What TrustRadius Research Says
Looker Pricing
Every commercial business big and small needs to manage their business intelligence (BI) data. One of the most common databases used by the inter-department of companies is structured query language (SQL). SQL allows you to connect related tables of data.
Some people analyzing that data may not actually know SQL that well or how to code, that’s your developer’s job. Looker is a data platform that offers a user interface as the go-between for software engineers and analysts working with the same databases. You can have one platform where data can be shared and interpreted with ease.
What is Looker?
Looker is a business intelligence software designed to provide analysts or nonprogrammers with a simplified view of metrics.
It provides you with a user interface connected to your databases that people can easily use and interact with. You won’t need to know SQL to read the database information or understand random tech terms. The Looker interface can provide translations for unfamiliar terms.
The interface is essentially a bridge between software engineering and analytics teams. Through Looker, you can have efficient Inter-department collaboration. The interface can allow developers access to APIs and software development kits (SDK).
You can Looker your databases on cloud computing platforms in Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform.
Looker has multiple different services they offer demos for. These include Business Intelligence, Embedded Analytics, Visualizations, Data Modeling, and The Looker Difference. You can also use the Looker mobile app on the go. You will be able to view key performance indicators (KPI), and data analytics from any iOS or Android device.
With their business intelligence features, Looker users can connect data from data resources and combine them. You can create data visualizations in your Looker dashboard and see real-time metrics.
Your data analysts will be able to explore the functionality of your data warehouse. Looker supports powerful data analytics platforms and provides simplified functionality for self-service options. Business users from multiple departments will be able to collaborate and improve workflows with SaaS integrations like Slack and Marketo.
Looker’s Embedded Analytics service offers developers automation and collaboration tools to streamline team workflows. It will also help you reduce costs on your app development projects.
For Visualization and Data Modeling services, you can create custom and comprehensive views of all your big data. Data analysts will be able to filter and mine for information. You can also use templates when using data from data sources like Google Analytics and Salesforce.
The Looker Difference is Looker's features-rich service that offers BI tools, embedded analytics, visualization, and integration features. It’s a multi-cloud platform where you can automate data sets and queries and access multiple dashboards.
For more insight into this business analytics solution, you can see the demo video below.
What are The Benefits of Looker?
Looker is your language interpreter for your databases. The main benefit is better team collaboration and access to data. If your software engineers and analysts are working together, you can have better data management and foster innovative data discovery of patterns and insights.
With the ability to create enlightening and comprehensive reports you can make better business decisions. You can target business needs like your customer support performance, or for future protects and growth.
Businesses that can benefit from Looker include healthcare, retail, and financial services. Healthcare offices can manage provider costs, retail teams can control inventory, and financial firms can predict loan payments. For more information about Looker data uses see their PDF here.
In general user reports they enjoy the data manipulation features with Looker, especially the ability to combine data.
The main issues people have with Looker is speed, and the deep learning curve when you are starting out. The software is meant to be easier to read and understand for analytics but you will still need users on the developer side that are fluent in SQL.
If you want to see a run-through of a developer going between their database and the looker dashboard see the video below.
Looker - Database to Dashboard Technical Demo
What Is The Cost For Looker?
Looker does not offer any upfront pricing and requires businesses to inquire for a quote. On the bright side, our user reviews for Looker can give some insight into their overall costs. You can also request a quote based on your business here.
Pros
On-demand and in the cloud, we don't have to mess with AMIs or scaling issues
Looker's data domain creating tool is better than anything we've seen
LookML, Looker's specialized language is incredibly extensible and allows us to connect and visualize almost any data type
Cons
Looker is expensive
Looker's solution is pretty much set, they come out with new features, but because it's hosted, you don't have a ton of extensibility
Creating public dashboards seem a bit difficult
Verified User | C-Level Executive in Corporate | Education Management Company, 11-50 employees
You’ll see that this company gives Looker high praises like the “better than anything we’ve seen,” but even with that praise they acknowledge the cost is definitely a con.
Pros
The core-visibility lets you monitor your entire workflow along with live data.
The user interface makes the task of figuring out the data easy.
Find the relevant data that your business needs.
Build models on the fly.
Cons
Customer service could be more responsive.
Platform can be expensive depending on the level of your business.
Greg Alder | Account Executive | GayTravel (Airlines/Aviation, 11-50 employees)
We may not be able to see Looker’s pricing model, but there is definitely a consensus that small teams find Looker expensive. If you’re a small business or startup with a tight budget you should consider other BI tools with more transparent pricing details.
How Does Looker Compare to Tableau?
Tableau is another BI tool like Looker with data visualization capabilities for databases. We can’t really compare Looker to Tableau by cost because Looker does not have any transparent pricing. Tableau actually offers their pricing at checkout. Depending on the service you need, the cost per user a month can be affordable.
One issue is you can’t find a set of subscriptions with all the features and costs listed. You only see the license depicted in the image below if you click on their “Buy Now” button. These licenses include Creator, Explorer, and VIewer. They also have eLearning licenses for Creator and Explorer if you happen to be more of a beginner in software engineering and data sciences.
Creator | Explorer | Viewer | |
Pricing Details | $70 user/month | $42 user/month | $15 user/month |
Creator licenses are for those combining data in one location just like Looker’s Business Intelligence service. Developers would need these licenses. The Explorer license is for those mining through the data in the dashboard. Your analysts need this license. Viewer is meant for those that need to see the data but don’t need to perform any important actions on the data.
If you are a small business or startup that is not working on private business data, you can use Tableau Public. It’s a free, public cloud platform. Your data is published to the platform and other people can see it. If this is fine with you, then Tableau Public is the best choice for your budget. You can go here to visit the community.
More Resources
If you want to find more Looker alternatives you can find a variety of software in our lists for business intelligence, digital analytics, and embedded business intelligence.
For those that have used any of the platforms discussed here please leave a review to help other buyers make informed decisions.
