Top 5 Qlik Competitors and Alternatives We Tested in 2025

Executive Summary: Why Teams Are Moving Beyond Qlik

While Qlik has been a longtime business intelligence leader, many organizations are exploring alternatives as new technologies and user needs arise. The platform's complexity, high learning curve, and pricing limitations have prompted teams to seek more intuitive, cost-effective solutions.

After extensive hands-on testing with sample datasets, dashboard creation, and real-world deployment scenarios, we've identified the five strongest Qlik alternatives that are making waves in 2025. These aren't just feature-rich tools on paper—they're platforms that solve real business problems faster and more affordably than Qlik.

Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft Power BI leads for Microsoft ecosystem integration and affordability

• ThoughtSpot dominates AI-powered search analytics

• Tableau remains the visualization champion despite complexity

• Looker excels for Google Cloud users and embedded analytics

• Sisense wins for ease of use and embedded workflows

• Upsolve AI emerges as the fastest no-code embedded analytics solution

What's Wrong with Qlik? The Reality Check

Before diving into alternatives, let's address why teams are looking beyond Qlik in 2025:

1. Steep Learning Curve & Complexity

Reviewers consistently report that Qlik can be overwhelming for users with limited technical experience, often requiring significant training to unlock its full potential. Unlike modern BI tools that prioritize user-friendliness, Qlik demands substantial investment in training and technical expertise.

2. Pricing Transparency Issues

Many users find Qlik's pricing model confusing, with costs scaling unpredictably as usage grows. Unlike competitors with transparent per-user pricing, Qlik often requires enterprise sales discussions to understand true costs.

3. Limited Visualization Flexibility

Compared to competitors, Qlik's interface and dashboard customization options feel less intuitive, particularly when creating visually compelling presentations for stakeholders.

4. Performance Issues with Large Datasets

Some users report that the platform slows when processing large workloads, and performance becomes problematic with high-volume data scenarios.

Our Testing Methodology: Real-World Validation

We didn't just compile feature lists—we actually used these tools. Our testing process included:

• Data Import Tests: Connected to multiple data sources (SQL databases, Excel files, cloud services)

• Dashboard Building: Created interactive dashboards from scratch

• Collaboration Features: Tested sharing, commenting, and multi-user workflows

• Embedding Capabilities: Evaluated how easily analytics could be embedded in applications

• Performance Benchmarks: Tested with varying dataset sizes and complexity

• Pricing Analysis: Compared actual costs for teams of different sizes

The 5 Qlik Competitors We Tested in 2025

We didn’t just list random tools from the internet.

Over the last few weeks, we actually used these tools — imported sample datasets, built dashboards, tested embedding options, and explored what works and what doesn’t.

Some Qlik competitors looked great on paper but struggled when it came to real usage.

These five stood out — for setup speed, flexibility, ease of use, and pricing that makes sense in 2025.

🔍 Quick Comparison Table: Qlik vs Top 5 Competitors

Now let’s break down each tool and how it compares to Qlik, based on real testing, not just feature lists.

1. Upsolve AI vs Qlik: Best Qlik Competitor for Embedded Dashboards (No Dev Help Needed)

Let’s start with a quick side-by-side comparison:

This was the only tool that made me go — “Wait, that’s it?”

Upsolve AI is a no-code embedded analytics tool that lets you build and share dashboards without developers.

It’s built for fast-moving teams that want real-time, user-facing insights inside their apps.

With Upsolve AI, I signed up, connected a sample SaaS database (users, MRR, churn), built a dashboard, and embedded it into a mock app — all within 30 minutes.

No code. No dev team. No delays.

Try that with Qlik and you’ll be stuck in setup mode for days.

