Looker vs Microsoft Power BI

Tableau

Google Analytics 360

Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI converts data into rich interactive visualizations, utilizing business analytics tools to share dashboard-based insights across all devices

Tableau is a business intelligence and analytics platform that enables users to connect to databases, create data visualizations, and share insights. The platform offers deployment options including cloud-based, self-hosted, and desktop environments with drag-and-drop functionality for building interactive dashboards. It features AI-based analytics capabilities, integration with Salesforce CRM, and supports visual storytelling and collaboration across organizations.

Enterprise-level analytics platform for marketers, BI staff, and online businesses to gain insights into customer website interactions.

Looker is data platform that makes it easy for businesses to find, explore and understand your business data through reports, dynamic dashboards and more.

A/B Testing

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

Ad hoc Analysis

Ad hoc Query

Ad hoc Reporting

AI/Machine Learning

Alerts/Escalation

Alerts/Notifications

Annotations

Application Development

Attribution Modeling

Audience Targeting

Behavioral Analytics

Benchmarking

Budgeting/Forecasting

Campaign Management

Campaign Tracking

Charting

Collaboration Tools

Conversion Tracking

Cross Channel Attribution

Customer Journey Mapping

Customizable Dashboard

Customization

Dashboard

Dashboard Creation

Data Blending

Data Capture and Transfer

Data Connectors

Data Dictionary Management

Data Extraction

Data Import/Export

Data Management

Data Modeling

Data Synchronization

Data Transformation

Data Visualization

Data Warehousing

Drag & Drop

Embeddable Widget

Financial Reporting

Forecasting

For Healthcare

Forms Management

For Sales Teams/Organizations

For Science

Functions/Calculations

Goal Setting/Tracking

High Volume Processing

Integration into Third Party Applications

Interactive Reports

Key Performance Indicators

Keyword Tracking

KPI Monitoring

Marketing Reports

Media Analytics

Mixed Methods Research

Mobile Access

Mobile Reporting

Monitoring

Multi-Channel Attribution

Multi-Channel Data Collection

Multiple Data Sources

Multi-Touch Attribution

Multi-User Collaboration

Multivariate Analysis

No-Code

Performance Metrics

Predictive Analytics

Private Dashboards

Profitability Analysis

Public Dashboards

Quantitative Analysis

Radial Mapping

Real-Time Analytics

Real-Time Data

Real-Time Updates

Referral Tracking

Regression Analysis

Reminders

Reporting/Analytics

Reporting & Statistics

ROI Tracking

Role-Based Permissions

Sales Reports

Sales Trend Analysis

Scheduled/Automated Reports

Scorecards

Search/Filter

Self-service Analytics

Self Service Data Preparation

Sensitive Data Identification

Single Page View

Single Sign On

Site Search Tracking

SSL Security

Statistical Analysis

The Looker integrations most frequently cited by reviewers are: Google Analytics 360 (a web analytics product rated 4.8 out of 5 for its integration with Looker), Google Ads (a campaign management product, 4.8), and Microsoft Excel (a spreadsheet product, 4.9).

Integrations

Reviews for Looker come from a wide variety of industries, including marketing and advertising (15% of reviewers), computer software (13%), and information technology and services (11%). The most frequent use case for Looker cited by reviewers is data visualization (75% of reviewers).

Looker

Web-based

Windows

Linux

Android

iPhone

Basic

Slow performance with large data

Production Project Engineer

It takes forever to load when you're running larger queries.

Project Leader

Sometimes it lags when using big data sets, so it takes some time to render the complete report. When building a report dimensions search also get some lag.

77% of reviewers feel negative about Looker’s performance and speed. Users report frequent lag and long loading times, especially when working with large datasets or running complex queries. Reviewers indicate that waiting for dashboards and reports to load can disrupt their workflow and cause frustration, particularly when timely data access is critical. Some users mention the need to refresh multiple times to get updated results, and others note that performance issues become more pronounced with multiple users or blended data. They find these delays hinder productivity.

Efficient and flexible report sharing

Customer Service Consultant

Also, sharing the reports is easy as you can share the direct link to it or export into a PDF file.

Branch Manager

Report sharing is phenomenal, after I create it is easy to share it with different departments and each one can see the how they are doing.

91% of reviewers feel positive about Looker’s report sharing capabilities. Users indicate they can easily distribute up-to-date reports by sharing live links or exporting PDFs, which streamlines collaboration across teams and departments. Reviewers appreciate the ability to automate report scheduling, saving time and reducing manual effort. They find sharing dashboards and reports straightforward, whether with internal colleagues or external partners, and value the variety of formats available for different user needs. Users say these features help ensure everyone has timely access to the latest data without extra steps.

Responsive and helpful support team

91% of reviewers feel positive about Looker’s customer support. Users report that support staff are quick to respond, knowledgeable, and genuinely listen to feedback and feature requests. Reviewers indicate they receive consistent assistance during onboarding and ongoing use, which helps them resolve issues efficiently. Some users say the customer-centric approach and proactive communication from the support team improve their overall experience. They find that the willingness of support to address questions and adapt to user needs is a standout aspect of the service.

