award-winning customer relationships, feature sets, and value for price. Learn more about our Summer Best Of Awards methodology here.

Best Of Summer 2022 Awards Winners for the Data Catalog category. For Best Relationship, first place is Azure Data Catalog. For Best Feature Set, first place is Azure Data Catalog.

Related Categories

Frequently Asked Questions

What does data catalog software do?

Data catalog software helps businesses keep track of their data assets. These products automatically discover metadata, facilitate crowdsourced metadata, and assist with data governance.

What are the benefits of using data catalog software?

An actively-maintained data catalog saves businesses time and money by helping users find the data they need more quickly. They make data analysts, data stewards, and other data consumers faster and more efficient.

How much does data catalog software cost?

Pricing for data catalog software varies based on feature set. Simpler add-on products start as low as $1 monthly per user. More comprehensive data catalogs can be as expensive as $4,000 or more monthly. Contact a vendor for a quote. Free trials and demos are common.