Why We Feel Upsolve AI Is Easier Than Qlik

• Setup takes less than 30 minutes — Qlik took hours
  
  

• Build a live dashboard in under 30 minutes — without touching code
  
  

• No developers needed — I created and embedded it myself
  
  

• Dashboards looked clean and branded out of the box
  

• Real-time updates — no lag, no refresh clicks
  
  

• Flat pricing — no per-user surprises, great for SaaS teams

Read the full review on Product Hunt

What Qlik Still Does Better

• Not made for deep enterprise-level data modeling
  

• Still growing its advanced backend features, but more than enough for fast-moving teams

But if you’re a growing SaaS team, Qlik often feels like using a forklift when you just need a hand truck.

What Felt Different

With Upsolve, analytics don’t feel like an internal tool.

It feels like part of our product — something users could see, interact with, and get value from.

And it doesn’t require weeks of dev time to pull off.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.8/5)

My Honest Take

If you’re running a SaaS product and want to offer customer-facing analytics dashboards fast, without building a whole BI infrastructure —

Upsolve AI is the most practical and efficient Qlik competitor I’ve used.

It’s perfect for:

• ✅ Startups that move fast
  
  

• ✅ Product teams without full-time data engineers
  
  

• ✅ Anyone who wants analytics that just works

2. Power BI vs Qlik: Best Qlik Competitor for Teams Using Microsoft Tools

Microsoft Power BI - The Affordable Microsoft Champion

Why It's Leading: Power BI wins as the top choice in 2025 based on comprehensive analyst scoring that evaluates functional, technical, and vendor qualification requirements.

What We Tested:

• Uploaded Excel files with sales and lead data

• Built interactive dashboards in under 1 hour

• Tested Teams integration and sharing capabilities

• Evaluated costs for growing teams

Key Strengths:

Unmatched Microsoft Integration Power BI seamlessly integrates with Excel, Teams, OneDrive, and the entire Microsoft ecosystem, making it feel like a natural extension rather than a new tool adoption. Teams already using Office 365 can build dashboards and share insights without learning entirely new workflows.

Transparent, Affordable Pricing

• Power BI Pro: $10/user/month

• Power BI Premium: $20/user/month

• Unlike Qlik's complex pricing model, Power BI offers predictable costs that don't require enterprise sales discussions.

Fast Time-to-Value Our testing showed dashboard creation in under 60 minutes for basic reports—compared to Qlik's typical multi-day setup requirements.

Best For: Organizations already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, small to medium businesses seeking affordability, and teams wanting quick deployment without extensive training.

Limitations:

• Advanced analytics capabilities require additional Fabric capacity and storage fees

• Limited customization compared to specialized visualization tools

• Performance can degrade with very large datasets

Here’s how it compares at a glance:

Power BI is probably the easiest Qlik competitor to pick if your team is already using Excel, Outlook, or Teams.

We tested it by uploading a basic Excel file with sales and lead data. 

Within the hour, we had a working dashboard — with filters, slicers, and auto-refresh — all without needing any training.

Everything felt familiar. It’s basically Excel’s smarter, better-looking cousin.

Where We Feel Power BI Was Easier Than Qlik

• Uploaded an Excel file → dashboard done in 1 hour
  

• Integrated perfectly with Microsoft Teams and OneDrive
  
  

• Easy to share reports — no need for external tools

Read the full user review

• Starts at just $10/user/month — great for small teams

Where it struggled

• Gets messy with complex, multi-source datasets

Read the full user review

• Lacks advanced scripting and data logic features
  
  

• Embedding needs dev time — not ideal for fast product teams

What Felt Different

With Power BI, we didn’t feel like we were “adopting” a new tool.

It just blended in with how we already worked.

A sales manager built their own BI dashboard and shared it in Teams in under 2 hours.

No BI team involved. That kind of self-service is hard to pull off in Qlik without support.

My rating: Overall Rating⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.0/5)

My Honest Take

If your team already uses Microsoft tools, Power BI is the most obvious Qlik alternative — no migration headache, no steep learning curve, and much cheaper.

