Looker vs NVivo

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Our analysts compared Looker vs NVivo based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Business Intelligence Tools, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Looker Software Tool
NVivo Software Tool

Product Basics

Looker is a web-based analytics solution that offers businesses the ability to explore, discover, visualize and share data insights. Enterprises can view data sources and drill down into data to better understand their business and metrics.

Using a simple proprietary modeling language, this system helps define data relationships while bypassing SQL. It facilitates data literacy and accessibility, irrespective of technical skill levels. It was acquired by Google on June 6, 2019, for $2.9 billion.
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NVivo is a qualitative data analysis solution for academic and industrial research. It lets users code and visualize their findings from interviews, surveys, text documents and demographic information. It’s helpful in social sciences, education and healthcare.

It has a friendly interface, powerful searches and advanced graphics. Once set up, the system can perform automatic sentiment analysis. Users can record the coding schemes and use them across the data. Documenting the steps enables future researchers to validate the research.

The vendor offers exclusive modules for collaboration and transcription. Its Collaboration Cloud lets many people work on the same project.

Pros
  • Powerful data management
  • Rich coding and query tools
  • Visualizations and data exploration
  • Team collaboration features
  • Support for various data formats
Cons
  • Steep learning curve
  • Can be expensive for individuals
  • Limited free trial/demo
  • Not ideal for simple projects
  • Occasional bugs and glitches
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$2,900 Monthly
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$99/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Chromebook
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On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
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Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Real-Time Data: Keep up to date on the most recent numbers through real-time updates to dashboards and other visualizations.
  • Local Database: Uses an organization’s proprietary database to collect data — no need to rely on parallel data pipelines or data extracts.
  • Self-Service BI: Explore data through the self-serve function and then refine the automatically generated visualizations. Create custom dashboards to reflect specific KPIs based on the business’ specific needs.
  • Virtual Schema: Create live connections to over 35 SQL databases through a code-based virtual query-time schema. Keeps data visualizations secure and up-to-date.
  • Embedded Analytics: Embeddable through SSO, it can deploy into third-party solutions like a CRM or ERP as an embedded iframe or through Javascript. Empowers other software solutions with BI capabilities including reliable data, self-service analytics, actionable insights and intuitive dashboards.
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  • Boost ROI: Tap into buyer sentiment by noting their needs and preferences and applying them to product development. Push sales by fine-tuning marketing campaigns.
  • Innovate: Launch new products and improve existing offerings. Go beyond numbers and discover what customers think and feel with thematic and sentiment analysis.
  • Act: Save time while searching for information. Organize data from various sources, such as interviews, surveys and social media, in one system.
  • Improve Services: Build stronger customer associations by serving them better. Identify their pain points and improvement areas by analyzing feedback.
  • Save Money: Free resources for more strategic work by automating tasks like transcription — auto-code interviews with NVivo 14.
  • Test Drive: Try it for 14 days free, including the Collaboration Cloud.
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  • Automated Modeling: Connects to relational databases and automatically generates models from the database schema.
  • Intuitive Visualizations: Generates visualizations in real time directly from the specified data source. Choose from an expansive library of visualization options like bar graphs, pie charts, Sankey diagrams, spider web charts, sunburst graphs, chord diagrams, heatmaps, funnels, treemaps and many more.
  • Time Zone Handling: Incorporates data seamlessly into the visualization, regardless of what time zone it is coming from.
  • LookML Data Modeling Language: Create scalable, reusable data models through the proprietary SQL-based data modeling language LookML.
  • Pre-Built Analytics Code: Use its Blocks feature as a starting point for building data analytics models with customizable code blocks. Includes optimized SQL patterns, custom visualization options, pre-built data models and more.
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  • Data Import: Pull data from mobile apps like Evernote and organize it using folders, sets or file classifications. It supports transcripts, articles, audio/video recordings and social media content.
  • Qualitative Analysis: Uncover hidden insights using powerful search tools. It turns interviews, surveys and documents into charts, word clouds and maps.
  • Thematic Analysis: Understand findings after digging deep into gathered data and spot emerging themes.
  • Integrations: Combine research materials in one place. Allows direct imports from Microsoft Office. Plus, it can use data from SurveyMonkey and social media platforms.
  • Sharing and Publishing: Export results, models and charts to various formats, including Excel, Word, text, rich-text and PDF files. Use the system clipboard to copy and paste graphics into reports and presentations.
  • Transcription: Review and edit transcripts, tag speakers, and add notes, then import transcripts directly into NVivo for analysis. NVivo Transcription auto-transcribes uploaded audio files, with support for 28 languages.
  • Multilingual Options: Analyze data in Chinese, Japanese, English, French, German and Portuguese, among other languages.
  • Collaboration Cloud: Work together to co-author research projects. A user uploads a master project to a secure cloud workspace, enabling others to download and work on it offline and then seamlessly merge their edits back into the main project.
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Product Ranking

