Looker Studio vs SAS Visual Analytics comparison

The compared Google and SAS solutions aren't in the same category. Google is ranked #9 in RT , with an average rating of 7.6, and holds a 2.4% mindshare in the category. SAS is ranked #12 in DV , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of SAS users who would recommend it.

Looker Studio

Read 16 Looker Studio reviews

3,282 Views
2,002 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

SAS Visual Analytics

Read 41 SAS Visual Analytics reviews

4,526 Views
1,720 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Looker Studio

SAS Visual Analytics

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Looker Studio and SAS Visual Analytics based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, Plotly and others in Reporting.

To learn more, read our detailed Reporting Report (Updated: May 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Reporting

May 2026

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Helped 902,894 peers since 2012

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

Looker Studio

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Reporting (9th)

SAS Visual Analytics

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Visualization (12th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. Looker Studio is designed for Reporting and holds a mindshare of 2.4%, down 2.9% compared to last year.
SAS Visual Analytics, on the other hand, focuses on Data Visualization, holds 1.6% mindshare, down 3.5% since last year.

Reporting Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Looker Studio	2.4%
Tableau Enterprise	14.6%
Microsoft Power BI	13.5%
Other	69.5%

Reporting

Data Visualization Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SAS Visual Analytics	1.6%
Tableau Enterprise	10.1%
Qlik Sense	4.9%
Other	83.4%

Data Visualization

Featured Reviews

Heron Ziegel

Project Engineer at Quartz Consulting Group

Has supported quick dashboard creation and data sharing but lacks tools for managing multiple reports efficiently

We integrated Looker Studio with other platforms in our data ecosystem; we tried integrating with Sheets, and that went okay, but it could have been better. It could have been better because it needed a very specific format to read the data, so we had to reformat the sheet file. Looker Studio was mostly just helpful in that it provided live updating charts for tracking performance indicators in the organization. Integrating with a database was very difficult because there wasn't a lot of feedback for what was going wrong with the connection. I don't remember if we reached out to support. I didn't personally reach out, but my boss may have. I didn't reach out to support, so I do not have experience with it to rate it. We worked with the free version of Looker Studio initially, and we upgraded at some point to the pro version; I don't remember if we actually paid for it or if it was just a free trial. The pricing was reasonable. I remember doing a price comparison, and it was pretty reasonable, but it did have fewer features than a lot of other software, which was okay for a comparable price but a little cheaper.

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Namanjbaraiya Baru

Biostatistician at Lambda Therapeutic Research Ltd.

Interactive dashboards have transformed clinical reporting and now support real time decisions

The best features of SAS Visual Analytics include performing data manipulation. I would characterize this as making data ready, transforming data, and making new variables through code while utilizing low-code and no-code facilities. In my experience, low-code features in SAS Visual Analytics help when I need to create a new variable. For instance, I can extract a date through the data roll step, and with no-code features, I can perform report creation by simply using drag and drop functionality. After implementing SAS Visual Analytics, we have generated a new way to generate revenue by providing live data visuals to our clients and making our team aware of data in real time, which has had a significant positive impact.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would rate this solution eight or nine out of ten."

"We previously used Microsoft Power BI, but Google is better."

"The ability to design complex data models and equations."

"This is a great tool if your organization leverages other sets of Google tools and needs some quick ideas that are a prettier and more interactive than Google Analytics."

"The solution is free so that is a good feature."

"Data Studio integrates seamlessly with other Google products, and we can use it with other APIs if we like."

"Valuable features include advanced integrated analysis and easy implementation."

"I find it favorable regarding speed of development, ease of building, and flexibility."

More Looker Studio pros

"The flexibility of the configuration is valuable to me."

"Since it is simply drag and drop it makes data inspection easy."

"In short it is a powerful analytical tool display, which is an interesting option for companies without having to make a large initial investment, want to start making analytical, with the ability to scale and grow into other tools."

"The technical support services are good."

"Go ahead and do it! It’s the best tool for insightful and analytical dashboard development and reporting."

"It's very good. Very good. For our use, it is better than Qlik."

"The tool's most valuable features are its ease of use and advanced data visualization capabilities."

"Overall, I think SAS VA is a great software for interactive reporting, as it is very user friendly and allows people with no statistical or computing background to learn quickly to analyse data across the company."

More SAS Visual Analytics pros

Cons

"The tool has a lot of room for improvement. It's not very professional and allows for only simple tasks like indicating KPIs or quick calculations. It lacks a good calculation-based language like Power BI's DAX, making it less suitable for professional use. Additionally, the variety of visualization tools is limited, and customization options are restricted."

"I would appreciate improvements in the data modeling features, as it's not straightforward, and it's not what people in analytics are used to."

"There is a significant degree of sophistication required to compete with Tableau or Cognos."

"Other tools might be worth considering if you need more advanced features or support for a larger user base."

"The performance of Looker needs improvement, particularly the report loading time, which is critical for business users."

"It's not yet a replacement for a complete BI tool."

"Stability and scalability an be improved for a full ten."

"Insisting on forums, blogs and community outreach in communications, and posting videos on an established calendar would be useful."

More Looker Studio cons

"It takes a lot of effort to stabilize. We need to change some hardware and configurations to stabilize the solution."

"The licensing ends up being more expensive than other options."

"The reason we haven't rolled it out across the board is due to the fact that the licensing is so expensive."

"The graphics capabilities of SAS focus on SAS / BASE and SAS / Enterprise Guide and, without considering SAS / Visual Analytics is licensed part, they are pretty fair."

"Some capabilities are missing compared to Power BI, especially when working with spreadsheet types."

"It is expensive. This is BI at the the high end."

"There are scalability issues. It depends on the data volume and number of end-users. VA requires a lot of hardware resources to move volumes of data."

"The charts and tables could use better sorting, primarily using other variables than the ones on the figure. If they could implement views like in the older version (previous to Viya), it would be very nice."

More SAS Visual Analytics cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think the tool is cheap because you don't need to pay anything for using the tool. However, when connecting and analyzing other data sources, you should consider where to analyze this information because Google Data Studio doesn't handle much data well. You must also consider how you will connect this data to it. In this case, you might need to hire DevOps or a data team to help with these issues."

"The solution is free but the Google Looker is expensive."

"The tool is free."

"The cost is quite affordable based on feature analysis."

"The product is available for free."

"It was licensed for corporate use, and its licensing was on a yearly basis."

"Visual Analytics is expensive for a small company like mine. You also need to deploy it on a server or cloud, so you pay for the license as well as the cost of the cloud or the server that you will deploy on."

"$10,000 per annum for an enterprise license."

"SAS Visual Analytics is expensive, as is the rest of the platform."

"The product is quite expensive."

"Licensing is simple."

"It's approximately $114,000 US dollars per year."

"I work with the tool's free version...The tool's corporate version is very expensive and requires a monthly hire."

More SAS Visual Analytics pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

10%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	19

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Google Data Studio?

I would appreciate improvements in the data modeling features, as it's not straightforward, and it's not what people in analytics are used to. Specifically, most people using this visualization too...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Data Studio?

I used Looker Studio mainly for reporting, where I created multiple dashboards on it. I wouldn't say I made the most of the usage of the connections because all the connections were based on flat f...

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What advice do you have for others considering Google Data Studio?

I confirm that we have a call regarding my experience with Zoho. Looker Studio is a good visualization tool, but I wouldn't say there's a specific feature that stands out in terms of tracking metri...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Visual Analytics?

It's about an average of five. It's easy to scale, but it comes with cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAS Visual Analytics?

In terms of configuration, I would like to see AI capabilities since many applications are now integrating AI. It may be that our current subscription does not include AI-enabled features, but I wo...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SAS Visual Analytics?

