BI platforms comparison: Top 10 Best Business Intelligence Tools 2024

Business intelligence (BI) platforms have become essential for companies looking to gain insights from their data. With the right BI software, organizations can visualize data, create interactive dashboards and reports, conduct predictive analytics, and enable data-driven decision making. Choosing the best BI tool depends on an organization’s specific needs, budget, and use cases. In this article, we compare the top 10 BI platforms of 2024 based on key criteria like ease of use, advanced analytics, data visualization capabilities, and more.

What are the best business intelligence platforms for 2024?

With so many BI tools to choose from, how do you determine which is the right fit for your business? Here are the top factors to consider when evaluating BI software:

The ability to conduct advanced analytics

Many BI platforms now go beyond basic reporting and enable more advanced analytics like statistical analysis, forecasting, predictive modeling, and machine learning. Look for self-service options to empower business users to perform analytics without coding. Leaders like Tableau, Power BI, and Looker offer strong analytics.

Custom dashboards for business leaders

Interactive dashboards with drag-and-drop functionality make it easy for non-technical users to visualize key data and trends. Prioritize BI tools like Zoho Analytics, Datapine, and Tableau that enable customizable dashboards tailored to your business.

Data ingestion and third-party integration

Your BI software should be able to connect to various data sources like databases, cloud apps, Excel, etc. The best tools provide pre-built connectors and APIs to integrate with third-party software. Oracle, Power BI, and Looker are leading here.

User-friendly interface and self-service options

Ease of use is critical — you want employees across your organization to be able to access insights. Seek BI platforms like Microsoft Power BI with intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces for building reports and dashboards.

Data preparation and management capabilities

Leading BI tools like Tableau Prep offer data wrangling to clean, transform, and combine data before analysis. Additionally, some BI software includes data cataloging, governance, and pipeline management features.

Mobile access and collaboration

With today’s remote workforce, mobile apps and sharing/collaboration features are key. Prioritize BI platforms like Zoho Analytics and Power BI that offer native apps for data access on the go and allow teams to collaborate.

Now let’s dive into 10 top BI platforms and how they compare across these criteria:

DoubleCloud

DoubleCloud offers the leading open-source services. The service is part of a platform with the world’s fastest ClickHouse database, Kafka Management and Airflow. These services can be deployed on either Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. No-code ELT tool enables real-time data synchronization across different systems. Additionally, the managed open-source Data Visualization tool allows users to effortlessly create charts and dashboards for real-time data visualization. Key features:

• Fully managed services such as ClickHouse, Kafka, and Airflow
• Exceptional performance and high speed
• Designed for engineers, by engineers
• Powerful Real-Time Data Visualization with integrated Chat-GPT4
• Greater deployment options
• Free 30-days trial period. Flexible pricing options

Decide whether to opt for an open-source managed service or harness the complete capabilities of the DoubleCloud platform, which encompasses data storage, ELT (Extract, Load, Transform), and real-time analytics. The significant advantage lies in its seamless integration with AWS and GCP.

DoubleCloud analytics are available on the web, but with the embedding option, reports and reporters can be integrated into any web interface or app and accessed from mobile.

Zoho Analytics

Zoho Analytics (Web, iOS, Android)

Zoho Analytics makes it easy for small and midsize businesses to get started with BI through its straightforward drag-and-drop interface. Key features include:

• Customizable dashboards with filters, drill-down, and predictive analytics
• 250+ connectors to data sources like databases, cloud apps, files
• Data preparation tools for cleansing, transforming, and combining
• Embedded analytics to include dashboards in other apps
• Mobile access through native iOS and Android apps
• affordable pricing starts under $30/month

With strong data connectivity, data prep, and dashboard features at a reasonable price point, Zoho Analytics is a leading choice for SMBs looking for self-service BI and easy analytics for non-technical users.

Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI (Web, iOS, Android)

As a leader in business intelligence, Microsoft Power BI offers interactive data visualization, easy dashboard creation, and AI-powered analytics. Key features:

• Hundreds of data connectors and no-code data preparation
• Natural language queries with plain text questions
• Built-in AI for forecasting, predictions, and recommendations
• Natural language generation for text reports and insights
• Fully customizable dashboards and reports
• Mobile apps across iOS, Android, Windows
• Per user pricing starts at $9.99/month

Power BI makes it feasible for organizations of all sizes to get advanced analytics through artificial intelligence paired with an intuitive interface. It’s a top choice for those already using Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem.

Tableau

Tableau (Web)

Tableau pioneered self-service analytics through its easy drag-and-drop interface. It remains a leader in interactive data visualization. Key features:

• Create charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards via drag-and-drop
• Options for basic and advanced analytics, including forecasting
• Connect to files, databases, cloud apps, big data sources
• Powerful data preparation capabilities in Tableau Prep
• Explorer mode for ad hoc data analysis
• Embed analytics into web portals and apps
• Flexible pricing options for individuals, teams, and enterprises

Tableau excels in fast, intuitive data visualization and exploration. The extensive visualization options make it a frequent choice for data-driven companies across industries.

Looker (owned by Google)

Looker (Web)

Acquired by Google in 2019, Looker is a unified platform for business intelligence, data applications, and embedded analytics. Key features:

• Intuitive data modeling and drag-and-drop UI to explore data
• Integrated data platform with modeling, preparation, visualization
• Embed analytics into internal apps and customer portals
• Flexible pricing options from free to enterprise licenses
• Powerful analytics and machine learning capabilities backed by Google
• Pre-built industry solutions and visualizations

Looker combines ease of use with enterprise-scale capabilities, making it ideal for large companies. The Google integration also makes it a strong choice for companies invested in Google Cloud.

Datapine

(Web, iOS, Android)

Datapine focuses on user-friendly business intelligence for small and midsize businesses. Key advantages:

• Customizable dashboards via drag-and-drop
• 250+ data connectors and integrations
• Data preparation and combination features
• Predictive analytics and smart notifications
• Embedded BI to integrate analytics into other tools
• Mobile apps for data access on the go
• Affordable subscription plans starting under $30/month

Datapine provides an intuitive BI platform tailored to SMBs who want self-service analytics without extensive training or onboarding. The inexpensive price point makes BI accessible for small companies.

IBM Cognos Analytics

IBM Cognos Analytics (Web, iOS, Android)

IBM Cognos Analytics offers a unified suite for business intelligence and performance management, including reporting, dashboards, ad hoc analysis, and predictive analytics. Key features:

• Interactive dashboards with drag-and-drop customization
• Self-service data preparation and modeling
• AI assistant and autocorrection capabilities
• Integrations with IBM Cloud Pak for Data and Watson Studio
• Flexible deployment options: cloud, on-premises, or hybrid
• Role-based permissions and security features
• Mobile app for analytics on the go

Cognos brings enterprise-scale capabilities for complex analytics use cases. The extensive AI features make it compelling for heavily regulated industries like banking and insurance.

Metabase

Metabase is an open source business intelligence and data visualization platform. Key strengths:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for building reports and dashboards
• Built-in data analysis capabilities — filtering, grouping, sorting etc.
• Support for connecting to various data sources — databases, files, web APIs etc.
• Collaboration and access control capabilities
• Extensibility through plugins
• Free to use and open source

Metabase allows companies of any size to access analytics and data visualization without the need for highly skilled expertise. It empowers anyone to ask questions about their data, make data-driven decisions and share insights with others.

Sisense

Sisense (Web, iOS, Android)

Sisense focuses on embedded analytics to integrate analytics into business apps. Key features:

• Custom branding and white-label embedding
• Simplified data preparation and modeling
• AI-driven insights and anomaly detection
• Live database connectivity for real-time analytics
• APIs to embed analytics workflows into apps
• Flexible cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment
• Usage-based pricing starting at $999/month

For companies looking to infuse analytics directly into business processes and applications, Sisense makes it easy to embed actionable insights.

