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Looking for a business intelligence tool with great ease of use, superior data visualization capabilities, numerous connectors, and predictable pricing? And all of that without spending hours of your time on sales calls? Today, we take a look at Sisense and Qlik Sense, two popular platforms for data analytics.
We review their key features, pros and cons, data connectors, pricing and more to provide an overall rating for both tools and help you make an educated decision.
Qlik has a solid API that you can use to connect just about anything to your dashboards, provided you have skilled developers on board. On top of that, there are over 160 different tools and platforms you can connect to Qlik out of the box, including:
According to user reviews, the wide choice of connectors is a good starting point, and then the trouble starts when you realize that Qlik is not all that user-friendly. You have to set up data tables, choose the data you want to import, and then build a data model and join them together.
In other words, before doing advanced analytics, you need someone experienced in using Qlik to connect everything.
Sisense is no joke when it comes to connectors either, offering a wide range of databases, data warehouses, and third-party apps from the web.
Using these connectors is pretty straightforward. You choose the one you want to connect, configure the connection, and import the data into Sisense. You may have to tinker with the app a bit at this stage to make sure the format is correct, but that’s as complex as it gets.
Sisense has a unique setup, with the basic unit of measurement called Elasticube - an analytics database that helps with faster querying of datasets and better data management. There are three available packages to choose from, with a separate plan called Fusion Embed just for embedded analytics.
When it comes to pros, many users state that Sisense is pretty fast, even with large datasets, thanks in large part to Elasticubes. For most users, Sisense is intuitive and has a good variety of dashboard widgets and customization options for dashboards and ad-hoc reporting.
Similar to more popular tools like Tableau, there are many online communities, knowledge bases, and tutorials, packed with Sisense screenshots and troubleshooting guides. In case you get stuck, you’ll have to talk to their customer support team that is a bit of a mixed bag, according to online reviews.
As for the downsides, the pricing is neither transparent nor modest. If you run a small business, bear in mind that Sisense pricing is not small-business friendly.
If you want to uncover every functionality (especially for embedded analytics), there is a steep initial learning curve. Once you have a completed dashboard that you’re ready to embed, be prepared to set aside some time because users state the experience is much like Power BI.
If on the other hand, you decide to embed with Compose SDK, their code-first approach to embedding, strap in for a wild ride because it will take more than SQL to get the dashboard to work in your app. It’s very likely that you will need to hire a developer with previous Sisense experience to do Compose SDK embedding.
Qlik Sense is a modern data analytics platform that is a popular choice for companies of all sizes. Like many other BI tools nowadays, it uses the power of AI automation and machine learning to get to data insights faster.
When it comes to benefits, many users praise how user-intuitive Qlik is, making it easy to get started for both data analytics newbies and experts. Similar to other data analysis tools like Tableau and Power BI, there is a wide range of visualizations to choose from and shape your data story in the way that best suits your needs.
Thanks to its associative model, you can explore data relationships without predefined queries. Saving this time on data preparation is another reason why Qlik is so beginner-friendly. It also has solid performance and its dashboards load fairly quickly even with big datasets.
But that’s just one side of the story. As some users state, Qlik is easy to get started with, but anything more complex requires advanced data analytics skills. If you’re already using another BI tool and want to make a switch to Qlik, getting access to those advanced features means a steep learning curve, or hiring a Qlik specialist.
You’re also locked into the Qlik ecosystem and you have to use their connectors, integrations scripting languages, and workflows. Once again, this means that if you want to use Qlik to its full potential for e.g. predictive analytics and data forecasting, you need someone experienced with this platform.
We’ve talked extensively about Sisense pricing before and by now, you know that there is no official starting price for this analytics platform. You have to get in touch with sales to learn how much Sisense will cost you. Our research shows that you’ll have to pay at least $10,000 per year for the self-hosted version, while cloud versions of Sisense start at $20,000 and up annually.
Qlik seems to be more transparent and lists actual prices on their websites. The cheapest you can get Qlik for is $2,700 per month, but that’s just the basic package. This includes 50GB of data for analysis for a year and unlimited viewers, while paid users cost extra for each user.
Our customers tell us that the typical range for Qlik for self-service, embedded analytics is around $90,000 per year.
Having said this, it’s hard to determine which of the two tools is more affordable. It’s best to reach out to both BI tools with your individual requirements to get a custom quote.
Your end users need data visualizations that look good on any device, show them key metrics in real-time and work well within your SaaS app.
On the other hand, you need a data visualization tool that solves your business needs, has many data integration options and doesn’t take months to implement in your product.
Try Luzmo, the Sisense and Qlik alternative that works better in embedded environments, has a capable API and simple, transparent pricing.
Want to learn more? Get a free demo of Luzmo and see how we can help!
Experience the power of Luzmo. Talk to our product experts for a guided demo or get your hands dirty with a free 10-day trial.
