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SAP Crystal Reports vs XLCubed comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP Crystal Reports
Ranking in Reporting
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
XLCubed
Ranking in Reporting
30th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of SAP Crystal Reports is 2.4%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of XLCubed is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Crystal Reports2.4%
XLCubed1.3%
Other96.3%
Reporting
 

Featured Reviews

Salman Mukhtar Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP Technical Manager at VS Furniture Middle East
Unlock data insights with seamless integration and robust reporting features
I assess the impact of SAP Crystal Reports' dynamic parameters on the customization and flexibility of my reports as very good. Sometimes it creates a problem when it suddenly closes during work due to improper shutdowns, but most of the time it's beneficial since I can fetch the data in one report very efficiently, which is great for the company. The sub reports in SAP Crystal Reports help me enhance the depth and detail of my reports by allowing me to use multiple sets of records, especially when I have very large requirements, such as company dashboards that show what sales, purchases, productions, and HR are doing. Using sub reports as the main report is very beneficial because I can pull multiple department data into the main report. Over the years, SAP Crystal Reports has had a very positive impact and benefits. It's a powerful tool to design any kind of report if you have knowledge of the database, and it can attach to both HANA and SQL databases. I can also connect this data with Excel, which makes it a very powerful tool for me.
reviewer1489434 - PeerSpot reviewer
Junior Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Connection should be simplified, but it's priced well
For anyone who intends to implement this solution, I would recommend contacting technical support the first time it doesn't work. At this time, I cannot recommend this solution to others because I cannot connect. Because of the connection issues that we are experiencing, I would rate this solution a five out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have done incredible, innovative things with Crystal Reports, but only because I knew it so well and could synthesize breakthrough ideas on how to give the customer what they wanted."
"One key improvement has been the elimination of tedious and redundant work."
"We develop many management reports using Crystal Reports; it has reduced the development cost and effort, and provides feature rich reports."
"Using SAP Crystal Reports had a strong impact on our organization; it saves significant time by automating routine reporting tasks and reduced manual effort in preparing customer letters and reports."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to create reports easily."
"If you want a full package of collecting, analyzing and presenting, then this is the package for you."
"What I like about it is that it's easy to use and it provides good connectivity to various databases."
"Pixel perfect static reporting."
"I am looking forward to testing their full graphics that are available, as they looked very interesting in the demo."
"The solution has great capability, performance, flexibility, visuals, everything, and we also have a very good relationship with the consultants and the solution is also very cost effective."
 

Cons

"However, the majority of technical support is in another country which can cause problems scheduling a contact time and can hamper verbal communication."
"Crystal 2008 - the export functionality could be improved, right now it will only export approximately 65K into one spreadsheet tab."
"Business objects service packs are as notoriously bad as Microsoft new products."
"Maybe some Power BI-related features could be added, like dashboards or direct editing in reports."
"Long, complex, crosstab reports are nearly impossible, and with Crystal it is nearly impossible to work with the raw, row-by-row data."
"Installation takes more than 15 minutes on our workstations."
"We are using an old version, and the only thing isn't good is that some error messages are not specific and it is sometimes hard to find the error."
"I would like to have horizontal paging like crosstabs."
"At this time, I cannot recommend this solution to others because I cannot connect."
"Would like the ability to be able to benchmark."
"There should be a better or an easier way to establish that connection to external sources."
"It's quite a stable solution although we sometimes encounter issues internally within our IT department with regard to the structure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay fifteen hundred dollars as licensing fee."
"SAP Crystal Reports is a very expensive solution."
"The cost of licensing can be a significant factor to consider when upgrading or transitioning to a new version of SAP Crystal Reports. It's important to evaluate the benefits and features offered by the new version against the associated costs to ensure it aligns with your organization's needs and budget."
"This product costs a lot of money."
"I feel that SAP Crystal Reports is a reasonably priced product."
"I am still using the two-week trial, but at first sight, the price is reasonable."
"14,000 Pounds per year for licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise22
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SAP Crystal Reports?
SAP Crystal Reports could be improved with more modern user-friendly interfaces and better integration with cloud platforms and AI tools. It would be beneficial to have easier integration with Azur...
What is your primary use case for SAP Crystal Reports?
I have been using SAP Crystal Reports for six months. I am using SAP Crystal Reports to develop data-driven reports and use customer data printing. When I use SAP Crystal Reports for customer data ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Crystal Reports?
I am aware that the pricing of SAP Crystal Reports gradually changes. When I bought it last time, I don't remember the exact price, and I need to check the current price on the portal. SAP Crystal ...
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Buenos Aires, ASR Group, Citrix, EarlySense, Usha International Limited, Automotive Resources International (ARI), LivePerson, Coelba (Grupo Neoenergia), RZD Russian Railways, National Basketball Association - NBA, TALLY WEiJL, El Machetazo, Young Heroes, Mozzart, Mitsui Knowledge Industry (MKI) , Surgutneftegas Open Joint Stock Company, The VELUX Group, AOK Bundesverband, AL-KO KOBER GROUP
Marshalls Ltd, BP Exploration and Production, Thorntons, Ted Baker, Bristol-Myers, Rank Group, ING Bank Genve, Cargill Value Investment, Chloride Power, Auchan, Erste, UEFA, Novartis, Porsche Informatik, Raiffeisen Bank International
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Crystal Reports vs. XLCubed and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.