It’s perfect for:

• ✅ Teams who live in Excel and want better visuals
  
  

• ✅ Sales or operations teams who want easy reporting
  
  

• ✅ Anyone looking for a simple, budget-friendly Qlik competitor that just plugs into what they already use
  
  

3. ThoughtSpot vs Qlik: Best for Search-Driven, AI-Powered Insights

ThoughtSpot - The AI-Powered Search Revolution

Why It Stands Out: ThoughtSpot offers AI-driven insights and real-time data exploration that removes traditional BI bottlenecks, allowing users to get answers through natural language search.

What We Tested:

• Natural language queries on complex datasets

• AI-powered insight generation

• Real-time data exploration capabilities

• Embedded analytics integration

Key Innovations:

Search-Driven Analytics ThoughtSpot's search-driven interface simplifies data analysis, making it accessible to users without technical expertise while leveraging AI and natural language processing. Users can literally ask questions like "show me sales by region last quarter" and get instant visualizations.

AI Analyst Integration AI Analyst delivers instant insights, allows drilling down for deeper analysis, and provides real-time alerts without writing queries. This eliminates the need for dedicated analysts for basic data exploration.

Performance Advantages Unlike Qlik's reported slowdowns with large datasets, ThoughtSpot maintains responsive performance even with complex, multi-source data scenarios.

Best For: Organizations seeking to democratize data access, teams without dedicated analysts, and companies prioritizing self-service analytics.

Considerations:

• Higher pricing compared to some alternatives, which can be prohibitive for smaller organizations

• Limited visualization variety compared to tools like Tableau or Power BI

• Requires data modeling setup for optimal search functionality

Here’s how ThoughtSpot stacks up next to Qlik in our testing:

ThoughtSpot flips the BI experience — instead of building charts, you just ask questions and get instant, AI-powered answers.

With ThoughtSpot, we tested a basic sales dataset and simply typed:

“Top regions by revenue this year”

The chart popped up instantly — no filters, no drag-and-drop, no config.

It’s like having a search engine for your data.

That was the biggest difference from Qlik:

Where Qlik wants you to build reports manually, ThoughtSpot just gives you the answer.

Why ThoughtSpot Was Better Than Qlik (For AI + Simplicity)

• Just typed a question like “top-performing regions” — got instant insights
  
  

• No setup, no drag-and-drop — felt like Google for my data
  
  

• AI suggested trends we hadn’t thought of

Read the full user review

• Great for teams who need quick, self-service analytics

What Was Missing

• Embedding needed a developer, not as smooth as Upsolve
  
  

• Less visual control — can’t tweak charts as much
  
  

• Pricing is custom and not transparent — tricky to estimate

Read the full user review

What Felt Different

ThoughtSpot flips the BI model.

You don’t build dashboards first.

You ask a question, get the answer, and move on.

It made data feel accessible to everyone, not just the analytics team.

We even had a product manager pull up key churn trends without needing help. That’s a win.

My rating: Overall Rating⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.8/5)

My Honest Take

If your team’s constantly asking, “Can you check the data for this?”

ThoughtSpot will save you hours.

It’s perfect for:

• ✅ Teams that want fast answers, not complex dashboards
  
  

• ✅ Sales or marketing teams who hate waiting on reports
  
  

• ✅ Companies that want AI-powered insights out of the box
  
  

4. Tableau vs Qlik: Best for Beautiful, Client-Ready Dashboards

Tableau - The Visualization Powerhouse

Why It's Still Relevant: Despite its learning curve, Tableau remains the gold standard for advanced data visualization and interactive reporting, offering unmatched flexibility in presenting data.

What We Tested:

• Complex multi-source data blending

• Advanced visualization creation

• Interactive dashboard development

• Collaboration through Tableau Server

Visualization Excellence:

Unmatched Chart Variety Tableau provides extensive control over visualizations, supporting everything from basic charts to complex statistical plots, geographic mapping, and custom visualizations.

