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DuckDB VS Looker

Compare DuckDB VS Looker and see what are their differences

Grapple
Do-It-Yourself Data Analytics & Business Intelligence, Powered by AI featured
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Contents:
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  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

DuckDB logo DuckDB

DuckDB is an in-process SQL OLAP database management system

Looker logo Looker

Looker makes it easy for analysts to create and curate custom data experiences—so everyone in the business can explore the data that matters to them, in the context that makes it truly meaningful.
  • DuckDB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-18
  • Looker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-11

Looker is a business intelligence platform with an analytics-oriented application server that sits on top of relational data stores. The Looker platform includes an end-user interface for exploring data, a reusable development paradigm for creating data discovery experiences, and an extensible API set so the data can exist in other systems. Looker enables anyone to search and explore data, build dashboards and reports, and share everything easily and quickly.

DuckDB features and specs

  • Lightweight
    DuckDB is a lightweight database that is easy to install and use without requiring a separate server process.
  • In-Memory Processing
    It supports efficient in-memory execution, which makes it suitable for analytical queries that require quick data processing.
  • Columnar Storage
    DuckDB uses a columnar storage format that optimizes for analytical workloads by improving read performance for large datasets.
  • Integration with Data Science Tools
    The database integrates well with popular data science tools and libraries such as Pandas, R, and Jupyter Notebooks.
  • SQL Support
    DuckDB offers full support for SQL, allowing users to leverage their existing SQL knowledge without having to learn new query languages.
  • Open Source
    DuckDB is open-source, enabling users to inspect the code, contribute to its development, and use it without licensing costs.

Possible disadvantages of DuckDB

  • Limited Scalability
    DuckDB is optimized for single-node operations, which may not be suitable for scaling out to large, distributed data workloads.
  • Relatively New
    As a newer database system, DuckDB might lack some features and optimizations found in more mature database systems.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    DuckDB may not support some advanced database management features like complex transactions and user permissions found in other database systems.
  • Community and Support
    Being a less mature project, it might not have as large a community or extensive documentation and support as other established database systems.
  • Limited Distributed Processing
    DuckDB currently focuses more on local data processing and may not be the best choice for applications needing distributed computing capabilities.

Looker features and specs

  • Powerful Data Modeling
    Looker uses LookML, a proprietary modeling language, making it possible to transform raw data into meaningful metrics and dimensions, providing deep insights without needing SQL expertise.
  • Ease of Use
    Its intuitive user interface enables non-technical users to create visualizations and reports with relative ease, reducing the workload on data teams.
  • Customization
    Looker offers extensive customization options for data exploration and visualization, allowing dashboards and reports to be tailored to specific user needs.
  • Embedded Analytics
    Provides robust capabilities for embedding analytics into applications or portals, broadening the scope of data-driven decision-making throughout the organization.
  • Real-time Data
    Supports real-time data analytics by querying live data, which ensures up-to-date insights and helps in making timely decisions.
  • Integrations
    Looker integrates seamlessly with a wide range of databases and cloud data warehouses, including Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, and Snowflake.

Possible disadvantages of Looker

  • Learning Curve
    LookML, while powerful, can be complex for beginners who are not already familiar with data modeling or SQL, resulting in a steep learning curve.
  • Cost
    Looker can be expensive, especially for small businesses, as pricing is typically based on the number of users and the data volume processed.
  • Performance
    Query performance can sometimes be slow, especially with complex data models and large data sets, which may impact the user experience.
  • Customization Constraints
    While Looker offers great customization, certain advanced customizations may require significant expertise and time, posing a potential barrier.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    Looker is primarily designed for online use, so it lacks robust offline capabilities, which can be a limitation for users who need access to data in situations without internet connectivity.

Analysis of Looker

Overall verdict

  • Looker is generally considered a robust solution for organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. Its flexibility, extensibility, and ease of use make it a strong contender in the BI space, though it may require some learning and setup effort to fully utilize its features.

Why this product is good

  • Looker is a data analytics platform that provides powerful tools for data exploration, visualization, and business intelligence. It offers a user-friendly interface and is known for its ability to connect to a wide variety of data sources. Looker's LookML, a modeling language, allows users to define data relationships and calculations, making it easier to create custom reports and dashboards. Additionally, it integrates well with other tools and supports collaboration with data teams.

Recommended for

  • Companies seeking scalable and flexible business intelligence solutions.
  • Organizations that need to integrate multiple data sources.
  • Teams looking for a collaborative platform with custom reporting capabilities.
  • Users who prefer a code-based approach to data modeling and analysis.

