Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Observable VS Sourcetable

Compare Observable VS Sourcetable and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Observable logo Observable

Interactive code examples/posts

Sourcetable logo Sourcetable

Sourcetable is a spreadsheet that syncs with your business applications and database data. Connect to over 100+ different sources including MySQL, Shopify, Hubspot and Salesforce.
  • Observable Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09
  • Sourcetable Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-23

Most people, at most companies, have trouble accessing their data. Sourcetable makes it easy for people to access data from most business applications and databases. That data is accessible in an interface that everyone can use and understands: a spreadsheet.

The kinds of ways people use Sourcetable include: -- Operators accessing their Postgres data to setup automated reporting functionality. -- Marketers using Sourcetable to build CAC or LTV reports using their Hubspot, Google Ads and Klaviyo data. -- Sales managers connecting their Salesforce or Pipedrive data to build charts and graphs visualizing their team's sales funnel. -- CFOs building operating models using their Quickbooks and Stripe data -- Analysts loading and querying CSV files that won't fit in Excel or Google Sheets -- Founders who need a lightweight Business Intelligence solution, but have limited engineering resources.

Observable features and specs

  • Collaborative Environment
    Observable allows multiple users to collaborate in real-time, making it easier for teams to work together on data visualizations and analyses.
  • Reactive Programming
    The platform supports reactive programming, where changes in data automatically trigger updates in the visualizations, enhancing interactivity and reducing the need for manual updates.
  • Built-in Data Visualization Libraries
    Observable integrates seamlessly with popular libraries like D3, Plotly, and Leaflet, providing powerful tools for creating complex and interactive data visualizations.
  • Notebook Interface
    The notebook interface is user-friendly and allows for easy documentation and sharing. Users can combine code, visualizations, and markdown text in a single document.
  • Extensive Resources and Community Support
    Observable has a rich set of tutorials, examples, and a strong community, making it easier for new users to learn and get help.
  • Customizability
    Users have the flexibility to customize their visualizations extensively, thanks to the open-ended nature of JavaScript and the supported libraries.

Possible disadvantages of Observable

  • Steeper Learning Curve for Beginners
    New users, especially those without a background in JavaScript, might find the platform challenging to learn compared to more specialized data visualization tools.
  • Performance Issues
    For very large datasets or highly complex visualizations, performance can become an issue, potentially leading to slow rendering times.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    Observable notebooks currently require an internet connection to run, which can be a limitation for users needing offline access.
  • Limited Integration with Other Tools
    While Observable is powerful, its integration with other enterprise tools and platforms is somewhat limited compared to more established data analysis tools.
  • Subscription Costs
    Access to some of Observable's more advanced features requires a paid subscription, which might be a barrier for individual users or small teams with limited budgets.

Sourcetable features and specs

  • Spreadsheet Formulas
  • Dashboards (Charts, Graphs, Embeds)
  • Data Integrations (Business Applications & Databases)
  • Live Data Syncing
  • Bulk CSV Analysis
  • Real-time Collaboration
  • Automated Reporting

Analysis of Observable

Overall verdict

  • Observable is highly regarded for its user-friendly interface and powerful capabilities. It is particularly valued in environments where collaboration and interactive data exploration are essential. While it may have a learning curve for beginners, its features and community support make it a worthwhile tool for data-driven projects.

Why this product is good

  • Observable is considered good because it offers an innovative platform for data visualization and analysis. It provides an interactive, collaborative environment where users can share and explore JavaScript-based notebooks. The platform's real-time collaboration features, ease of use, and ability to integrate with various data sources make it a valuable tool for data scientists, analysts, and developers.

Recommended for

  • Data scientists and analysts who need to create and share interactive visualizations.
  • Developers looking for a platform to build and showcase data-driven projects.
  • Educational institutions that require tools for teaching data analysis and visualization.
  • Businesses looking for collaborative tools to enhance their data exploration processes.

