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Pentaho Business Analytics vs TIBCO Spotfire comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.4
Pentaho Business Analytics mixed ROI perceptions highlight efficiency gains but unclear returns compared to competitors like QlikView and Tableau.
Sentiment score
6.1
TIBCO Spotfire boosts ROI by enhancing data analysis, reducing manual work, and fostering efficient decision-making for various industries.
I have seen a return on investment with TIBCO Spotfire; it has significantly reduced our manual report creation time and increased data-driven decision-making efficiency, so our ROI is good in that aspect.
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Pentaho Business Analytics receives mixed reviews for customer support, with users relying heavily on forums and community assistance.
Sentiment score
6.9
TIBCO Spotfire's support is highly rated for expertise and responsiveness, though language barriers and regional variations affect experiences.
Having a local partner was crucial for us while they were there.
Production Engineer at Parex Resources Inc
I would rate the customer support for TIBCO Spotfire nine out of ten.
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
TIBCO's support, especially for integration products, is swift.
Business Enabler at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Pentaho Business Analytics is scalable with good performance but occasionally needs professional help for complex data handling.
Sentiment score
7.0
TIBCO Spotfire is praised for scalability, able to handle large datasets, though issues can arise with outdated versions.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
Pentaho Business Analytics is stable but may face Java caching issues, impacting performance and requiring careful cache management.
Sentiment score
6.5
TIBCO Spotfire is highly stable, with minor issues primarily due to hardware, complex customizations, or resource-intensive conditions.
It can handle large datasets.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
There are no significant stability issues as long as the product's capabilities are understood and not overly pushed.
Business Enabler at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Overall, TIBCO Spotfire is a good product and has been a stable platform.
Lead Data Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Pentaho Business Analytics lacks an intuitive interface, robust integration, self-service features, and requires technical expertise, limiting usability.
TIBCO Spotfire needs improved UI, integrated visualizations, mobile capabilities, data handling, and global support for better user experience.
Pentaho Business Analytics is hard to learn and not suited for initial users as it requires knowledge of operating systems, Java, and other technical skills.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
TIBCO Spotfire and ClickView need improvement in scheduling, which is critical yet lacking in quality.
Business Enabler at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
It could be very useful if the coding part of using the platform could be more user-friendly in terms of visual capability.
Production Engineer at Parex Resources Inc
The usage and flexibility need to be better compared to other analytical tools.
Lead Data Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find the free Pentaho Community Edition cost-effective, while the Enterprise Edition offers value with support and features.
TIBCO Spotfire's pricing is high with strong ROI, offering various licensing options requiring negotiation and patience for competitive deals.
Pentaho Business Analytics is priced similarly to other competitors such as QlikView and Tableau.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
TIBCO Spotfire's pricing is high, particularly in traditional markets like Turkey, impacting market penetration.
Business Enabler at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for TIBCO Spotfire appears fair.
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Pentaho Business Analytics provides easy data integration, customizable dashboards, extensive connectivity, and supports efficient data transformation and delivery.
TIBCO Spotfire offers interactive visualizations, real-time analytics, and seamless integration, enhancing data exploration and decision-making efficiency.
It is a stable product, and it can handle large datasets.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
TIBCO Spotfire integrates with R and Python, offering a differentiator from the competition.
Business Enabler at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The best features TIBCO Spotfire offers, in my opinion, are its built-in advanced analytics and automation services, which make it really powerful compared to typical reporting tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The flexibility of TIBCO Spotfire comes from how it lets you customize dashboards, connect different data sources, and the connectivity to heterogeneous data sources with ease of use makes it feel flexible to me.
Lead Data Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Pentaho Business Analytics
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Operations Analytics (2nd), Reporting (13th)
TIBCO Spotfire
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of Pentaho Business Analytics is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TIBCO Spotfire is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
TIBCO Spotfire1.1%
Pentaho Business Analytics0.6%
Other98.3%
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

JB
Founder at SJT Consult
Solution enables effective ETL processes and exhibits high satisfaction
From an integration perspective, Pentaho Business Analytics is not the best tool on the market. There are things done by Apache that are better, though I am not the one implementing them, so this is based on what I have heard about novelties in the market. I do not see the need to extend the coverage of Pentaho Business Analytics's domain. For things that it does not do, there are better solutions on the market, and it would be costly to implement them. Pentaho Business Analytics is a very great tool for very specific standardized scenarios. If you need more complex elastic solutions because the process is different, there are better tools available.
RA
Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Advanced analytics have transformed self-service insights while the interface still needs improvement
The best features TIBCO Spotfire offers, in my opinion, are its built-in advanced analytics and automation services, which make it really powerful compared to typical reporting tools such as Power BI or Tableau. When I mention advanced analytics automation services in TIBCO Spotfire, I mean it handles large data volumes efficiently with stable performance and good refresh speeds that we get. TIBCO Spotfire's integration capabilities are smooth; it seamlessly integrates with SQL databases, cloud systems, and Excel files without requiring heavy IT intervention. TIBCO Spotfire has positively impacted my organization; we now have extensive use, with around 50 plus users across operations, finance, and business strategy teams using TIBCO Spotfire for self-service insights. Since rolling out TIBCO Spotfire to those 50 plus users, we have seen specific outcomes, such as cost and time saving, and decision-making has also become faster using TIBCO Spotfire with its deep analytics.
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Comparison Review

it_user6978 - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder at Helical IT Solution (Jaspersoft, Pentaho, Talend, Kettle, DWBI, ETL, Ctools, iReport, Jasper Report)
Jun 10, 2013
Jaspersoft vs. Pentaho – Which one to use & is there any need to purchase the commercial edition
Any company (be it technology, manfucaturing, human resource, ecommerce, SME etc) always has the need for Business Intelligence to some or the other extent. If cost is one of the consideration factor, then the 2 BI tools which are at the forefront are Pentaho and Jaspersoft. But, often the same…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise41
 

Questions from the Community

Seeking lightweight open source BI software
There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows: 1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle - look for SAP...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pentaho Business Analytics?
Pentaho Business Analytics offers the best value for money. While improvements can be made in some areas, particularly with more cloud-based solutions, it is not in their domain because they do not...
What needs improvement with Pentaho Business Analytics?
From an integration perspective, Pentaho Business Analytics is not the best tool on the market. There are things done by Apache that are better, though I am not the one implementing them, so this i...
What do you like most about TIBCO Spotfire?
TIBCO Spotfire is easy to use. We initiated Spotfire as POC, with support from a tech team based in South Africa. While they assisted with the setup, we conducted the POC ourselves.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TIBCO Spotfire?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for TIBCO Spotfire appears fair, and I think they are fairly priced as far as the features are concerned.
What needs improvement with TIBCO Spotfire?
TIBCO Spotfire can be improved in several areas. The UI can be enhanced, and the usage and flexibility need to be better compared to other analytical tools.
 

Also Known As

Pentaho, Kettle, Hitachi Pentaho Business Analytics
Spotfire
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cargo 2000 Lufthansa, Marketo, ModCloth, Cardiac Science, Telefonica, ExactTarget, Active Broadband Networks, and Brussels Airport.
Allergan, ASSS de Montreal, Avantium, Blue River, Bank of Montreal, Citibank, FrieslandCampina, Hellmann Logistics, Merck, Novartis
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentaho Business Analytics vs. TIBCO Spotfire and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,477 professionals have used our research since 2012.