I started to work with SAS Visual Analytics ( /products/sas-visual-analytics-reviews ) in 2015. We use it for analysis on ICT expenditure information and ICT personnel information. The analytics ar...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker Studio

Compared 11% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs Looker Studio

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Looker Studio

Compared 9% of the time

RStudio Connect vs Looker Studio

Compared 8% of the time

Zendesk vs Looker Studio

Compared 6% of the time

More Looker Studio Competitors

Tableau Enterprise vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

Qlik Sense vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

More SAS Visual Analytics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio

June 2026

Download Looker Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

SAS Visual Analytics

June 2026

Download SAS Visual Analytics product report

Also Known As

Data Studio

SAS BI

Overview

Looker Studio offers seamless integration with Google products, supporting business visualization and collaboration through efficient data management and analytics, catering to teams aiming for quick analytics solutions.

Looker Studio combines diverse data source integration including SQL and MongoDB with powerful visualization and custom filter creation. Users find its visuals clean and its platform user-friendly, enhanced by collaboration features and pricing. It aids decision-making and is popular for tracking metrics and analyzing sales funnels. Despite its strengths, users seek faster report loading, simpler data modeling, and better interface usability. Advertising system limitations, delayed data reflections, and integration challenges affect performance. Security and stability improvements alongside a richer data modeling layer are desirable, with pricing impacting large organizations.

What are the most important features of Looker Studio?

Google Integration: Easily integrates with Google products for efficient workflow.
Diverse Data Sources: Connects to databases like SQL and MongoDB.
Custom Filters: Offers flexible filter options for tailored analyses.
Data Visualization: Enables powerful, clear visual data representation.
Collaboration: Supports team collaboration for shared insights.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Ease of Use: Accessibility and user-friendly operation for teams.
Decision-Making Support: Facilitates informed business decisions.
Flexibility: Adapts to different business analytics needs.
Cost-Effectiveness: Competitive pricing for budget-conscious teams.

Looker Studio supports business visualization for different industries, creating dashboards and reports for sales and marketing analysis. It's used to track metrics and sales funnels from sources like Google Sheets and BigQuery. Many companies integrate Looker Studio within web apps, providing data insights tailored to sectors such as e-commerce, finance, and more.

Google

SAS Visual Analytics offers rapid data processing and advanced forecasting with interactive reporting and visualization. It integrates with diverse data sources, enhancing scalability and automation, enabling data-driven decisions and extensive insight generation.

SAS Visual Analytics provides comprehensive data handling through its advanced reporting and visualization features. Businesses benefit from its ability to process data quickly and deliver insights via interactive dashboards and well-structured reports. Although it faces performance challenges with large datasets and has a complex installation process, it supports both cloud and on-premises deployments. Users can leverage its capabilities in data extraction, transformation, and loading, making it a valuable tool for finance, statistical analysis, and enterprise reporting. Despite some gaps in machine learning and integration with newer data stores, its scalability and flexibility in data management remain key advantages.

What are the most significant features of SAS Visual Analytics?

Rapid Data Processing: Efficiently handles large volumes of data for swift insights.
Interactive Reporting: Allows exploration of data through dynamic visuals.
Advanced Forecasting: Offers sophisticated prediction and analysis capabilities.
Scalable Integration: Seamlessly connects with diverse data sources.
Automation: Streamlines processes for enhanced productivity.

What benefits should users consider when evaluating?

Scalability: Ability to grow and adapt to expanding data needs.
Enhanced Insights: Delivers comprehensive report generation and visualization.
Data-driven Decisions: Empowers analytical decision-making with structured data presentation.
Flexibility: Supports integration beyond standard BI tools for broader functionality.

SAS Visual Analytics is implemented across sectors such as insurance and education for tasks like building dashboards and performing business intelligence. It is extensively used in finance and statistical analysis, turning complex data sets into actionable insights, supporting both cloud and on-premises environments.

SAS

Sample Customers

Genesys, Shueisha

Staples, Ausgrid, Scotiabank, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Xcel Energy, and Triad Analytics Solutions.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, Plotly and others in Reporting. Updated: May 2026.

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