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Alation Data Catalog vs BigID 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
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (2nd)
BigID
Ranking in Data Governance
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Data Privacy Management Software (3rd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 5.9%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BigID is 7.6%, up from 5.8% 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.…
Ankita Sabale - PeerSpot reviewer
Predefined classifiers in place support sensitive data scanning effectively
BigID does not currently support Kerberos authentication for DataStax. On the user interface, analyzing true and false positives can be challenging, as I can only view 2,000 characters at a time. When tagging scan results, all objects get tagged without the option to untag specific ones. This requires reverting changes through MongoDB, which can result in data loss.

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."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI 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 tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"We can customize templates based on our use cases."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"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."
"The tool's most valuable feature is correlation. Using BigID's data classification capabilities has strengthened our data security. It lets me classify and connect data, which helps me manage data at various classification levels."
"One of the most valuable things in a data-focused world is a tool, a technology that's data-centric, not trying to master data management or whatever else. It's a source of truth for what data an organization holds, giving it the ability to catalog, categorize, and understand its data."
"Data classification is highly effective due to its automatic capabilities."
"BigID is more advanced than Microsoft Purview when it comes to machine learning and AI development tools."
"I like BigID's in-depth discovery and scanning capabilities, especially for unstructured data. This feature is a standout compared to competitors. The tool's data classification capabilities are impressive. It offers custom classifiers and a blend of regular exploration and artificial intelligence, making it a next-generation solution. This enhances data security, and its security posture management is straightforward and user-friendly."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the user experience, the credentialing, and that BigID is user friendly. Additionally, you can deploy to several other Microsoft platforms and you can use it for other things, like a bigger element or a report."
"BigID offers different scan types for data discovery. The most powerful one is the full scan, which scans both data and metadata. However, the metadata scan is faster in comparison."
"BigID integrates well with our other products."
 

Cons

"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"Alation Data Catalog doesn't support end-to-end lineage. By that, I mean the ability to trace the movement of data from when it first comes into our organization to where it's consumed."
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"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."
"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."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"The product's data governance features need improvement."
"In terms of what could be improved, when you're looking in a BigID file, you cannot really get the whole file. You have to export it to download it to another platform that allows you to completely view it, or run a program. That was one of the things that was really a disappointing point for me. Not to be able to view everything. There's a lot more data, but you can't get it all at once."
"The tool currently lacks security features."
"There are some shortcomings when it comes to Calvirus authentication, which is not yet supported by BigID."
"I want them to focus on data mapping, assessment, automation workflow, and privacy incident management."
"Improvement could be made in data consent management and data privacy impact assessment."
"One concern I have with BigID is regarding certain scans, like the multi-scan. The issue is that we can stop and retrieve these scans, but once they start, they go through an enumeration process."
"The challenge we encountered was with data connection across multiple databases. We struggled with configuring the data connection successfully. However, with the assistance of dynamic teams, we resolved this issue."
"More classifications about different states are needed"
 

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."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"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 not licensed per user but rather based on capacity. For instance, organizations with large amounts of data, such as 50 GB or more, are the ones that typically qualify for BigID."
"I think that BigID's pricing is very reasonable."
"The product is expensive, but so are all competitor tools"
"The pricing depends. If you have thousands of data sources to connect and manage, and you struggled with an MDM package in the past, you'll find BigID valuable and even cheap. But if you're a small business, it's probably not the right tool for you."
"The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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 BigID?
I like BigID's in-depth discovery and scanning capabilities, especially for unstructured data. This feature is a standout compared to competitors. The tool's data classification capabilities are i...
What needs improvement with BigID?
BigID does not currently support Kerberos authentication for DataStax. On the user interface, analyzing true and false positives can be challenging, as I can only view 2,000 characters at a time. W...
What is your primary use case for BigID?
BigID is part of our data governance project. We onboard data sources in our environment and scan for specific sensitive data sets, such as SSN numbers, passport numbers, and medical information, w...
 

Also Known As

Alation
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
Home Depot, Grant Thornton LLP, Cimpress, Fidelity Investments
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. BigID and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.