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Alation Data Catalog vs Collibra Governance 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)
Collibra Governance
Ranking in Data Governance
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Collibra Governance is 10.1%, down from 12.8% 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.…
DeepakArora - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhancing data management with user-friendly features but needs better documentation
We are a customer of Collibra. Collibra Governance is applied in our data management workflows by creating all the business functions separately, maintaining the data sources of those KPIs and everything separately on those businesses Collibra Governance provides ease of use. The portal is…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We had some of our data science engineers, who had built out some cloud-based data and data products for users. They were spending a lot of their time, up to 30 to 35% of their time, answering questions about the data and helping people understand how to use it. Once they were able to document that information within Alation, they were only focusing on around 5% of the high-value questions that really couldn't be solved through the catalog itself. It freed them up to be more productive, it made their end-users more productive, and it made the adoption rate of their data products rise more quickly because people were able to get to using them."
"Alation Data Catalog provides a nice interface for connecting to the database, querying the data, and working on it."
"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 solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI feature."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"Alation Data Catalog's best feature is the SQL query publication."
"Given the relatively low level of maturity, Alation's most relevant feature at the moment is a user interface that's easy to navigate, which helps us find and understand the data. So while Alation has a lot more functionality, our pain point right now is being able to easily find, understand, and trust the information to use it."
"We can customize templates based on our use cases."
"We use the solution's Data Stewardship part."
"The feature I like most in Collibra Governance is the lineage. It lets me do lineage that you can set up, for example, technical lineage and business lineage. The solution lets me associate the right people with the right assets, so anybody who has to look at end-to-end instances can use Collibra Governance and figure it out, in terms of who to contact, what to do, and where to find what you need."
"It enables a linear view of the data assets across different levels, providing a comprehensive understanding."
"From the perspective of a data user, the solution has a great search capability."
"The most valuable feature is the discovery process for the data catalog because we get it in a visual format as a way to understand and classify it."
"One of the most valuable features of Collibra Governance is its scanning feature, which allows us to onboard multiple applications and their underlying databases."
"It is user-friendly."
"The product's most valuable features are cataloging and classification."
 

Cons

"The product's data governance features need improvement."
"Data observability within Alation would be incredibly helpful for addressing these challenges"
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"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 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 better if there was a way to import all data and metadata in an automatic way in one block form."
"We had issues during setup."
"I rate scalability a six out of ten. There is some room for improvement in terms of scalability."
"There should be more detailed documentation on the selectors and certain information, and a reduction in cost as compared to other tools."
"The platform can sometimes be unstable, particularly in terms of speed and reconnection issues."
"Certain implementations, including lineage maps, could be user-friendly."
"When we are doing discovery for unstructured data sources, I would suggest a quality report of the data that would indicate what was unable to process."
"Collibra gives a lot of facilities in the cloud, but achieving those facilities on-prem becomes a big challenge"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"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 platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"I rate the pricing a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap."
"Collibra provides you with a license based on the subscription model that you purchase."
"Collibra Governance is extremely expensive"
"Collibra Governance is expensive - I would rate its pricing as one out of five."
"The solution's pricing is moderate and not very expensive."
"Collibra Governance is an expensive solution."
"Generally, it is a rather expensive solution compared to some other tools in the market, but I found it to be fair-priced for its capabilities."
"Many of our customers I spoke to felt that the solution is a bit highly-priced."
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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
21%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance 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 Collibra Governance?
We use the solution's Data Stewardship part.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Collibra Governance?
The price is average, and it provides good value for the money.
What needs improvement with Collibra Governance?
Collibra lacks the capability to read Python or R scripts, which is essential for data transformations in our pipeline ecosystems. This is an area where improvement is needed, as currently, it only...
 

Also Known As

Alation
Collibra
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
Ministry of Economy Science and Innovation, Aspen Insurance, Barry Callebaut, Colt
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. Collibra Governance and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.