Looker vs QlikView comparison

Google and Qlik are both solutions in the Embedded BI category. Google is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.0, while Qlik is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2. Google holds a 8.9% mindshare in EBT, compared to Qlik’s 9.7% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Qlik users who would recommend it.

Looker

Read 19 Looker reviews

1,130 Views
8 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

QlikView

Read 162 QlikView reviews

863 Views
39 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Looker

QlikView

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

QlikView and Looker are prominent competitors in the business intelligence software category. Looker appears to have the upper hand in data modeling flexibility and SQL integration, while QlikView offers robust in-memory processing.

Features: QlikView's key features include AQL (Associative Query Logic) for flexible data handling, powerful in-memory processing for fast data exploration, and an intuitive user interface for self-service BI. Looker shines with its seamless integration with SQL databases, its proprietary LookML language for crafting business logic, and robust data modeling capabilities that facilitate data sharing and insights.

Room for Improvement: QlikView faces challenges with scalability due to RAM constraints, requires significant IT expertise for setup, and relies on additional ERP and CRM systems to deploy comprehensive BI features. Looker could improve with enhanced visualization capabilities, expanded data source integrations, and better real-time analysis tools. The potential high cost of Looker may also deter smaller enterprises, and it lacks Excel connectivity, which some users seek.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: QlikView is mostly deployed on-premises, which requires significant IT management. However, its community support and technical assistance are strong. Looker is cloud-based, offering flexibility in deployment and broad accessibility. Its customer service is typically praised for efficiency, with communication channels that enhance user experience.

Pricing and ROI: QlikView can be costly due to user licenses and necessary infrastructure, though it offers substantial ROI through efficiency gains. Looker, similarly seen as potentially pricey for small businesses, justifies its cost with features and integration capabilities, often delivering ROI through deeper analytical insights and a subscription-based model.

To learn more, read our detailed Looker vs. QlikView Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Looker vs. QlikView

June 2025

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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

Ranking in Embedded BI

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

QlikView

Ranking in Embedded BI

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

162

Ranking in other categories

Reporting (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Embedded BI category, the mindshare of Looker is 8.9%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of QlikView is 9.7%, up from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Embedded BI

Featured Reviews

Kishore Jhunjhunwala

Sr Analytics Consultant at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

A cloud solution for operational reporting but is expensive

Some basic feature that is available in other reporting tools is missing. Looker has the ability to show more than 5,000 rows for operational reporting. Some reporting tools allow users to scroll down to see more than 5,000 rows, but in Looker, you have to download the entire dataset. Looker should consider adding a scroll-down option to allow users to view large datasets on screen without downloading them. Looker has some options for granting users access as viewers. However, viewers cannot download the entire dataset. Only superusers can download the whole dataset on the Explore screen. This is a big limitation, as you cannot give any user viewer access. You can give access to superuser access, which is a cost to the company.

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Vishal_Goyal

Director Software Engineer at Clarivate

Provides ETL capability allowing the building of a complete data warehouse

I am working on Qlik Sense and previously worked on QlikView for data visualization and reporting purposes It provides a comprehensive data warehouse solution within Qlik Sense, eliminating dependency on external data sources and enhancing data visualization capabilities. QlikView is an…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability of Looker has been good since I have been using it. However, it depends on what components are being used."

"The product is easy to use."

"Looker allows you to generate the most optimal SQL queries in a DC through UI actions. We had signed a contract with Google Cloud to use BigQuery. That was the primary reason we adopted Looker. It works better with BigQuery than any other BI platform. We also like how this tool was developed. It was designed with an eye toward microservices architecture."

"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. I didn't face any issues with stability."

"It's quite effortless to navigate through various applications and review their updated data in real-time."

"We can centralize all our data models."

"From a developer's perspective, the way the functionality's being handled is great."

"With Looker, I have experienced benefits in terms of usability and shareability."

More Looker pros

"The search feature: ability to see the related data."

"It excels in supporting database connections and various database types."

"This is a very cool application with endless options of creativity and visuals."

"Its ability to build, very quickly, very complicated models."

"QlikView is extremely flexible in terms of visualization tools for communicating complex data insights."

"Our Qlikview applications help us to get a good idea of our Client Base Performance and assist us in the decision making for Seasonal Specials. On the other hand QlikView helps us to get a grasp on our Suppliers and helps us to negotiate pricing with them."

"It enables us to configure various elements, such as dashboard settings, including factors like color schemes and other customization parameters."

"The most useful feature of QlikView for me is the QVD concept."

More QlikView pros

Cons

"Stability needs improvement."

"The product does not have documented material."

"Integrations with other BI tools could be better."

"The integration with different databases must be improved."

"The visualization capability of the product is limited."

"Looker doesn't connect to Excel, which is a huge disappointment because a lot of data is presented in Excel. Also, it can't consume data directly from REST APIs, which is necessary. Looker needs to expand its horizons when it comes to data sources. The inability to connect to different data sources is hampering our use cases. Currently, it only has an ODBC connection that connects to a database. It needs to connect to other data sources, such as Excel, APIs, and different platforms."

"It needs to be more user-friendly."

"The main area of concern in Looker is probably related to blending the data from the different sources, including the data present internally in the company and on the cloud."

"If a user wanted to see something not included in the application the new object had to be created by a power user or developer because Qlik view's scripting has somewhat of a learning curve."

"Sometimes the filters are disappearing, and I'm not sure why this is happening."

"The only thing I would improve about it is the fact that it refreshes all the time, and when it does that, it just deletes all the options you had, all the filters that you had selected, so you need to select them from the beginning."

"It is really old. We are moving towards converting everything into a Power BI environment. We want to have a self-service type of BI environment where different levels of users in organizations can log onto a portal and retrieve the data they need or get the necessary insights for decision-making that's important for them or their business unit. They have built a new version of QlikView called QlikSense, which probably competes with newer BI tools, such as Power BI, but they are far behind. That's why we are moving towards a newer tool that's easier to use and has more visualizations to represent the data."

"The user interface is old."

"The pricing is high."

"They could improve the speed."

"Improvements are required in the hide and unhide functionality that falls under the layout container feature that has been used in my company in recent times."

More QlikView cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cheap."

"I do not have to make any payments to use the solution."

"It's not cheap, but it's not expensive for big companies."

"The price of Looker usually depends on the solution's provider, but it is usually cheaper than the other products in the market. Looker is offered at different prices for different companies."

"Looker is expensive and could be made better by reducing it."

"QlikView is more expensive than one of its competitors."

"It has an annual license. It is expensive as compared to other competitive tools that do more for less. In South African rands, we pay about 100,000 to 200,000 a year."

"Its licensing costs are moderate, but it can get expensive due to the numerous add-ons available like those for printing."

"My firm got the product at a cheap price, but in general, I believe that the product is a bit costly."

"It is not very expensive. I think it it is on par with other similar products on the market."

"The pricing is too high compared to the other solutions on the market."

"I rate QlikView's pricing a five out of ten."

"Pricing is a bit too high and I think licenses should be unlimited."

More QlikView pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user79932

Senior Manager - BI Head at NVidia

Feb 4, 2015

Comparison of SAP BO, Tableau, QlikView, Cognos, Microsoft, OBIEE and Pentaho

1. SAP BO/BI Enterprise scalability Security Ease of use Semantic layer 2. Tableau Visualization Data discovery Turnaround time 3. IBM Cognos Enterprise scalability Security In-memory feature 4. MS BI - Flexibility 5. Pentaho - Open source but still enterprise grade 6. QlikView Data…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Educational Organization

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Looker?

With Looker, I have experienced benefits in terms of usability and shareability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Looker?

I do not have to make any payments to use the solution. In the beginning, Looker may work fine for its users. If advanced users who have experience with BI tools use Looker, then they may find it t...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Looker?

The visualization capability of the product is limited. From an improvement perspective, the product should have more visualization capability. I can't clean data in Looker, and if I try to do it, ...

See all answers

What do you like most about QlikView?

If you correctly use the product for your use cases, it provides value for money.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for QlikView?

Qlik Sense's licensing metrics are flexible. They provide packages based on needs, like named licenses, developer licenses, or shared pool licenses. There is also a core-based license option for or...

See all answers

What needs improvement with QlikView?

QlikView lacks self-service capabilities, which means users depend on the IT team to make changes. Qlik Sense offers a more modern approach with self-service features, allowing users to build dashb...

See all answers

Comparisons

Databricks vs Looker

Compared 18% of the time

Tableau vs Looker

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Looker

Compared 10% of the time

IBM Cognos vs Looker

Compared 8% of the time

Sisense vs Looker

Compared 3% of the time

More Looker Competitors

Tableau vs QlikView

Compared 23% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs QlikView

Compared 16% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs QlikView

Compared 14% of the time

IBM Cognos vs QlikView

Compared 6% of the time

SQL Server vs QlikView

Compared 3% of the time

More QlikView Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Looker

June 2025

Download Looker product report

Buyer's Guide

QlikView

June 2025

Download QlikView product report

Overview

Looker is a powerful data analytics platform that empowers businesses to explore and analyze their data in real time.

With its intuitive interface and robust features, Looker enables users to easily create and share interactive dashboards, reports, and visualizations.

The product's advanced data modeling capabilities and seamless integration with popular data sources make it a top choice for organizations looking to gain valuable insights from their data.

Google

QlikView is a Business Intelligence tool that allows you to keep tabs on all of your business-related information in a clean, clear, and easy to access database that is intuitive to build and simple to navigate. It is ideal for business owners who wish to improve overall output by creating the most productive system possible.

Qlik

Sample Customers

Yahoo!, Etsy, Kohler, Hipcamp, Hubspot, Kickstarter, Venmo, Dollar Shave Club, 600+ customer

Canon, Gatorade, Amcor, Panasonic, Fila, Cambridge University Hospitals, Global Retail Bank, North Yorkshire Police department, Lanoo Group Publishers, and AonGroep Nederland.

Buyer's Guide

Looker vs. QlikView

June 2025

Free Report: Looker vs. QlikView

Find out what your peers are saying about Looker vs. QlikView and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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