Looker vs Jaspersoft

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.

Jaspersoft is a suite of integrated products that offer solutions for creating, sharing and securely managing KPI-focused reports, dashboards and visualizations. All users who reviewed the platform’s cost-effectiveness said that its being open-source is a major plus. Most of the users who mentioned data connectivity said that, besides seamlessly integrating with a multitude of data sources out-of-the-box, it helps businesses develop custom sources to import as much data as possible. Most of the users who discussed its functionality said that the tool is easily embeddable in host applications, and scales easily to create and display visualizations and reports in-application. Support is responsive and online communities are proactive and helpful, according to a majority of the users who discussed them. Many of the users who reviewed its interface said that they find it easy to start creating reports with the tool. Most of the users who discussed its reporting capabilities said that it helps them customize reports in a variety of formats and schedule sharing with teams via email. A majority of the users who reviewed data visualization said that the tool helps them present data in a wide range of visually appealing formats, such as charts, graphs and cross-tabs. On the flip side, according to a majority of the users who reviewed performance, the platform is prone to infrequent bugs, and debugging them can be time consuming. Many of the users who discussed ease of adoption said that there is a steep learning curve, possibly due to inadequate documentation. Some users who mentioned ease of reporting said that it is time and effort-intensive to create professional-looking reports. In summary, Jaspersoft is a suite of versatile and customizable reporting and analytics solutions that help the end-user find answers to the data questions that are specific to their business, though there might be a significant learning curve for adoption by teams, with Java at its back-end.