DuckDB videos

+ Add

DuckDB An Embeddable Analytical Database

More videos:

  • Review - DuckDB: Hi-performance SQL queries on pandas dataframe (Python)
  • Review - DuckDB An Embeddable Analytical Database

Looker videos

+ Add

Looker Review

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How To Use Looker as a Business User
  • Review - Looker Review - Off The Shelf Reviews

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DuckDB and Looker)

DuckDB

Looker

Databases
100 100%
Databases
0% 0
Data Dashboard
0 0%
Data Dashboard
100% 100
Big Data
100 100%
Big Data
0% 0
Business Intelligence
0 0%
Business Intelligence
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare DuckDB and Looker

DuckDB Reviews

We have no reviews of DuckDB yet.
Be the first one to post

Looker Reviews

Explore 7 Tableau Alternatives for Data Visualization and Analysis
Looker Studio, formerly Google Data Studio, is a user-friendly business intelligence tool that transforms raw data into interactive, customizable dashboards and reports. It integrates seamlessly with Google's ecosystem and supports various data sources, including Google Analytics and BigQuery. Looker Studio offers robust visualization capabilities and real-time collaborative...
Source: www.draxlr.com
Explore 6 Metabase Alternatives for Data Visualization and Analysis
To find the best Metabase alternative for your business, start by listing your specific requirements, such as customer support, data integrations, visualization options, user access controls, and budget. Compare these needs with the features of other BI tools like Draxlr, Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or Holistics. Once you've identified a few suitable options, take advantage...
Source: www.draxlr.com
5 best Looker alternatives
In this blog, we’ll dive into the best 5 Looker alternatives currently dominating the market. Whether you're seeking a Looker alternative with enhanced features, better pricing, or a more tailored fit for your analytics needs, this guide will help you discover BI tool that could be a perfect match for your business.
Source: www.draxlr.com
10 Best Alternatives to Looker in 2024
Exploring alternatives to Looker isn't just about finding a different tool; it's about uncovering solutions that better address your specific business challenges and operational workflows. Here, we highlight five areas where Looker's limitations might lead you to consider other options.
Source: www.sigmacomputing.com
6 Best Looker alternatives
So who are Looker’s competitors? Our top 5 Looker alternatives provide data visualisation and exploration for business intelligence but also offer lower price points, less of a learning curve, and more accessibility for your non-tech team.
Source: trevor.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DuckDB should be more popular than Looker. It has been mentiond 37 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DuckDB mentions (37)

  • From OLTP to OLAP: Streaming Databases into MotherDuck with Estuary
    DuckDB is an open source analytical database designed with a clear goal: to make complex queries fast and simple without heavy infrastructure. Instead of being a traditional client-server database, DuckDB is embedded. It runs inside the host process, which reduces overhead and makes it easy to integrate directly into applications, notebooks, or scripts. Several features stand out:. - Source: dev.to / 8 days ago
  • DuckDB + Iceberg: The ultimate synergy
    Apache Iceberg and DuckDB have established themselves as key players in data architecture landscape. With DuckDB 1.4's native support for Iceberg writes, combined with Apache Polaris and MinIO, this promising stack offers efficiency, scalability, and flexibility. - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • DuckDB on AWS Lambda: The Easy Way with Layers
    It seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore DuckDB, an in-process analytical database known for its efficiency and simplicity. - Source: dev.to / 23 days ago
  • From Go to Rust: Supercharging Our ClickHouse UDFs with Alloy
    While our Go-based implementation has served us well, we've been exploring whether Rust—with its rapidly maturing Ethereum ecosystem—could take us even further. The potential benefits are compelling: better performance, enhanced safety, and improved portability that could make it easier to bring these UDFs to other analytical engines like DataFusion or DuckDB. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Show HN: TextQuery – Query CSV, JSON, XLSX Files with SQL
    Have you seen duckdb? https://duckdb.org/ It's basically what you're building, but more low-level. Really cool, to be honest -- serves the same market too. Do you have any significant differentiator, other than charts? - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
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Looker mentions (14)

  • edit home page to add folder section
    Then in the "foldername" you can have 5 folders, each one for each of the groups. This means that when group1 enters looker.com, his default page will be the "foldername", which contains group1folder (he cannot see the rest of the folders if you have set the permissions correctly for each folder). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Stars, tables, and activities: How do we model the real world?
    Even if you want to make Wide Tables, combining fact and dimensions is often the easiest way to create them, so why not make them available? Looker, for example, is well suited to dimensional models because it takes care of the joins that can make Kimball warehouses hard to navigate for business users. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • dbt for Data Quality Testing & Alerting at FINN
    We take daily snapshots of test results, aggregate them, and send Looker dashboards to the appropriate teams. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • I'm a dev ID 10 T please help me
    Dashboard: I like to use Datastudio because it's easy (just like using google sheets), but you can also try out Looker. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • The Data Stack Journey: Lessons from Architecting Stacks at Heroku and Mattermost
    For Growth and larger, I would recommend Looker. The only reason I wouldn't recommend it for the smaller company stages is that the cost is much higher than alternatives such as Metabase. With Looker, you define your data model in LookML, which Looker then uses to provide a drag-and-drop interface for end-users that enables them to build their own visualizations without needing to write SQL. This lets your... - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DuckDB and Looker, you can also consider the following products

ClickHouse - ClickHouse is an open-source column-oriented database management system that allows generating analytical data reports in real time.

Microsoft Power BI - BI visualization and reporting for desktop, web or mobile

Apache Arrow - Apache Arrow is a cross-language development platform for in-memory data.

Tableau - Tableau can help anyone see and understand their data. Connect to almost any database, drag and drop to create visualizations, and share with a click.

Apache Parquet - Apache Parquet is a columnar storage format available to any project in the Hadoop ecosystem.

Sisense - The BI & Dashboard Software to handle multiple, large data sets.

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