Looker vs. Metabase

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Looker
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Looker 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
Metabase
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Metabase aims to bring data tools with the simplicity of consumer products to the crufty world of enterprise business intelligence. Their open source analytics and business intelligence applications connect to most commonly used databases to let anyone in a company ask questions, and create dashboards or nightly emails without knowing SQL. Metabase Enterprise enables the user to embed branded analytics into customer applications.
$85
per month
Pricing
LookerMetabase
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Starter
$85
per month (includes 5 users, then $5 per user, per month)
Starter
$85
per month up to 5 users
Pro
$500
per month up to 10 users
Growth
$749
per month (includes 10 users, then $15 per user, per month)
Enterprise
15,000
per year
Open Source
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
LookerMetabase
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
LookerMetabase
Considered Both Products
Looker

No answer on this topic

Metabase
Chose Metabase
I used Looker in a previous role and found it clunky, difficult to navigate, hard to collaborate on, and ultimately massively expensive. I evaluated Looker to see if it would be right to implement it as a solution in my current role, but Metabase was the clear winner - the ease …
Features
LookerMetabase
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Looker
8.2
116 Ratings
1% above category average
Metabase
7.5
4 Ratings
8% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports7.695 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.8115 Ratings8.14 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.199 Ratings6.54 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Looker
8.3
116 Ratings
3% above category average
Metabase
8.3
4 Ratings
3% above category average
Drill-down analysis8.0112 Ratings8.54 Ratings
Formatting capabilities7.6114 Ratings7.44 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.447 Ratings7.72 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.0116 Ratings9.54 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Looker
8.6
112 Ratings
4% above category average
Metabase
8.7
2 Ratings
5% above category average
Publish to Web8.194 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.9100 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Report Versioning8.375 Ratings7.92 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling9.097 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Looker
6.8
113 Ratings
16% below category average
Metabase
8.7
4 Ratings
9% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.9109 Ratings8.54 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.897 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Predictive Analytics4.66 Ratings8.72 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.72 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Looker
8.1
112 Ratings
5% below category average
Metabase
9.5
4 Ratings
11% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)8.7106 Ratings8.64 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model7.993 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)7.9106 Ratings9.54 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.045 Ratings9.53 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings10.04 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Looker
6.0
84 Ratings
27% below category average
Metabase
9.0
2 Ratings
13% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access7.181 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Mobile Application5.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile6.975 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Looker
-
Ratings
Metabase
8.8
3 Ratings
12% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.93 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
LookerMetabase
Small Businesses
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 9.0 out of 10
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
LookerMetabase
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(117 ratings)
8.5
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(12 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
LookerMetabase
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Looker is ideal if you are heavily invested in Google Services, particularly marketing related services, and you with to quickly create reporting dashboards for that data. It gets more difficult when you try to tie in data from other services, and I would not use this were I already using BI package - it is not anywhere near as well supported or as widely known as some of its major competitors, but what it does do, it does do well.
Read full review
Metabase
Metabase is an easy tool to use if you are interested in collecting and aggregating data from multiple platforms. It is also easy to set up and start receiving the data results as a report. It is also easy to integrate with other tools that generate visual reports and take the necessary actions based on the data details.
Read full review
Pros
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.
Read full review
Metabase
  • We're currently using it to fetch reports for our products, such as daily sales, pipeline, visits, and attendance reports.
  • Data representation from database directly.
Read full review
Cons
Google
  • I wish I could get more granular in the Google ad data, such as down to the campaign type, instead of having to see only all campaigns.
  • The setup can be time-consuming if you're not using the product regularly.
  • Editing the dashboard requires a few logins; I wish it was more seamless.
Read full review
Metabase
  • Report Types
  • Updates
  • Colour/Branding
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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).
Read full review
Metabase
No answers on this topic
Usability
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.
Read full review
Metabase
Its generally quite easy to use but some SQL is definitely important
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Google
No objections
Read full review
Metabase
No answers on this topic
Performance
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
Read full review
Metabase
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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.
Read full review
Metabase
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Google
Very satisfied, easy to implement
Read full review
Metabase
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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.
Read full review
Metabase
It does not stack up against Metabase, they complete each other.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Google
Perfect price to performance
Read full review
Metabase
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
Metabase
  • It is serving us whatever we're looking for, and we've recommended many organizations to implement it if they want better data analytics as it provides better functionality than we will build.
  • As a negative it gets difficult to get control over data to be fetch initially.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Looker Screenshots

Screenshot of a Looker dashboard with a geo chart.