Data Analytics and Business Intelligence. Top 15 BI Tools You Need To Know in 2025

Nowadays, we produce more data than ever before. According to business intelligence statistics, any company that effectively applies insights extracted from market data will surely benefit. And today, we want to review 15 best data analytics and BI tools on the market. We will also explain to you what a BI tool is and what are the benefits of business intelligence and data analytics consulting. Keep reading!

What are Business Intelligence (BI) Tool?

Business intelligence tools are types of application software that collect and process large amounts of unstructured data from internal and external systems such as books, documents, medical records, images, files, emails, and various sources of other business data such as data warehouses and cloud platforms.

Key features of these business intelligence platforms are data visualization, visual analytics, dashboards, and KPI scorecards. Additionally, data analytics and BI tools allow users to apply self-service automated reporting and predictive analytics features in one solution, making the analytical process more effective and accessible.

Key Benefits of BI tools

Professional data analytics and BI software offer various important benefits. The diagram below illustrates how BI tools really help companies:

Source: bi-survey.com[/caption]

Above all else, data analytics BI tools allow business users to accelerate and improve the decision-making process, increase operational efficiency, and identify new potential business opportunities simply by deriving accurate insights from the company’s data.

Moreover, business intelligence tools allow companies to analyze market trends, generate new income, and provide actionable information about KPIs.

How to Choose the Right BI Tool for Your Business?

With so many BI tools available in the market, selecting the right one can be overwhelming. Here are some key factors to consider when choosing a BI solution:

• Ease of Use: Look for a tool that offers an intuitive interface and requires minimal technical expertise.
• Integration Capabilities: Ensure the BI software integrates with your existing data sources and platforms.
• Customization: A good BI tool should allow customization of dashboards and reports to meet your specific business needs.
• Scalability: Choose a solution that can grow with your business and handle increasing data volumes.
• Pricing: Consider the total cost of ownership, including licensing, maintenance, and support fees.
• Customer Support: Look for a vendor that offers comprehensive customer support, including documentation, training, and live assistance.

Top 15 Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Tools

Now, it is time to cover the topic of the best data analytics BI tools. So, here is a list of the best data analytics BI tools you can take advantage of. Take a closer look — there are 15 of them, so you will easily find something that will meet all your needs and requirements.

Microsoft Power BI

When it comes to the best business intelligence tool, Microsoft Power BI is probably the first tool that comes to mind. Microsoft Power BI is an analytical tool that helps in reporting, data mining, and data visualization to generate business intelligence. With a simple interface, companies can connect to a variety of data sources and create their own dashboards and reports.

Source: docs.microsoft.com

This BI tool also provides built-in AI tools, Excel integration, and custom data connectors. It lets your company create and publish reports personalized to your brand and KPIs.

Moreover, it provides access to a library of over 120 free connectors for everyone on board. You can also directly connect it to hundreds of on-premises and cloud data sources, such as Azure SQL Database, Dynamics 365, Excel, Salesforce, SharePoint, and others.

Microsoft Power BI is also used by diverse well-known companies, such as Nestle, Nokia, Rolls Royce, HP, Adobe and more.

The pricing depends on the package you choose, but the free trial is also here. So if you have any doubts — start with it. Briefly about Power BI you can find out in the video below:

Read more: Power BI for Data Analysis: Key Benefits. Why Does It Fit So Well?

Tableau

Tableau is also considered to be one of the best data analytics and BI tools. Tableau is a data visualization and analysis tool that assists businesses in making data-driven business decisions. It integrates data from a range of sources to provide actionable insights in real-time.

Tableau offers an amazing variety of products. It has a desktop, mobile, and embedded versions, is available online, and so on. The products can be used both by individuals and teams.

Source: tableau.com

Apart from this, Tableau is suitable for numerous industries, and its website provides enough examples and explanations regarding this.

The support here is great — there are a lot of manuals, videos, and guides, and you can always ask the community to help you. Even live training is available! The pricing for Tableau varies, but you can always try it for free to make sure it is the tool you were looking for.

Besides, Tableau as a data analytics and BI tool is used by numerous international companies like LinkedIn, Walmart, Amazon, Deloitte. For example, with its help, Lufthansa increased its efficiency by 30%. [1] In turn, PepsiCo manages to cut the analysis time by up to 90%. [2]

Qlik Sense

Another popular BI tool is Qlik Sense. If you choose Qlik as your business intelligence partner, you will get a next-generation platform for self-service analytics. It supports a wide range of analytics use cases, including visualization and exploration, apps and dashboards for managed analytics, custom and built-in analytics etc.