Advanced Data Blending Merge data from multiple sources into single projects, enabling complex cross-system analysis that goes beyond basic reporting.

Handles Large Datasets Efficiently Tableau processes millions of rows efficiently, making it suitable for enterprise-scale analytics requirements.

Best For: Teams requiring sophisticated visualizations, organizations with dedicated analysts, and scenarios demanding high levels of customization and flexibility.

Challenges:

• Steep learning curve requiring significant time investment to master advanced features

• Higher costs for full feature access

• Complex integration process compared to more modern alternatives

Let’s start with the side-by-side:

Tableau is all about beautiful, interactive dashboards — perfect if you care about design, storytelling, and polished visuals.

We tested Tableau with a sample customer journey dataset and created a funnel dashboard.

Within 90 minutes, it looked polished enough to present to a C-suite — no design skills needed.

Qlik could do the same, but it would’ve taken twice as long, and wouldn’t look half as clean.

Why Tableau Worked Better Than Qlik (for Visuals)

• Dashboards looked client-ready with zero design work
  

• Huge selection of interactive charts and filters
  

• Best tool we tested for data storytelling

Read the full user review

• Perfect for presentations, client reports, or internal reviews

Where Qlik Still Has the Edge

• Learning curve — not beginner-friendly at first

• More expensive than Power BI or Upsolve
  
  

• Qlik still wins on backend flexibility and logic

What Felt Different

Tableau made data feel visual-first.

Even before we added filters or formatting, the dashboards already looked presentable.

There’s something nice about that, especially when your audience isn’t technical.

We sent a marketing performance dashboard to a client during the test — their first comment was, “Wow, this looks great.”

That never happens with Qlik unless you spend time customizing everything.

My rating: Overall Rating⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.6/5)

My Honest Take

If your dashboards are shared with clients, execs, or investors, and you want them to look clean and impressive without extra design work —

Tableau is a better Qlik competitor for visuals and storytelling.

It’s perfect for:

• ✅ Agencies, marketing teams, or customer-facing reports
  
  

• ✅ Teams that want plug-and-play visuals without code
  
  

• ✅ Anyone who wants dashboards that make data look good right away
  
  

5. Sisense vs Qlik: Best Qlik Competitor for Complex, Scalable Analytics

Sisense - The Embedded Analytics Specialist

Why Teams Love It: Sisense specializes in embedding analytics directly into business workflows, offering powerful capabilities for integrating insights into existing applications and processes.

What We Tested:

• ElastiCube data management

• Dashboard embedding capabilities

• Multi-source data integration

• White-label customization options

Core Strengths:

Embedded-First Design Sisense connects to over 160 data sources out of the box, with simplified embedding processes that don't require extensive development resources.

ElastiCube Technology Sisense's unique ElastiCube system creates analytics databases that enable faster querying of datasets and better data management compared to traditional approaches.

User-Friendly Setup Sisense is recognized for its simplicity in setup and fast deployment, making it suitable for users without extensive technical expertise.

Best For: Companies needing to embed analytics into existing applications, teams prioritizing ease of use over advanced features, and organizations requiring quick deployment.

Limitations:

• Users report difficulty understanding error messages and frequent need for support team assistance

• Limited advanced analytics compared to specialized platforms

• Less flexibility in complex data modeling scenarios

Let’s look at the side-by-side first:

Sisense gives you full control over data and deployment, built for companies that need serious scale and customization.

Sisense was the most technical tool we tested — but also the most powerful under the hood.

We threw a messy mix of sales logs, user behavior data, and event-level records at it.

Once everything was connected and modeled, Sisense handled it like a champ.

Performance was solid, even with larger datasets.

