No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Pentaho Business Analytics vs SAP Business Data Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
5.4
SAP Business Data Cloud boosts ROI with faster decision-making, report creation, and efficient operations, especially in oil, gas, and logistics.
We have saved a lot on the number of employees, and implementation time for the projects has reduced significantly since we started using the standard features of SAP Business Data Cloud.
Principal Architect at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
Once the content is available, then it is a faster go-live with lesser cost in implementation, and that would give an ROI.
Director & Co Owner at INFRABEAT TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD
It will definitely reduce the need for more staff to handle this technology.
SAP BDC Consultant at a tech vendor 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
6.2
SAP Business Data Cloud support is generally responsive and knowledgeable, but users desire quicker resolutions and technical expertise improvement.
The technical support is a very well-organized service, with a lot of tools for me as a consultant and for the end user on how to contact SAP support and get issues solved.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
For example, when I provide a set of instructions, they often simply ask me to implement those steps without checking whether they are applicable.
Lead Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In SAP's policy, for the first couple of years, the product team is also part of the support team.
Director & Co Owner at INFRABEAT TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD
 

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
7.3
SAP Business Data Cloud offers scalable, efficient performance for diverse needs, integrating seamlessly for businesses of all sizes.
The scalability of SAP Business Data Cloud has been strong, as it has handled growth in data volume, user demand, and reporting requirements without significant performance issues.
Technique at Digitaltrack
SAP Analytics Cloud can be used by a small company, and it can be used by a large corporate.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
Since SAP has consolidated everything on one platform, there is ample room to expand as much as needed.
Sap Data & Analytics Consultant at Dezert Innovation Technology Company
 

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
7.6
SAP Business Data Cloud is generally stable but faces performance issues with large data, needing enhancements for complex analytics.
It can handle large datasets.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
You have a chance to test it on your test tenant in small increments, so it should not break your productive reports and productive environment.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
It has been reliable for reporting, analytics, and data integration activities.
Network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
Other than during these quarterly release periods, the availability is excellent.
Sap Data & Analytics Consultant at Dezert Innovation Technology Company
 

Room For Improvement

Pentaho Business Analytics lacks an intuitive interface, robust integration, self-service features, and requires technical expertise, limiting usability.
SAP Business Data Cloud needs cost reduction, better integration, enhanced features, improved support, and pricing adjustments for competitiveness.
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
On the other hand, it is perfectly fitting to the SAP environment, with seamless integration to all SAP modules, not only ERP but also SuccessFactors and other tools from the SAP family.
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
If SAP can come up with innovative options to reduce licensing costs, many customers would incline toward SAP Business Data Cloud.
Principal Architect at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
If I compare the cost with SAP competitors, I find that when creating an enterprise data lake, if I don't use SAP Business Data Cloud and make it directly in the hyperscalers, it is pretty much cheaper than doing the same in SAP Business Data Cloud.
Director & Co Owner at INFRABEAT TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find the free Pentaho Community Edition cost-effective, while the Enterprise Edition offers value with support and features.
SAP Business Data Cloud offers comprehensive features with subscription-based pricing, seen as high compared to competitors like Power BI.
Pentaho Business Analytics is priced similarly to other competitors such as QlikView and Tableau.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
If I compare the cost with SAP competitors, I find that when creating an enterprise data lake, if I don't use SAP Business Data Cloud and make it directly in the hyperscalers, it is pretty much cheaper than doing the same in SAP Business Data Cloud.
Director & Co Owner at INFRABEAT TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD
Frankly, pricing, setup cost, and licensing seem a bit high compared to other hyperscalers.
Principal Architect at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
The pricing for SAP Business Data Cloud is higher compared to alternatives.
SAP BDC Consultant at IBM
 

Valuable Features

Pentaho Business Analytics provides easy data integration, customizable dashboards, extensive connectivity, and supports efficient data transformation and delivery.
SAP Business Data Cloud enhances integration, data accessibility, and decision-making with AI, ML capabilities, and flexible connectivity.
It is a stable product, and it can handle large datasets.
DBA at Federal University of Uberlândia
For SuccessFactors and S/4HANA Cloud, there are pre-built reports available which are commonly used by customers.
Project Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
SAP Business Data Cloud has positively impacted my organization by federating SAP data, which is now available for all to use.
Associate director, SAP technical at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The main standout feature is BDC Connect, as it is very useful for sharing data without replicating to third-party tools such as Enterprise Databricks, Snowflake or even in the near future, Google BigQuery as well as Microsoft Fabric.
Principal Architect at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 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 (16th)
SAP Business Data Cloud
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (10th), Business Performance Management (2nd), Cloud Analytics (2nd), Predictive Analytics (2nd), Data Governance (8th), Cloud Data Warehouse (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of Pentaho Business Analytics is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Business Data Cloud is 2.7%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Business Data Cloud2.7%
Pentaho Business Analytics1.0%
Other96.3%
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.
Pavlina Pankova - PeerSpot reviewer
Competence Leader - BI at Sabris CZ s.r.o.
Brings reporting, planning, and prediction together in one seamless workflow
I think the areas of SAP Analytics Cloud that could be improved or enhanced are mentioned by users or companies, and they would definitely mention the price in terms of planning licensing. From a consulting point of view, I don't see any major weaknesses. It is reasonably well-developed, and the perfect strength is that innovations are coming on a quarterly basis. It is slightly behind other tools in terms of the number of graphical outputs. Some tools have it faster, but every increment of innovations contains new features. On the other hand, it is perfectly fitting to the SAP environment, with seamless integration to all SAP modules, not only ERP but also SuccessFactors and other tools from the SAP family, for example, integrated business planning for the production planning. This is really a highlight compared to other tools.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which BI (Business Intelligence) Tools solutions are best for your needs.
897,297 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
13%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Retailer
7%
 

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 Business40
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise53
 

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...
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
I normally do not deal with the commercials, so I am not aware of the pricing part of it.
What needs improvement with SAP Analytics Cloud?
I think the areas of SAP Analytics Cloud that could be improved or enhanced are mentioned by users or companies, and they would definitely mention the price in terms of planning licensing. From a c...
 

Also Known As

Pentaho, Kettle, Hitachi Pentaho Business Analytics
SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Digital Boardroom, SAP Analytics Hub
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cargo 2000 Lufthansa, Marketo, ModCloth, Cardiac Science, Telefonica, ExactTarget, Active Broadband Networks, and Brussels Airport.
Ericsson, Vodafone, Google, Team Liquid, Ryder Cup, Accenture
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentaho Business Analytics vs. SAP Business Data Cloud and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
897,297 professionals have used our research since 2012.