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Alation Data Catalog vs Collibra Lineage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alation Data Catalog
Ranking in Data Governance
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (2nd)
Collibra Lineage
Ranking in Data Governance
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 7.4%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Collibra Lineage is 3.0%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

Brahma Lam - PeerSpot reviewer
Has metadata cataloging features but needs changes in domain model
The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature.  The tool's domain model needs to be changed.  Alation Data Catalog is stable.  The solution is scalable.  Alation Data Catalog's deployment is easy. I rate it a nine out of ten. Deployment takes only two to three hours to complete.…
Prabhjyot Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Faster and more efficient than manual methods or other tools like Informatica
The main differences between Collibra Lineage and Informatica are significant, particularly for small to mid-sized organizations. First, Informatica requires a dedicated team, which incurs a huge cost, making it less suitable for smaller organizations. Second, Informatica's tools are very scattered. For instance, to create a domain, you need to use Axon, and then for lineage, you must use EDC. For profiling, Informatica Developer or Analyst is required. These different tools are not well-connected to display everything on one screen. While Informatica is trying to improve with its cloud version, not many users have adopted it yet. These are the two main areas where Informatica lags.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms."
"Alation Data Catalog's best feature is the SQL query publication."
"The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable features of Alation Data Catalog are the simplicity in onboarding data sources, the security in securing the data sources, and the way the various users of Alation Data Catalog communicate with each other through a messenger."
"The solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."
"Alation Data Catalog provides a nice interface for connecting to the database, querying the data, and working on it."
"We had some of our data science engineers, who had built out some cloud-based data and data products for users. They were spending a lot of their time, up to 30 to 35% of their time, answering questions about the data and helping people understand how to use it. Once they were able to document that information within Alation, they were only focusing on around 5% of the high-value questions that really couldn't be solved through the catalog itself. It freed them up to be more productive, it made their end-users more productive, and it made the adoption rate of their data products rise more quickly because people were able to get to using them."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI feature."
"The solution allowed us to quickly and efficiently implement our data governance operating model, including accountabilities, regulatory lineage, and data dictionaries. This was much faster and more efficient than manual methods or other tools like Informatica. I prefer Collibra Lineage for its self-service capabilities."
"The solution makes data more discoverable and transparent."
"It shows how the data was transformed on the way and how the solutions were derived. This is the essence of the tool and why it is so powerful."
"We find the most valuable feature of this solution to be the lineage aspect."
"The diagrams are good for data visualization."
"The most valuable features of Collibra Lineage are the multiple options for automation. Additionally, if you have a scenario where automation does not work, you have the option to manually create the lineage. The solution does not force you to always go through an automated way where you have broken lineage and you are stuck without a lineage."
"The solution has very good online assistance."
 

Cons

"Alation Data Catalog needs to develop a lot in terms of data governance and would be improved with a built-in interactive data quality solution."
"The product's data governance features need improvement."
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"I know that this has been on their roadmap and they're working on it, but as a whole, there's an untapped reservoir of capabilities within their article features that could be used and built upon."
"Although the solution performs far better in terms of data cataloging, its data governance capabilities need improvement."
"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"Collibra Lineage could improve connectively. If they can offer more out-of-the-box connectors, which come as in a package compared to you having to go and buy a lot in the marketplace for certain specific connectors."
"It would be better if features like the privacy module and AI-based Collibra DQ were included in one package instead of being separate and requiring additional costs. Currently, the basic package covers lineage and documentation, but the extra modules come at an extra cost."
"The product must be cheaper."
"Collibra doesn't provide support for integration for SAP Info Steward directly with Collibra."
"Before you can use this solution, you have to make a lot of changes to how you measure your information in your organization, the data governance and policies, and the organizational structures that use them. Many companies believe that if they purchase the licenses for the tool that they have done the job, but this is far from the case with this tool."
"We would like this solution to be able to connect directly to the databases, so we can pull directly from Databank without manual intervention."
"The workflow documentation must be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"A three-year agreement is better than a one-year rolling 12-month agreement from a price point of view. I'd recommend looking at a three-year deal because you can't stand up a catalog and produce value in 12 months."
"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"There are different licenses available for Collibra Lineage based on what kind of access you want. If you want, for example, a read-only license they have different ones to pick from."
"It's expensive, especially for small companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Insurance Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alation Data Catalog?
The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alation Data Catalog?
I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solut...
What needs improvement with Alation Data Catalog?
When issues arise, two key concerns arise. First, how can we perform root cause analysis faster? Second, how can we optimize resource allocation, considering the associated costs? Every customer is...
What do you like most about Collibra Lineage?
The solution makes data more discoverable and transparent.
What needs improvement with Collibra Lineage?
It would be better if features like the privacy module and AI-based Collibra DQ were included in one package instead of being separate and requiring additional costs. Currently, the basic package c...
 

Also Known As

Alation
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
AXA XL, DNB, Adobe, PMI, Holland America Line, UC Davis Health, Cox Automotive
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. Collibra Lineage and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.