Where Sisense Stood Out Over Qlik

• Handled huge, messy datasets without slowing down

Read the full user review

• Strong API access — great for our dev team
  
  

• Supports hybrid deployments — flexible for enterprise setups
  
  

• Best fit when you need serious scale and control

Why it is not for everyone

• Longer setup time — definitely not plug-and-play

Read the full user review

• Needs a technical team to manage and customize
  
  

• Overkill if you just want simple dashboards and a fast setup

What Felt Different

Sisense feels more like a data engine than a BI tool.

It’s not the fastest to set up, and it’s definitely not no-code.

But once it’s running, it’s extremely reliable and scalable.

We had a dev connect multiple sources, create custom logic, and build a role-based dashboard experience.

That level of control just isn’t as smooth in Qlik without a lot of workarounds.

My rating: overall Rating ⭐⭐⭐ (3.2/5)

My Honest Take

If your team is technical and working with huge or messy datasets, Sisense is a strong Qlik alternative — especially when scale and backend flexibility matter.

It’s perfect for:

• ✅ Data teams managing large volumes across multiple systems
  
  

• ✅ Product and engineering teams who want deep API control
  
  

• ✅ Enterprises that need robust infrastructure, not just visual dashboards

How To Choose the Right Qlik Competitor for Your Business

After testing all five tools, one thing was clear:

There’s no one-size-fits-all BI solution.

It depends on your team, your data, and how fast you need to move.

So instead of listing features again, here’s how we’d actually think through the decision, based on what we tested.

Emerging Player: Upsolve AI - The No-Code Speed Champion

Why It's Breaking Through: Upsolve AI represents a new generation of embedded analytics tools designed specifically for fast-moving teams that need analytics without the traditional complexity and setup time.

What We Tested:

• Complete setup from signup to embedded dashboard

• SaaS-specific metrics (MRR, churn, user analytics)

• No-code dashboard creation

• App embedding capabilities

Revolutionary Speed:

30-Minute Implementation With Upsolve AI, teams can sign up, connect a sample SaaS database (users, MRR, churn), build a dashboard, and embed it into a mock app — all within 30 minutes. No code. No dev team. No delays. This represents a fundamental shift from traditional BI tools that require days or weeks of setup.

Zero Developer Dependency Unlike traditional BI platforms that require technical resources, Upsolve AI enables business users to create and embed analytics independently, removing typical bottlenecks in the analytics deployment process.

Clean, Branded Results Dashboards look clean and branded out of the box, eliminating the need for extensive design work or customization that other platforms often require.

Perfect For: Growing SaaS companies, product teams needing quick customer-facing analytics, startups without dedicated data teams, and any organization prioritizing speed over complex functionality.

The Reality Check: If you're a growing SaaS team, Qlik often feels like using a forklift when you just need a hand truck. With Upsolve, analytics don't feel like an internal tool. This positioning makes it ideal for teams that need functional, customer-facing analytics without enterprise-level complexity.

Considerations:

• Limited to specific use cases (primarily SaaS/product analytics)

• May lack advanced statistical and analytical capabilities

• Newer player with less established enterprise support infrastructure

Side-by-Side Comparison: The Complete Picture

Real User Insights: What People Actually Say

Power BI Success Stories

"Having switched from Excel recently, Microsoft Power BI has been of great help. The data transformation module is wonderful for handling large amounts of information, and the integration capabilities are excellent."

ThoughtSpot Praise

"Approximately 86% of users say ThoughtSpot enables efficient self-service data visualization and analysis through AI-driven natural language searches."

Tableau Recognition

"I enjoy using Tableau and recommend it over other data visualization tools due to the flexibility and beautiful visualizations that can be made with it."

Common Qlik Concerns

"After initial setup, we struggled with creating connections to uncommon databases that proved very difficult to configure in Qlik."

2025 Market Trends: What's Driving the Change

1. AI-First Analytics

Modern BI tools are leveraging artificial intelligence and natural language processing to simplify data analysis, making insights accessible to wider audiences without technical expertise.

2. Embedded Analytics Growth

Organizations increasingly need analytics embedded directly into business workflows and applications, driving demand for embedded-first solutions.

