Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Looker VS Explore

Compare Looker VS Explore and see what are their differences

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Looker logo Looker

Looker makes it easy for analysts to create and curate custom data experiencesโ€”so everyone in the business can explore the data that matters to them, in the context that makes it truly meaningful.

Explore logo Explore

Discover interesting people in your 2nd degree network.
  • 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.

  • Explore Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-02

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.

Explore features and specs

  • Extensive Database
    eBird provides access to a vast collection of global bird observation data contributed by bird enthusiasts from around the world.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The Explore feature offers an easy-to-navigate interface, allowing users to find information on bird species, their distribution, and recent sightings efficiently.
  • Real-Time Updates
    eBird's data is continuously updated, providing users with the latest information on bird sightings and trends around the globe.
  • Advanced Search Options
    Explore includes filters and tools that allow users to customize searches by region, time, species, and more, enhancing research capabilities.
  • Educational Resource
    eBird serves as a valuable educational tool for both amateur bird watchers and professional ornithologists looking to study bird behavior and distribution.

Possible disadvantages of Explore

  • Data Accuracy
    Since eBird relies on user-contributed data, there may be concerns about the accuracy and reliability of some sightings.
  • Limited Expert Input
    While the platform aggregates large volumes of data, there is limited expert analysis or verification, which might be critical for scientific research.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    New users or casual bird watchers might find the wealth of data and options overwhelming or difficult to navigate without guidance.
  • Dependency on User Participation
    The effectiveness and comprehensiveness of the data depend heavily on active participation from the bird-watching community.
  • Internet Access Required
    Exploring eBird data requires a stable internet connection, which might be a limitation for users in remote areas or during fieldwork.

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.

Looker videos

Looker Review

More videos:

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

Explore videos

No Explore videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Looker and Explore)
Data Dashboard
100 100%
0% 0
Public Sector
0 0%
100% 100
Business Intelligence
100 100%
0% 0
AI Platform
0 0%
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 Looker and Explore

Looker Reviews

Top 10 BI Tools in 2026 (with Pricing, AI Features & Enterprise Fit)
Looker like business intelligence platforms include tools that offer governed data models, embedded analytics, real-time dashboards, and scalable cloud performance. These platforms are ideal for organizations that need consistent metrics, strong data governance, and customizable analytics similar to what Looker provides.
Source: supaboard.ai
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, weโ€™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.

Explore Reviews

We have no reviews of Explore yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Explore should be more popular than Looker. It has been mentiond 21 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.

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 3 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 / over 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 4 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: over 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 / over 4 years ago
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Explore mentions (21)

  • Kairos: AI Interns for Everyone
    - "Will identify rare, unusual, or out-of-season species reported today" This plan doesn't seem super promising, as there will be hundreds or thousands of bird reports in the county, and the rarities may or may not be on the most recent list. It seems to run into difficulty and generates a new prompt: "Go to eBird.org and access the recent sightings for Prince George's County, Maryland for January 28, 2026.\n\nTry... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Scotland bird site
    Check out eBird. There are plenty of hotspots around your area and beyond. You can also search for species and refine the search to only show recent sightings. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Backyard Birds of North Carolina
    Living in Raleigh, I've recorded at least 41 different species in my backyard (including all of literally all of these). If anyone is interested in tracking what's around, check out eBird, it gives you pictures, names, sounds, geolocation of birds, etc. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Hello, I was wondering, is there an internet site where I could click on a country and it would show me the species living in the country? Or even better, area in the country? Thanks!
    Just go to Explore in eBird, type in the region youโ€™re interested in, then select barcharts on the left panel. It will show you the seasonal abundance of all species recorded in that county/state/country. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Steller's Sea Eagles in Japan
    Using the ebird website (https://ebird.org/explore) click on "Species Maps" and then you can specify Steller's sea eagle, and set the date range to "all years" and "Mar-Mar" to find previous reported sightings in March. Then zoom in to see hotspots, and click on them to see details, checklists, etc. Good luck! Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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.

Deepbloo - Deepbloo is a public tender and market intelligence platform. Access French public procurement data and international tenders to anticipate projects and win more contracts.

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

AngelList Track - Mission control for recruiting.

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

Recruitee - Europe's leading recruitment software for streamlining, automating and optimizing your recruitment process. Winner of OnRec Award 2018.