Exploring Grafana, Sisense & Visivo

Grafana vs. Sisense vs. Visivo

Compare key features, capabilities, and differentiators between Grafana, Sisense, Visivo. This comprehensive analysis will help you make an informed decision for your data visualization needs.

Quick Comparison

Key features and capabilities at a glance

Feature	Grafana	Sisense	Visivo
Deployment Model	Open-source (AGPLv3), Grafana Enterprise, Grafana Cloud, Self-hosted	Windows/Linux on-prem, Sisense Cloud (managed), Private cloud	Open-source, Cloud Service, Self-hosted
Pricing	OSS free; Grafana Enterprise (paid add-ons); Grafana Cloud (free tier & paid).	Commercial (Proprietary). Pricing by seat and consumption.	Open source (GPL-3.0)
Cost	$$	$$$$$	$
Git Integration
CI/CD & Testing
Real-time
AI Features
Visual to Code
DAG-Based

Target Users & Use-Cases

Each BI tool is designed with specific user personas in mind.

Grafana

DevOps engineersIT monitoring teamsData engineers for time-series analytics

Sisense

Product teams (embedded analytics)Enterprise analystsOEM partners

Visivo

Analytics EngineersData teamsBusiness usersEngineers

Ease of Development & Deployment

Development experience directly impacts team productivity and time-to-value.

Grafana

3/5

Sisense

3/5

Visivo

5/5

Key Integrations & Ecosystem

A robust ecosystem of integrations is essential for modern BI tools.

Grafana

Time-series databases (Prometheus, InfluxDB)SQL databases and cloud metricsAlerting systems (PagerDuty, Slack)

Sisense

SQL and cloud data warehousesSaaS applicationsJS embedding SDK

Visivo

dbt coreAll major databasesCustom connector frameworkSlack for alertsGithub

Visualization Capabilities

The ability to create compelling visualizations is key to data storytelling.

Grafana

Optimized for time-series and metrics visualizations (graphs, gauges, alerts). Supports logs and traces panels too. Basic charts for category data exist but not Grafana's strong suit. Highly customizable dashboards via JSON config or UI. Many community panels (plugins) to extend visualization types.

Sisense

Two flavors merged: traditional dashboard builder (drag-drop charts, with advanced widget for custom UI via scripting) and a notebook-style interface (from acquired Periscope Data) for SQL/Python. Visualizations include a wide range of widgets and the special Sisense BloX for custom coded infographic-like blocks. Highly customizable via JavaScript (for those inclined).

Visivo

Highly custom UI with easy defaults

Detailed Differentiators

Each platform's unique strengths and limitations.

Grafana

Best for operational dashboards – combining metrics, logs, and traces in one UI (especially with Grafana Cloud). Very extensible via plugins.

Not designed for ad-hoc business analytics on arbitrary data – e.g., no built-in SQL query builder for relational data (user must write queries or use other tools to prepare data). Visualizations not as geared for presentation (more for investigation).

Sisense

Strong embedding and customization – you can integrate analytics into your product with full control (white-label). Now with modern DevOps support (Git, CI/CD) making it enterprise-friendly.

Can be complex to administrate; the full platform (with Elasticube manager, etc.) has a learning curve. Some legacy vs new UI inconsistencies after merging Periscope.

Visivo

BI-as-code approach enables version control, collaboration, and CI/CD workflows. DAG-based architecture provides powerful data transformation capabilities and dependency management. Seamless visual-to-code workflow allows both technical and non-technical users to build dashboards effectively.

Requires understanding of data concepts; not a pure drag-and-drop tool like Tableau. Initial setup requires technical knowledge for optimal configuration.

Security & Architecture

Critical considerations for enterprise deployments.

Grafana

DB Access: Yes, connects directly to data sources (or through its agents). Virtualization: More like federation – it queries multiple backends via plugins. Push: Metric data is often pushed into time-series DBs which Grafana then reads – so indirectly yes (in monitoring use-cases). Grafana itself pulls from those DBs. Other: Auth via LDAP/OAuth. Granular permissions on dashboards and data sources. Encryption and other enterprise security features in paid version.

Sisense

DB Access: Depending on setup – Live mode: Sisense queries your DB on the fly (needs access); Elasticube mode: data is extracted into Sisense's proprietary in-memory cube (so queries don't hit source DB at runtime). Virtualization: Allows combining multiple sources in one view via its cubes (not exactly virtualization, more like federation into a single cache). Push: In Elasticube mode, data is essentially pushed into Sisense's storage on a refresh schedule. Other: Robust security – single sign-on, row-level security in Elasticubes, and extensive admin controls.

Visivo

No db access required. Very strong security features due to the DAG-based access controls and the push based deployment model.

Why Visivo Stands Out

While each platform has its strengths, Visivo offers unique advantages for modern data teams.

DAG-Based Architecture for complex data transformations

Visual to Human-readable Code conversion

Multiple development approaches for all skill levels

AI-Powered dashboard creation

Full Git integration and version control

Open-source with enterprise features

Ready to Experience Modern BI?

Try Visivo today and see how it transforms your data analytics workflow.

$ curl -fsSL https://visivo.sh | bash

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