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SAP Analytics Cloud vs ThoughtSpot 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP Analytics Cloud
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Predictive Analytics (2nd)
ThoughtSpot
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
18th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Data Visualization (14th), Embedded BI (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of SAP Analytics Cloud is 4.4%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ThoughtSpot is 1.4%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

RamasamyTelungupalayam - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integration, collaborative features, and enhances data exploration
There are several areas for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud. Firstly, features available in SAP Lumira are missing in SAP Analytics Cloud. Secondly, the predictive analytics functions, although promising, are currently only suitable for Proof of Concepts (POCs) and not for industrial-scale use. Lastly, the pricing model for the planning functionality is quite high and presents an entry barrier.
Sushma Polavarapu - PeerSpot reviewer
Creates user-friendly analysis environments for large datasets
The tool is user-friendly for the end users. It is primarily a search-based tool. Users do not need a technical background to work directly on the dataset. Its compatibility with most databases, including the latest from FlexMovely and Redshift, allows users to create joins and worksheets easily. ThoughtSpot is fast, even with one to ten terabytes of data.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"SAP Analytics Cloud is superior to other tools in terms of planning and forecasting."
"It integrates with third-party applications such as Google Drive and Excel,"
"I have found that the feature to drag and drop widgets based on the data source, and import them into stories to be valuable. This way it helps the end user to create stories themselves."
"The product is flexible and has features like AI, link analysis, and insights. It has many features. I can search, and it creates automatic charts without selecting anything. For example, I can ask, "What is the gross margin?" the tool builds a chart based on my question."
"Data integration is very good."
"Real-time data makes for a single version of the truth."
"I would recommend this solution for companies that are SAP dependent with users working in this environment."
"The features that are most valuable in SAP Analytics Cloud are the planning feature and the predictive analytics feature, though the planning feature needs to be more efficient."
"The initial setup was very straightforward."
"The tool is user-friendly for the end users."
"The ability to do ad hoc explorations of data has been most valuable."
"ThoughtSpot takes the modifying of existing reports out of our hands."
"Stability is very important, and ThoughtSpot performs well."
"ThoughtSpot excels in being self-service oriented, allowing users who aren't developers to easily create their own reports and visualizations, making it very intuitive."
"It's easy to drill down or expand data to get more details right out of the box."
"The tool is user-friendly for the end users."
 

Cons

"SAP Analytics Cloud requires a lot of coding and I would like the coding to be somewhat minimal."
"The solution should include other scripting languages as well, such as Python."
"An area for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud is its planning feature because it's not that efficient when compared to BPC. Another area for improvement in the solution is the difficulty in building reports or dashboards, particularly if you don't have proper knowledge of the BI system. SAP Analytics Cloud technical support also needs improvement."
"It should have the flexibility for scoping the story and models. When you use it in a three-layer architecture, you struggle with the fact that you usually have just one SAP Analytics Cloud tenant, and you have to switch the connections, which might be an issue for bigger developments. For the development role, there should be an option to switch between development and production scenarios."
"One potential improvement is how we can transpose data. With SAP, if you have data from one system with a declared data type and a different system with another data type, the transfer is tricky."
"Its integration or connectivity with non-SAP systems, big data, and social media, such as YouTube, LinkedIn, et cetera, can be improved. This is where SAP has limited features as compared to other solutions."
"It seems like there's a problem with the tool's licenses. If there are a lot of users, like 200, who only use the solution once a year, paying for a full-year license for each user is expensive. There's no option for users who only use the solution occasionally."
"When it comes to planning there is a concern about the ability to match the exact requirements of the customer with what the product offers."
"I encountered limitations mainly around UI and dashboard configuration."
"I would like to see more flexibility in adding the pins. Currently, we have four different sizes in which I can add pins, but I would like to be able to resize my pins."
"The one area of the solution that I do hear needs improvement is on the visualization front."
"Some areas for improvement include the pixel-perfect dashboards, which are not as refined as those in Tableau."
"ThoughtSpot is a fairly new product, so some usability aspects aren't as mature as we'd like them to be. One example is their organizational methodology, like how objects are organized in their dashboards inside the product. They're all on a flat list, which works if you've got five or 10 dashboards. However, it's insufficient when you're a large enterprise with multiple groups looking at the same dashboards. It isn't organized well."
"The customer service and support are not good. I stopped opening tickets due to insufficient and untimely responses."
"The visualization customization needs improvement."
"Some areas for improvement include the pixel-perfect dashboards, which are not as refined as those in Tableau."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is competitive. There is a power user license and normal user license, but the normal user license is reasonable."
"This solution is pricey."
"It's quite expensive and costs a lot to maintain, especially with licensing."
"SAP Analytics Cloud can be quite expensive."
"This solution offers value for money and you get what you pay for."
"The premium option is very expensive at five thousand dollars. I use the nine hundred and ninety-nine dollar option."
"Compute and storage features should be sold separately."
"The platform is about 50% more expensive than Power BI."
"I give the pricing a six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?
Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...
What do you like most about SAP Analytics Cloud?
In the data warehouse, you're free to make changes. You can make everything text, meaning it's always a string. Even numbers appear as text, giving you the flexibility to work with all columns.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
The pricing model for SAP Analytics Cloud is quite competitive, but the cost for the planning functionality is high and can be a barrier to entry. The overall cost can be managed with better billin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ThoughtSpot?
ThoughtSpot is expensive. When compared with Tableau and Sisense, it is around seven or eight on the expense scale.
What needs improvement with ThoughtSpot?
The visualization customization needs improvement. Currently, it is not as customizable as the options available on Power BI or Tableau. It mainly offers basic chart options.
What is your primary use case for ThoughtSpot?
I use ThoughtSpot as one of the visualization tools. I mainly create some live boards and provide access to the data sources and worksheets to users so they can create their own analyses and answer...
 

Also Known As

SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Live Oak Bank
Primary Capital Mortgage, Sterling Backcheck, RichRelevance, Rambus, Batteries Plus Bulbs
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Analytics Cloud vs. ThoughtSpot and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.