Project Lead

Utilising a mix of G suite and Microsoft looker can pull data from both googles platforms and microsoft as well as CSV files.

Project Manager

Robust data exploration, governed metrics, real-time dashboards, and deep integration with Google Cloud.

Data Visualization Engineer

Probably the capability to allow non-technical users to create their own dashboards/reports to explore data. While a data analytics team can work on building complex dashboards, allowing for discovery and diagnostic, Looker allows business users to quickly draw out some information on their own, without wasting time on raising requests for the dev team

Working more on building the visualizations, I found that while the final users appreciate the basic visuals and charts, my desire to create more compelling designs and visuals can be constrained by the platform limitations.

Sr. Data Analyst

We are using it in our data extraction pipeline to track the time analysts spend on each document and their activities.

Product Management

Sometimes, for really specific visuals, I have to export data or use other tools, which isn't ideal. While you can build custom visuals, it's not as straightforward as I'd like, and the standard options feel a bit basic for telling richer data stories.

One-stop solution for probably >80% of reporting and data visualization topics within a company and easy to use access and downloading rights of underlying data.

Manager

The best feature at Looker is the way to can connect to multiple sources at once and create complex reporting and data analytics.

Looker works great with automatically importing data from different sources like Sheets, Analytics and Google Ads making my reports always up to date.

Overall Looker is a good platform to build and develop useful data visuals and developed dashboards.

Analyst

The design and presentation of compelling and attractive dashboards stuffed with the right information has enhanced the way we make decisions based on data.

Client Partner Director

Google Organizations and Google Groups on occasion can be confusing as you manage the organization of or cleanse access to Looker dashboards.

Use looker if you want a quick easy to pick up tool to create data visuals at a good standard.

Making charts and graphs from all data you have allows you to do very accurate prediction on the business.

On the whole I have not experienced and significant issues or bugs within in looker studio which inistelf is a great postive.

Commercial manager

The price is ok..as our data was big query it made it work much better.i like the drag and drop which makes it easy

It is a great tool to visualize data, from results to objetives, evolutions, etc

The main benefit is the plethora of compatible sources of data.

LookML is a game-changer for keeping our data clean and empowering users.

Customer success manager

Like a drag-and-drop of different type of charts, and everything is connected to the sources you integrate.

With all the online help we managed to get a new coder working on it quickly

It supports a lot of great connections and building visualizations or modifying them is intuitive.

Account Manager

The biggest feature for me is the ability to import different data from different sources.

Sr. Talent Acquisition Partner

Excellent data viewer tool to bring over non data driven departments and  get more transparency across the org.

Version control for LookML is also a huge win for teamwork!

IT Technician

The option to automatically import data from different sources makes my reports always updated.

You needs special API access from different vendors to import data, some of these are quite pricey.

Digital Marketing Manager

Its ability to integrate with Tableau expands our analytical capabilities, while its digital marketing-specific features allow us to optimize our SEO and keyword strategies. Although it is important to consider potential delays when solving technical problems, Looker's value to our daily work is undeniable.

The interface allows us to easily train customers and colleagues on how to use and manipulate the data, even if a user does not have any SQL experience.

This pre-built connection to link your data from Google Sheets to the platform simplifies the process significantly. Once the data is linked, creating customized dashboards featuring a variety of graphs is a breeze, allowing you to tailor them to your company's color scheme and preferences

No cons for Looker, I wish more apps would allow users to export data to Looker automatically.

AI Data and Insights Analyst

There were a few bugs and issues with the dashboard.

Fleet Admin

It gives a good and complex overview over different parts of the business and department I work.

Director of Technical Operations

You sometimes have to simple close the browser and reopen it to avoid oddball errors.

Data Analyst

Occasional lags are there when I process large data sets which I feel is a downside.

Director

The most I like at Looker that I can import data from multiple sources automatically.

Creating a dashboard  with essential charts and graphs is very easy with its drag and drop builder.

Head of Growth

It’s super easy to maintain and update reports - particularly if using some of the direct integrations for Google products (eg Google ads).

Content Manager

I have integrated Analytics, Search Console and Semrush in my main dashboard get a better view over my Business's website, making it very easy to see where I can grow.

Head of Marketing

Google products integrate quite well but external ones need to be connected via connectors, which can be expensive

When it comes to reports Looker is the only way you can provide complex reports, easy to update and customize.

I open Looker every week and analyze the growth or loos in the company.

Looker has a tendency to hang/freeze if you're working on reports with a lot of elements.  

Also, with google looker reports can be delivered by specific schedules.

Fantastic for communicating data to clients as it can be shared via url

Regional Sales Manager

Overwall Looker is a great tool for reporting and data analysys.

SEO/SEM Specialist

This partnership has not only enhanced my data-driven decision-making but has also simplified the overall analytics experience, making it an essential part of my workflow.

Looker vs Microsoft Power BI Comparison (2026)

Looker

Microsoft Power BI

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives