Business dashboard and BI software compared: what 8 companies charge

We do not convert currencies. A page we could not read is marked could not read, a page that asks for a quote is marked quote only, and the reasons are listed below the table. Pages can show different prices to visitors in different countries. A price with no currency named is shown with the sign the page used; it may be the United States version or the one for the country the page assumed we were in, so check the page you are sent to.

• 3 of the 8 charge per user, or for extra users, on at least one plan, so the price grows with the team.
• 3 of the 8 offer a free plan, and 5 offer a time-limited trial.

Taken from what each company's own page says it is for.

• Databox: Solo analysts, collaborating teams and agencies managing several clients, with a free plan for individuals who want to track key metrics.
• Geckoboard: Teams that want live numbers on shared dashboards and screens, from small teams getting started up to larger organisations with extra integration or procurement needs.
• Klipfolio: Teams that want shared business dashboards, from a first few dashboards up to larger organisations, and agencies and consultants who report to clients.
• Metabase: Teams that want self-service analytics for their own staff, and companies that want to put analytics in front of their customers.
• Qlik (Qlik Cloud Analytics): Small businesses on Starter, small teams on Standard, and whole organisations on Premium and Enterprise, going by the page's own plan descriptions.

• Microsoft Power BI: Priced per user, and sharing reports needs a Pro or Premium licence, so the free account is only for building them. The page says its prices do not include GST.
• Zoho Analytics: Each plan comes with a set number of users and rows, extra users cost A$9.68 per user a month, and a viewers add-on is A$124.08 a month for a minimum of 25. The page says its prices include local taxes.
• Tableau: Both prices are 'starting at' figures per user per month and need annual billing. The page names the amounts in USD.
• Databox: The page says Databox does not charge per seat, and add-ons such as branding and white-labeling ($80 a month) cost extra. The FAQ quotes higher prices than the plan cards (for example $249 and $399 for Team against $199 and $319) and the page does not explain why.
• Geckoboard: The price depends on the number of dashboards, editors and screens, and extras on Essentials cost $24 per dashboard and $20 per editor or screen. The page says VAT is not included.
• Klipfolio: Every plan has unlimited users, so the price rises with the number of dashboards and how fast data refreshes. The page says there are no hidden setup or onboarding fees, but add-ons such as white-labelling ($299 a month, billed annually) cost extra.
• Metabase: Starter includes 5 users and Pro includes 10, after which each extra user costs $6 or $12 a month, and usage extras such as storage (from $2 for 1M rows) are billed on top. The Open Source plan is free but self-hosted, and the page says prices exclude any applicable taxes.
• Qlik (Qlik Cloud Analytics): Plans are priced by data capacity, a fixed fee for a set capacity with extra charges only if you go over, rather than by seat, though Starter stops at 10 users. Starter, Standard and Premium are billed annually, and Enterprise is by quote.

• Connectors. The data you need must be reachable, and some tools charge extra for the connection.
• Whether viewers pay too, or only the people who build. A dashboard everyone reads can cost more than one a few build.
• Refresh limits on the cheaper plans, because a number that is a day old is a different dashboard.
• Who builds the first dashboard. Several tools are powerful and still need someone to set them up.

These pages did not give us a price we could read. That is a limit of how we read, not a sign that the company hides its prices.

• Looker Studio (now called Data Studio): its pricing page did not give us a price we could read.
• Domo: its pricing page refused our request.

We build dashboards on the numbers you already have, drawn the way you read them, quoted in writing before any work starts. If a tool in the table does the job, we will say so.

See also: custom software, dashboards and what we charge.