Observable videos

Observable Overview

More videos:

  • Review - observablehq.com review observable hq data analysis
  • Review - Hands-on Data Visualization with Observable Plot

Sourcetable videos

Sourcetable Product Demo

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Observable and Sourcetable)
Data Visualization
100 100%
0% 0
Spreadsheets
0 0%
100% 100
Data Dashboard
100 100%
0% 0
Project Management
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 Observable and Sourcetable

Observable Reviews

Top 10 Grafana Alternatives in 2024
Observable is a Grafana alternative that enables users to visualize data via charts and dashboards using code.
Source: middleware.io
Embedded analytics in B2B SaaS: A comparison
A few options were disregarded from the start due to a hefty price tag, these were Looker, Tableau, Power BI, GoodData. A few options like Trevor.io, Preset, Observable were disregarded as they did not seem to fit our criteria (based on the evaluation matrix).
Source: medium.com

Sourcetable Reviews

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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Observable seems to be a lot more popular than Sourcetable. While we know about 313 links to Observable, we've tracked only 5 mentions of Sourcetable. 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.

Observable mentions (313)

  • Using elliptic curves to solve a math meme
    Using other constants in place of the ‘4’ can lead to some _really_ gigantic smallest solutions: https://observablehq.com/@robinhouston/a-remarkable-diophantine-equation. - Source: Hacker News / 21 days ago
  • Apache ECharts
    "Observable is obnoxious if you want to add a D3 pie chart to your Vue application and have to untangle calls to D3’s API from reactive cell values, which look like ordinary JavaScript, but are not, and will cause compilation and runtime errors when copied." Yep - as I wrote: "If you want to just blindly copy and paste d3 code, you may have issues with the docs being hosted on observable." If instead you learn the... - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Natural occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects
    I'd imagine many nested named capturing groups may trip even the best automated system! I do like the solution though. I would've probably approached it differently, trying to first get the 'inverted' match (i.e. Not matching anything that isn't a currency like pattern) and refine from there. A bit like this one I did a while back, to parse garbled strings that may occur after OCR [0]. I imagine the approach does... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Visualizing Data Is an Art – We Should Treat It Like One
    Was looking for some mention of Mike Bostock and his epic odyssey into this space. For those who aren't familiar https://observablehq.com/@mbostock. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Ohm: A user-friendly parsing toolkit for JavaScript and TypeScript
    I experimented with an Ohm/CodeMirror bridge that would map an Ohm grammar to CodeMirror classes for marks and syntax highlighting. It might be an interesting starting point for you: https://observablehq.com/@ajbouh/editor. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
View more

Sourcetable mentions (5)

  • Apache ECharts
    We [1] just added to ECharts as a charting library for our AI and are switching the default GUI charts over to it as well. We did a pretty extensive review before selecting it. ECharts won because it's excellent, and very pretty. 1. https://sourcetable.com. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2025)
    Sourcetable | Staff-level Engineers | San Francisco | ONSITE | https://sourcetable.com We're building an AI spreadsheet and application platform for the next billion people. We are most commonly compared to Sheets/Gemini and Excel/Copilot, or referred to as "Cursor for Spreadsheets". If you are an excellent full-stack engineer (React/Python) with good product sense and experience building hard things, please come... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Show HN: Combine/Join multiple CSVs just by talking to our Spreadsheet
    VLOOKUP is dead. Long live AI. This demo shows how to combine two CSV datasets just by talking to our (actual) spreadsheet. Check out the video: https://youtu.be/irdXF9ioiB8 Try it out! https://sourcetable.com. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Sourcetable's AI spreadsheet now free for students
    Hi HN. After we did our ShowHN last month we noticed a lot of students signing and using Sourcetable. We built Sourcetable primarily for business use cases. It's fun and interesting for us to see how students will use AI for other purposes, so we decided to make it free for them. If you're a student and want free product access, just go to https://sourcetable.com and use your student email during signup. Enjoy! - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Show HN: Sourcetable – AI Spreadsheet and Data Platform
    Hi HN! I’m Eoin, founder of Sourcetable (https://sourcetable.com). Sourcetable is an AI-native spreadsheet that syncs with all your data. Users pair with an AI copilot that helps them do their spreadsheet work, as well as more database-centric analysis and SQL. Soucetable syncs with databases including Postgres, MySQL, and MongoDB, and over 100+ business applications including Stripe, Zendesk, Hubspot, Quickbooks... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Observable and Sourcetable, you can also consider the following products

D3.js - D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS.

Microsoft Office Excel - Microsoft Office Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application.

RunKit - RunKit notebooks are interactive javascript playgrounds connected to a complete node environment right in your browser. Every npm module pre-installed.

Google Sheets - Synchronizing, online-based word processor, part of Google Drive.

Vega-Lite - High-level grammar of interactive graphics

LibreOffice - Calc - LibreOffice Calc is the spreadsheet program you've always needed. A fork of OpenOffice.