Microsoft Power BI vs. Sisense for Cloud Data Teams

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
Score 6.5 out of 10
N/A
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams (formerly Periscope Data) is a data visualization tool that allows users to connect to their SQL databases to create sharable, interactive dashboards. In addition to SQL, its analytics integrate with R and Python, allowing users to prep datasets, perform analysis, and create their own visualizations. Sisense acquired Periscope Data in mid-2019.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft Power BISisense for Cloud Data Teams
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Power BISisense for Cloud Data Teams
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Power BISisense for Cloud Data Teams
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Power BI
Chose Microsoft Power BI
Cost-effective but has a lot of features to offer. The perfect tool to build reports and dashboards with a large amount of data and complex data modeling. End users do not require much knowledge to get used to the tool. Regular updates from Microsoft to add new features and has …
Chose Microsoft Power BI
I am not a data analyst, but as a user, I prefer the UI of Power BI compared to Periscope Data. Periscope Data has some really great functionality and can build some really useful reports, but Power BI seems to have more useful visuals and is easier for non-database …
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
Chose Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
RStudio requires custom code from programmers and the decision was made to move to software instead of software developers. Microsoft Power BI didn't have the right data subscription capabilities for our customers.
Chose Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
Periscope Data enables data wrangling and is more familiar to SQL-savvy people - which are mostly analysts. Writing query is not really tedious for them, so it is not a huge problem. Quick and nice response from Periscope support is really helpful for the users.
Chose Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
Sharing of visualisations and rapid prototypen/building, ease of use. UX is 20x better.
Features
Microsoft Power BISisense for Cloud Data Teams
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.8
140 Ratings
8% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
9.2
19 Ratings
9% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.5120 Ratings8.810 Ratings
Customizable dashboards10.0140 Ratings9.119 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.0128 Ratings9.617 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
140 Ratings
2% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
8.8
19 Ratings
10% above category average
Drill-down analysis7.0139 Ratings9.015 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.9138 Ratings9.218 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.0103 Ratings8.610 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.0135 Ratings8.619 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.6
134 Ratings
4% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
9.6
18 Ratings
13% above category average
Publish to Web8.0129 Ratings9.612 Ratings
Publish to PDF9.0122 Ratings9.612 Ratings
Report Versioning9.0102 Ratings9.612 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.0104 Ratings9.615 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers9.074 Ratings9.47 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.7
136 Ratings
9% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
8.7
19 Ratings
7% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.9131 Ratings8.318 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.0122 Ratings8.817 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.9102 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.6
127 Ratings
1% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)9.0121 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.0102 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)10.0111 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.394 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
117 Ratings
1% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access8.0111 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.793 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.7112 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
80 Ratings
7% above category average
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams
-
Ratings
REST API8.072 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API9.956 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.055 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API8.046 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.163 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings00 Ratings
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User Ratings
Microsoft Power BISisense for Cloud Data Teams
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(142 ratings)
8.4
(19 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(58 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(53 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Power BISisense for Cloud Data Teams
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
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Sisense Ltd
Sisense for Cloud Data Teams is suited so well for our project that works with lots of data and needs some ways to share data internally or externally with our clients. It's very easy to pull out the data from the sense in best and in a suitable format and moreover a huge number of options are available there to represent the data. All features of this Sisense for cloud data teams software can be taken advantage of if you have a team who are well versed in data analytics, data management, and programming.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
  • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
  • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
Read full review
Sisense Ltd
  • Rapid deployment of polished T-SQL-based data visualization charts and dashboards. Periscope supports a variety of database technologies, and allows users to write custom queries to display data.
  • Included caching to reduce server load.
  • Outstanding customer service/support, with expert advice as needed.
  • Constant updates and new features.
  • Built-in SQL formatters take the pain out of manipulating date/time objects.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
  • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
  • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
  • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
Read full review
Sisense Ltd
  • Include more appropriate updates in their monthly newsletter as opposed to the general overview that doesn't always have the most pertinent information at the forefront.
  • There are bugs at times when certain dashboards are down, though not in an overwhelming way.
  • If you do not tag something it shows up in multiple views and may be accessible to people that it should not be, though that is a user error it may make sense to prompt for a tag and security setting.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
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Sisense Ltd
No answers on this topic
Usability
Microsoft
Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
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Sisense Ltd
My company has had Periscope for various use cases in the past and I think that this program opens up complex data reports to non-technical people in a really accessible way (even though the learning curve is a big one). We are now integrating Sisense for Cloud Data Teams at a larger level both for internal data exploration and for customer facing dashboards and reports.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
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Sisense Ltd
The user interface is just amazing and it's really very easy to use and navigate, even for a newbie. Mostly it provides us the accurate data.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
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Sisense Ltd
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
Read full review
Sisense Ltd
Google Analytics works well but it does not have all of the bells and whistles that Periscope Data offers. Google Analytics is best used in a Google environment but if you are using other tools and programs outside of the Google universe, then Periscope Data is a much better option.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
  • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
  • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
Read full review
Sisense Ltd
  • Very positive - has allowed us to glean insights quickly and in real time.
  • Definitely helpful for evaluating performance of accounts and employees.
  • Versatile - we even use it with recruiting metrics, our software team uses it to test feature deployment.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow