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SAP Crystal Reports vs Yellowfin 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:
 

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
Yellowfin
Ranking in Reporting
24th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (35th), Data Visualization (22nd), Embedded BI (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Reporting category, the mindshare of SAP Crystal Reports is 2.4%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Yellowfin is 1.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Reporting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Crystal Reports2.4%
Yellowfin1.7%
Other95.9%
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.
AC
‎IS Executive at SAINS
It is a central source of up-to-date data and information, but needs more charting capabilities
Management information Reporting Statistics Data analysis It reduces sending copies of different report/spreadsheet versions over email, which makes it difficult to access the right report. It is also able to create information dashboards for various users' throughout.  All management…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The way it allows formatting, that is, the ability to organize the display and fields as we like, are the key elements for us."
"The overall environment is the best. Data management, graphs, and layout – everything is the best, in my opinion."
"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 of the most valuable features is the ability to precisely place data fields and labels on the report canvas either in Design Mode or Preview Mode."
"It has been around long enough that any challenges you encounter can easily be found with a Google search."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a fantastic way of generating reports."
"We have a tool to generate all reports for all internal customers, with different layouts for over 200 reports that change a lot, and it is very important to keep everything beautiful and organized."
"We develop many management reports using Crystal Reports; it has reduced the development cost and effort, and provides feature rich reports."
"It reduces time to reproduce reports, provides easy access to organisational data, and has the ability to generate a wide range of reports and analysis."
"It is able to create information dashboards for various users' throughout."
"Yellowfin doesn’t try to do everything – it is a BI presentation and communication tool, and it does it brilliantly."
"It is a central source of up-to-date data and information."
 

Cons

"I had an issue where if I had the main application in one Window and a fly out menu on another monitor, it would crash."
"I think the product is great and has so much now but I have noticed that it is not Excel 10 compatible and when the reports are extracted to XLS it defaults to MS Office version 95-97 which has dropped rows of data from sheet to sheet."
"Some features are difficult to use for beginning users, such as shared variables."
"It needs better integration with Hadoop as well as enhancements for more analytical usage."
"Long, complex, crosstab reports are nearly impossible, and with Crystal it is nearly impossible to work with the raw, row-by-row data."
"I rate SAP Crystal Reports a seven out of ten because while reports sometimes lack clarity due to varying data scenarios affecting comprehension, the backend learning experience with data is ongoing and highlights existing challenges."
"For companies that just have SAP Crystal Reports without one of the SAP server products that come with annual maintenance, about 3/10."
"Charting capabilities are incomplete relative to competitors."
"The first release was a bit buggy, but they seem to have gotten on top of that very quickly."
"It needs more presentation/charting capabilities and integration with GIS."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I feel that SAP Crystal Reports is a reasonably priced product."
"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."
"We pay fifteen hundred dollars as licensing fee."
"This product costs a lot of money."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
18%
Educational Organization
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

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
NCS, Universitat Konstanz, AT&T, PG&E, SingTel, InternetStores
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Crystal Reports vs. Yellowfin and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.