#4

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Business Intelligence Tools

#42

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Business Intelligence Tools

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 1836 reviews
Great User Sentiment 179 reviews
88%
of users recommend this product

Looker has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 88% when considering 1836 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

82%
of users recommend this product

NVivo has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 82% when considering 179 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (20)
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4.4 (1070)
4.1 (133)
4.6 (141)
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4.1 (46)
4.4 (371)
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4.1 (234)
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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Reporting: Looker features strong reporting features that offer a degree of granularity and scheduling that 100% of users who mention reporting evaluate as a strong benefit.
Support: Of the users who say they’ve contacted customer support, 95% say the team’s quick and informative responses are a plus.
Data Accessibility: All users who mention accessibility to data say Looker does this well, distributing insights to employees across departments and teams with ease, with 100% of users mentioning this feature believing it is a benefit.
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Data Management: Organize and store various data types (text, audio, video, images) in one secure location.
Flexible Coding: Employ diverse coding approaches (tree, auto and query) to categorize and analyze data based on research questions.
Relationship Exploration: Uncover connections and hierarchies between codes using visual network maps and relationship coding.
Advanced Querying: Search coded data for specific terms, patterns or code combinations to identify key themes and trends.
Visualizations: Generate various visualizations (word clouds and concept maps) to present complex data findings clearly.
Collaboration: Share and collaborate on projects with other researchers using cloud-based options or file exports (depending on the version).
Support & Resources: Benefit from extensive online resources, tutorials, and user communities for troubleshooting and learning best practices.
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Learning Curve: About 74% of users who touch on the platform’s ease of use say that the confusing documentation, lack of training opportunities and difficulty of using programming language make Looker a tough tool to pick up as a beginner.
Setup: Of the users who mention implementation, 81% say that setting up the platform is difficult, with integrations not being as plug-and-play as competitors and assistance from IT necessary to the setup process.
Speed: Approximately 87% of users who comment on the platform’s speed say that it is slow to render certain queries and often takes a while to load.
Functionality: About 78% of users who talk about Looker’s features say that they are left wanting many functions and find the ones that it does have limited in customization or too complex to use easily.
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Steep Learning Curve: New users often report difficulty in mastering NVivo's features quickly, which impacts their productivity and project timelines.
High Cost: Some users find NVivo's pricing to be prohibitive, particularly those from smaller institutions or independent researchers with limited budgets.
Limited Cross-Platform Support: NVivo's limited compatibility with non-Windows operating systems can be a barrier for Mac or Linux users, who may have to seek alternatives or use virtual machines.
Resource Intensiveness: NVivo can be demanding on computer resources, leading to performance issues on less powerful machines, which can frustrate users when handling large data sets.
Occasional Software Bugs: Users occasionally encounter bugs that can disrupt workflow and require waiting for patches or updates, affecting the software’s dependability.
Rigid Licensing Policy: NVivo's licenses can be inflexible, and transferring a license to another computer can be problematic, causing inconvenience to users who need mobility.
Complex Data Importation: Some users find importing data from various sources into NVivo cumbersome, which could lead to a time-consuming setup process.
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Looker is a forerunner in the business intelligence field for a reason; it generates reports that include easy sharing via link, automatic scheduling and a level of granular detail that allows for deeper analysis below the surface. It excels in its filter and drill-down features and creates unique URLs when users make changes to data, leading to enhanced sharing. However, one of its biggest strengths could also be considered one of its biggest weaknesses: its proprietary programming language, LookML which is used to construct SQL queries in the platform. While a flexible and powerful data querying language, of course, LookML isn’t the most accessible to non-technical users, which means that Looker requires an IT or data team to access its full capabilities and has a steep learning curve. Users also note that its data visualizations, while simple and easy to understand, are quite basic and lacking in customization options, particularly in comparison to competitors. Some users say that it may be more appropriate for internal reporting than presentation to shareholders and end-users because of its bare-bones visualization options. However, Looker truly shines when used by enterprises, with its scalability and data accessibility making it a stellar solution that can align departments and provide thousands of users access to data insights. Its price point reflects this, with its pricing being prohibitive to startups as about 88% of users who comment on its cost remark. Overall, Looker is a solid pick for larger businesses that have a team of power users who can maximize its functionality and set it up to deliver to employees across an entire organization.

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NVivo is qualitative data analysis software that received positive reviews from users. They appreciate its user-friendly interface, powerful features and ability to handle large datasets.However, some users complained about lax customer support and the occasional bug.NVivo is popular but not as robust as some of the other options. It’s also expensive. However, many users believe that the extra cost is worth it for the additional features and functionality. It has robust coding features to analyze large amounts of data quickly.Overall, NVivo is a user-friendly qualitative data analysis software that can be expensive and complex for individual users but is a handy assistant for teams.

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