Actually, this tool doesn’t seem to be very different from Tableau or Microsoft Power BI, but its augmented intelligence feature makes it rather special. Considering community trends, user feedback, and other important factors, Qlik delivers more relevant insights.

The basic package can be tried for free, but if you need something more serious, you will have to pay. Diverse training options are provided, so you will be able to learn how to use Qlik. Below you can find out Qlik Sense review: Top Features, Pros & Cons, and Alternatives.

Sisense – best BI tool for developing and deploying analytics apps

Sisense is an end-to-end business intelligence platform covering the needs of diverse industries and departments. Perfectly suitable for business teams, product teams, and enterprises, this tool allows simplifying complex data from different sources.

It offers a self-service analytics platform that uses data from all touchpoints and multiple sources such as Adwords, Google Analytics, and Salesforce. Furthermore, it allows you to create enterprise-grade analytics applications on-premises or in the cloud with the lowest total cost of ownership. Source: sisense.com

Over 10,000 users and brands are already using Sisense, and you can join them. However, the pricing rates are not specified — they depend on certain factors, so you will have to contact Sisense to learn more. A free trial is available.

Looker – data analytics and BI tool for startups and mid-sized businesses

Looker is a business intelligence and data visualization platform built for companies that already have a data analytics team. Such BI tool provides you a 360-degree view of your business and customers and helps you invest the right way. Source: predictiveanalyticstoday.com

Looker connects with Snowflake, Redshift, and other SQL dialects. In total, the platform supports over 50 of them, so you can easily connect to numerous databases. Apart from this, Looker supports hosting on public clouds. Also, integrations with tools applications like Slack, Dropbox, Marketo, and Segment help you share data and run workflows.

High-tech operations such as Asana, TaskRabbit, Infectious Media, YPlan rely on data analytics and BI tools such as Looker for dynamic data discovery. Looker offers quote-based plans based on your company’s size and the number of employees.

Oracle

Oracle is largely recognized as an industry leader in business software products. Also, it is considered as the best business intelligence tool for large enterprises looking for advanced AI and ML capabilities. Oracle BI provides a wide variety of reporting and analytics functions with the flexibility of the cloud.

Key features include augmented analytics, mobile exploration and data connectors. This platform is also chosen by large corporations around the world such as FedEx, RedBull, Mastercard and others. As an example, cloud automation helps FedEx respond to changes 2X faster [3]. You can discover more about FedEx&Oracle cooperation in this video:

There is no cost information on the official website. It is possible that you may need to contact the supplier for a specific pricing quotation. But there is a free trial available.

Domo BI

For Domo BI there is no difference where your data is located — it gathers everything together, so the data is available on any device. At the same time, this tool guarantees a great level of security, and your data will never get into the wrong hands.

Like the above-mentioned data analytics BI tools, Domo BI allows business intelligence implementation for companies of different industries: manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation, retail, e-commerce, etc.

It offers personalized business solutions based on various organizational roles like finance, CEO, marketing, IT, sales, etc. Also, it has multiple data connectors for Twitter, Google Sheets, Facebook, Zendesk, Excel, Salesforce, and more.

With Domo BI you can use over 300 interactive chart types and more than 1,000 pre-built and custom data connectors. The pricing varies, but, as usual, you can try the platform for free.

SaS Analytics

SaS Analytics is the last BI tool and solution on our list. SAS Visual Analytics gives fast answers to complicated problems from datasets of any size. Users of SAS Analytics will benefit from making more informed business decisions based on corporate data and market trends. SAS Analytics includes data mining, data visualization, text analytics, forecasting, statistical analysis, and other services.

Source: softwareadvice.co.uk

This data analytics and BI tool is used by companies like Honda, WWF, Volvo and others.

SAP BusinessObjects

SAP BusinessObjects is a comprehensive suite for data reporting, visualization, and sharing. As the on-premise BI layer of SAP’s Business Technology Platform, it transforms raw data into actionable insights accessible anytime, anywhere.

The platform delivers real-time business intelligence, enhances user autonomy, and simplifies information consumption. With a scalable architecture that supports anywhere from a handful of users to tens of thousands, it is a robust solution for large enterprises.

Zoho Analytics

Zoho Analytics is a self-service business intelligence and analytics platform hosted entirely on the Zoho cloud. It enables users to create dashboards and analyze data from over 500 sources without complex setups or IT infrastructure.

With AI-powered analytics, automatic data syncing, and extensive customization options, Zoho Analytics is designed for seamless in-depth reporting and data exploration.

TIBCO Spotfire

TIBCO Spotfire is an advanced analytics platform renowned for its interactive dashboards and ad-hoc analytics capabilities. It offers intelligent visualization recommendations and supports data interactions such as filtering and drill-down analysis.