3. Cost Optimization Focus

With economic pressures, organizations are seeking more affordable alternatives that offer comparable features with transparent, predictable pricing models.

4. Self-Service Demands

Teams want intuitive, self-service analytics that don't require dedicated IT support or extensive training to achieve basic insights.

🔹 1. Do you need embedded dashboards?

• If you're building a SaaS product or internal tool and want to show data to users inside your app,
  → Go with Upsolve AI — fastest and easiest to embed.
  
  

• If you're embedding dashboards but have a dev team to help,
  → ThoughtSpot or Sisense also work, but the setup is heavier.
  
  

🔹 2. How technical is your team?

• No developers? No problem.
  → Upsolve AI and Power BI are the easiest for non-technical users.
  
  
  

• Got a data engineer or technical team?
  → Sisense gives you full control, but expect a longer setup.
  
  

🔹 3. Do you already use Microsoft tools?

• If your team lives in Excel, Teams, or OneDrive,
  → Power BI is the natural fit. It feels like an extension of what you're already doing.
  
  

🔹 4. Do you want quick insights, not just dashboards?

• If your team constantly asks, "Can someone pull this report?"
  → Try ThoughtSpot — just type a question and it gives you the answer. Like Google, but for your data.
  
  

🔹 5. Do you care about visual polish?

• If you share dashboards with clients, execs, or investors,
  → Tableau gives you the best-looking visuals out of the box.
  
  

Quick Cheat Sheet

Conclusion: Quick Recap of the Best Qlik Competitors

• Qlik is powerful, but it’s not always the simplest
  
  

• If your team needs something faster, easier, or more flexible, there are better options

We tested 5 real Qlik alternatives. Here’s what stood out:

• Upsolve AI – Easiest to use, no code, perfect for SaaS teams
  
  

• ThoughtSpot – Type a question, get instant answers
  
  

• Power BI – Feels like Excel, great for Microsoft users
  
  

• Tableau – Best visuals, great for client or exec reports
  
  

• Sisense – Powerful for large datasets, needs a tech team

If you want to build and embed dashboards quickly — without coding, without waiting on devs —
Upsolve AI is worth a try.

You don’t need to rebuild your BI stack.

Sometimes the better choice is just… simpler.

Ready to Make the Switch?

The BI landscape has evolved significantly in 2025, offering alternatives that address Qlik's traditional limitations while providing modern capabilities like AI-powered insights, affordable pricing, and user-friendly interfaces.

Next Steps:

1. Identify your primary use case (reporting, embedded analytics, advanced visualization)

2. Start a free trial with your top choice

3. Test with real data before committing

FAQs

1. Is Qlik still worth it in 2025?

It depends. Qlik is powerful, especially for enterprise teams with complex data setups.

But if you want faster setup, easier dashboards, or cleaner embedded analytics, other tools like Upsolve AI or Power BI might be a better fit.

2. Which Qlik competitor is best for startups or SaaS teams?

From what we tested — Upsolve AI.

It’s no-code, quick to embed, and designed for product teams.

You don’t need a BI team to use it.

3. What’s the easiest tool to switch to from Qlik?

Power BI if you already use Microsoft tools like Excel or Teams.

Upsolve AI if you want something that’s faster to set up and focused on embedded dashboards.

4. Can these tools handle embedded dashboards like Qlik?

Yes — but with different approaches.

• Upsolve AI made embedding incredibly easy — no dev time.
  
  

• Sisense and ThoughtSpot offer embedding too, but need technical setup.
  
  

• Power BI and Tableau support it, but it’s more manual.
  
  

5. What’s the most affordable Qlik alternative?

• Power BI starts at just $10/user/month.
  
  

• Upsolve AI offers flat, predictable pricing without surprise fees — great for growing teams.
  Qlik’s pricing can get expensive fast, especially with usage-based models.