Looker Studio vs SAS Visual Analytics comparison

The compared Google and SAS solutions aren't in the same category. Google is ranked #10 in RT , with an average rating of 7.8, 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

3,534 Views
2,226 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

SAS Visual Analytics

Read 41 SAS Visual Analytics reviews

4,867 Views
1,898 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: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Reporting

August 2026

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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 (10th)

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 3.0% compared to last year.
SAS Visual Analytics, on the other hand, focuses on Data Visualization, holds 1.6% mindshare, down 3.4% since last year.

Reporting Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Looker Studio	2.4%
Tableau Enterprise	13.9%
Microsoft Power BI	12.9%
Other	70.8%

Reporting

Data Visualization Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SAS Visual Analytics	1.6%
Tableau Enterprise	9.5%
Qlik Sense	4.9%
Other	84.0%

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

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

"The integration with Excel and Google Sheets is a valuable feature, making it easy to access and visualize data."

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

"Looker's ability to perform aggregation before visualization allows for effective data slicing and dicing."

"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."

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

"The fact that Looker Studio is free and has a free tier was probably the biggest benefit; it is very accessible and not too difficult to use."

"The most valuable features of this solution are its ease of use and the plethora of query sources."

More Looker Studio pros

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

"I would rate the overall solution a ten out of ten."

"The visualization capabilities and the email functionality are most beneficial."

"It's quite easy to learn and to progress with SAS from an end-user perspective."

"It's an easy to use solution, it's relatively simple to create basic dashboards and reports."

"What I really love about the software is that I have never struggled in implementing it for complex business requirements."

"SAS Visual Analytics is an excellent platform; the user interface is good, it has a good look and feel, it is simple to use, it integrates well with SAS making it simple and quick for developers, does not require a high level of skill but rather a medium level, and it is very easy and fast to learn so that people who don't know the product can work in a very autonomous manner after one week."

"We've found the product to be stable and reliable."

More SAS Visual Analytics pros

Cons

"From the perspective of infrastructure, I cannot provide a valuable opinion on the ease of use and customization options of Looker Studio."

"There are issues with integration and I encountered limits and warnings, especially with my pivot table size."

"The challenges with Google Data Studio are associated with the security part, making it an area where improvements are required."

"We are aware that there are areas in Looker Studio that could be improved. Out of the box, if you don't utilize a template or create a template, which can take significant time, it's not the most user-friendly from an interface perspective."

"Looker Studio did not fit our needs for scalability."

"The tool should come up with data modeling layer features that are present in other products like Power BI."

"The tool should improve on live data integration for quicker data reflection."

"When you physically install a product on one machine instead of the cloud, you have a better visibility, best icon quality, etc.. It's more of an issue with how we are adapting to the transition. We are still in the early moments of using this tool, and we need to go deeper to discover some improvements."

More Looker Studio cons

"Our biggest frustration with the solution is not being able to easily embed things on our website."

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

"SAS Visual Analytics could be more user-friendly."

"SAS Visual Analytics was often prone to crashing. Modules with barely 20 to 30 GB datasets took a lot of time to load even after satisfying necessary software specifications (RAM, etc.)."

"Better connectivity with other data origins, better visualization, and the ability to create KPIs directly would all help."

"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."

"The installation process can be a bit complex."

"Many things are missing, including Infomaps, Facebook connection, and better objects, and forecasting, auto-charting, and correlation are only available in exploration but should be available in reports."

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 product is available for free."

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

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

"The tool is free."

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

"Licensing is simple."

"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."

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

"The product is quite expensive."

"The cost of the solution can be expensive. There is an additional cost for users."

"The product is expensive."

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

More SAS Visual Analytics pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

13%

Construction Company

10%

Government

10%

Comms Service Provider

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...

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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?

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was positive, and I am happy with it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAS Visual Analytics?

SAS Visual Analytics offers many options, and new users unfamiliar with SAS might face some difficulties. Training on SAS Visual Analytics is required to help overcome these issues.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SAS Visual Analytics?

My main use case for SAS Visual Analytics is making visual reports such as graphs, gauge plots, outlier plots, geomaps, and presenting my clinical data into a report or an interactive dashboard whi...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker Studio

Compared 11% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs Looker Studio

Compared 9% 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 7% of the time

More Looker Studio Competitors

Tableau Enterprise vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 9% of the time

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

Verix Limelight vs SAS Visual Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

More SAS Visual Analytics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker Studio

August 2026

Download Looker Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

SAS Visual Analytics

July 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: August 2026.

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