Ideal for users who require deep data exploration, Spotfire enables the creation of insightful, high-impact dashboards.

Clear Analytics

Clear Analytics is an Excel-based self-service analytics tool that harnesses Microsoft Power BI features. By integrating directly with Excel, it allows users to build custom dashboards and queries without requiring migration or extensive training.

Offering self-service data access and seamless collaboration within Excel, Clear Analytics is an ideal solution for users already familiar with the Microsoft ecosystem.

GoodData

GoodData is an embedded BI and analytics platform focused on data monetization and customizable dashboards. It supports white-label analytics, allowing seamless integration into existing business applications.

GoodData offers scalable API-driven architecture and strong security features, making it suitable for businesses seeking to embed analytics into their workflows while maintaining high data integrity.

Dundas BI

Dundas BI is a browser-based tool that quickly transforms raw data into compelling visualizations. It provides real-time insights into business performance and supports sharing across teams.

Dundas BI can be deployed using Docker containers, offering flexibility in its implementation. This platform is ideal for organizations needing rapid data insights and easy deployment options.

Yellowfin BI

Yellowfin BI is a data visualization and storytelling tool that integrates AI-powered automation and collaborative decision-making features. It is designed for businesses looking for interactive dashboards with AI-powered insights and alerts. Yellowfin offers flexible deployment options (cloud, on-premises, hybrid) and strong collaboration capabilities, making it suitable for organizations seeking to enhance team decision-making processes.

Pentaho

Pentaho is a comprehensive, open-source business intelligence platform that offers a wide range of tools for data integration, reporting, and analytics.

It is designed to help organizations manage and analyze large volumes of data from various sources, providing insights that can inform business decisions.

Summary: Business Intelligence Software Comparison

We aimed to help you to review the best BI tools on the market, and we hope we could help you find the perfect one for your company or department. If you still have any doubts about which data analytics and BI tool to choose, Addepto Team is always ready to help! Just go to the contact section and tell us something more about your data needs!

FAQ: Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Tools

1. What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to technologies, processes, and practices used to collect, analyze, and present business data. The goal is to help organizations make data-driven decisions.

2. What are the key features of a BI tool?

Some key features of BI tools include data visualization, dashboards, reporting, data integration, predictive analytics, and self-service analytics.

3. What are the benefits of using BI tools?

BI tools help organizations make faster and more informed decisions, improve operational efficiency, identify new opportunities, and enhance overall business performance.

4. How do I choose the right BI tool for my business?

To choose the right BI tool, consider factors such as ease of use, integration with your current data sources, scalability, security, pricing, and your business’s specific analytics needs.

5. What is the difference between BI and Data Analytics?

BI focuses on descriptive analytics—understanding what has happened using past data. Data Analytics, on the other hand, includes predictive and prescriptive analytics—predicting future trends and recommending actions.

6. Are there free BI tools available?

Yes. Some BI tools offer free versions, including Microsoft Power BI (free tier), Google Data Studio, and Zoho Analytics.

7. Can small businesses benefit from BI tools?

Absolutely! Many BI tools cater to small businesses, offering cost-effective solutions that help them gain insights and make data-driven decisions without requiring extensive IT infrastructure.

8. How secure are BI tools?

Most BI tools provide strong security measures, including data encryption, role-based access control, and compliance with industry standards such as GDPR and HIPAA.

9. How long does it take to implement a BI tool?

Implementation time varies based on factors like data complexity, company size, and chosen BI platform. Some cloud-based BI tools can be set up within a few days, while enterprise solutions may take weeks or months.

10. Can BI tools be integrated with existing software?

Yes. Most BI tools offer integration with popular software such as Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, Google Analytics, and cloud-based data storage solutions.

This article was originally published on 12 Dec., 2021, and has been updated to include the latest insights and tools.

References

[1] Tableau.com. Lufthansa increases efficiency by 30%, gains flexibility and departmental autonomy. URL: https://www.tableau.com/solutions/customer/lufthansa-saves-30-time-gains-decision-flexibility-and-departmental-autonomy?utm_medium=homepage. Accessed Dec 7, 2021.
[2] Tableau.com. PepsiCo cuts analysis time by up to 90% with Tableau + Trifacta. URL: https://www.tableau.com/solutions/customer/pepsico-cuts-analysis-time-90-tableau-trifacta?utm_medium=homepage. Accessed Dec 7, 2021.
[3] Oracle.com. Cloud automation helps FedEx respond to changes 2X faster. URL: https://www.oracle.com/customers/fedex/. Accessed Dec 7, 2021.