# Alternatives to Looker

Looker is Google Cloud's business intelligence platform for exploring, sharing, and visualizing company data through a governed semantic layer written in LookML. It is a fully vendor-hosted Google Cloud service sold in Standard, Enterprise, and Embed editions, distinct from the free, separate Looker Studio product.

Looker ranks #5 of 8 in Business intelligence, with an Alt Score of 78. It is proprietary, sold by subscription and available on Web, iOS and Android. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/looker/
Category: Business intelligence

## Where Looker stands out

- **Git version control** — 3 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this
- **SSO (SAML/OIDC)** — 4 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Organizations that need governed, self-service business intelligence across teams, and application developers who want to embed analytics into their own products.
- **What you get**: A hosted Looker instance with LookML-based data modeling, the Explore query interface, dashboards and Looks, scheduled delivery and alerts, an embedding solution and SDK, and admin controls for authentication, Git integration, and access management.
- **How it works**: Developers define a semantic data model in LookML files stored in a Git-backed project; that model powers point-and-click Explores, dashboards, and embedded content, with Looker translating user selections into SQL run against the connected database.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-08-03)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Lightdash](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lightdash.md) | 93 | MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) | ? |
| 2 | [Apache Superset](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/apache-superset.md) | 89 | Apache License 2.0 | Web |
| 3 | [Metabase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/metabase.md) | 89 | AGPL | Web |
| 4 | [Microsoft Power BI](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/power-bi.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Windows, Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Sigma](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sigma-computing.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web |
| 6 | [Tableau](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tableau.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [Redash](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/redash.md) | 59 | BSD-2-Clause | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Business intelligence checklist | Looker | Lightdash | Apache Superset | Metabase | Microsoft Power BI | Sigma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | OSS + paid hosting | Free | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Usage-based |
| Starts at | ? | $3000/mo | Free | $100/mo | $14/user/mo | ? |
| License | Proprietary | MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) | Apache License 2.0 | AGPL | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | ? | Web | Web | Windows, Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Open source | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| SQL editor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No-code query builder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled report delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Embedded analytics | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Row-level security | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Data alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Semantic layer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Git version control | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial | Yes | No |
| SSO (SAML/OIDC) | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| Free tier | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Looker. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/looker-core-mobile-app> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Status**: active — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/release-notes> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/looker-core-overview> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/looker-core-overview> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Open source**: No — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **SQL editor**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/sql-runner-basics> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **No-code query builder**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/creating-and-editing-explores> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Scheduled report delivery**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/admin-panel-alerts-and-schedules-schedule> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Embedded analytics**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/embed-overview> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Row-level security**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/admin-panel-users-user-attributes> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Data alerts**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/alerts-overview> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Semantic layer**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Git version control**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/setting-up-git-connection> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **SSO (SAML/OIDC)**: Yes — <https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/admin-panel-authentication-saml> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Free tier**: No — <https://cloud.google.com/resources/looker-free-trial> (verified 2026-08-03)

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/