Domo

Domo (Web, iOS, Android)

Domo offers cloud-native business intelligence with an emphasis on real-time data access, mobile usage, and collaboration. Key advantages:

• Unified platform combines data ingestion, visualization, and sharing
• Library of 500+ connector tools to access data
• Interactive dashboards optimized for all devices
• Embedded BI, custom branding, and white labeling
• Team collaboration capabilities for data-driven decisions
• Subscription plans start at $83/month per user

Domo stands out for its real-time data access, making it optimal for agile organizations that need to deliver insights quickly.

Important Functionalities of Business Intelligence Tools

Beyond the top platforms, there are key functionalities to look for when evaluating any BI software:

Data connectivity and ETL

Your BI tool should be able to connect to multiple data sources, whether stored on-premises or in the cloud. Leading options offer hundreds of pre-built connectors as well as APIs to integrate external data. ETL (extract, transform, load) capabilities allow you to shape, cleanse, and prepare data for analysis.

Scalability

As data needs grow over time, your BI platform must be able to scale across the enterprise. Look for BI tools that offer options to add users and expand capabilities as adoption increases. Cloud-based tools often scale better than on-premises.

Governance and security

For regulated industries like banking and healthcare, governance and security are critical. Seek BI platforms that enable you to set permissions, ensure compliance, establish data policies, and protect sensitive data.

Actionable insights

The most effective BI tools don’t just provide reports and visualizations. They enable you to trigger actions and workflows based on analytic insights. Key features like alerting, notifications, and embedded analytics increase the business value.

Mobile functionality

In today’s workplace, employees need to access analytics and data visualization on the go. Prioritize BI platforms that offer native mobile apps and responsive design for all devices.

How we evaluate and test apps

When reviewing business intelligence software at Ajelix, we take a hands-on approach to thoroughly test capabilities and user experience. Key aspects include:

• Demo testing — We walk through the product demo and sign up for free trials to assess ease of use and core features.
• Data connectivity — We examine how easy it is to connect to datasets and various data sources like Excel, MySQL, Salesforce, etc.
• Dashboard creation — We build sample dashboards via the drag-and-drop interface to evaluate the reporting and visualization experience.
• Data preparation — For tools with ETL functionality, we assess how intuitive it is to cleanse, transform, and combine data.
• Analytics — We test basic and advanced analytics capabilities including forecasting, predictions, statistical analysis, and AI.
• User workflows- We validate workflows for key user personas — business analysts, IT admins, end users — to ensure the tool enables self-service insights.
• Mobile access — We thoroughly test the mobile experience and functionality across Android and iOS apps.

This hands-on approach provides the insights needed to compare leading options and make recommendations for the best BI platform based on your organization’s specific requirements. Reach out to work with our software advisors!

Conclusion

The business intelligence software landscape offers many powerful platforms to turn data into strategic insights. Choosing the right BI tool depends on your organization’s unique needs, budget, and use cases. Key selection criteria include data connectivity, analytics capabilities, ease of use for business users, flexibility, and mobile functionality.

Leading solutions from Microsoft, Tableau, Sisense, Zoho, and Looker stand out for enabling customizable dashboards, advanced analytics, and actionable insights accessible to employees across the business. SMBs can benefit from user-friendly and affordable options like Zoho Analytics and Datapine. Meanwhile, enterprises often gravitate toward robust tools like SAS Viya, IBM Cognos, and Oracle BI.

Beyond individual capabilities, it’s critical to choose a BI vendor that can grow with your data needs and provide the level of training, support, and integration required for company-wide adoption. By leveraging the right technology for your analytics strategy, your organization can become truly data-driven — making smarter decisions, predicting future trends, and driving better business outcomes through insights unlocked from data.