Exploring Redash, Looker Studio & Visivo

Redash vs. Looker Studio vs. Visivo

Compare key features, capabilities, and differentiators between Redash, Looker Studio, 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	Redash	Looker Studio	Visivo
Deployment Model	Self-host (open-source), Docker deployment, Community cloud forks	Cloud (Google Cloud), Enterprise deployment, Private cloud	Open-source, Cloud Service, Self-hosted
Pricing	Open-source (BSD 2-Clause); acquired by Databricks, maintained community version.	Free to use (with Google account); Pro version for enterprise (Looker Studio Pro) introduced with SLAs.	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.

Redash

SQL analystsData engineersTechnical teams needing quick dashboards

Looker Studio

Business usersMarketersGoogle ecosystem users

Visivo

Analytics EngineersData teamsBusiness usersEngineers

Ease of Development & Deployment

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

Redash

2/5

Looker Studio

2/5

Visivo

5/5

Key Integrations & Ecosystem

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

Redash

SQL and NoSQL databasesAPI-based data sourcesSimple query runner architecture

Looker Studio

500+ data connectorsGoogle products (Analytics, Ads)SQL databases via Simba drivers

Visivo

dbt coreAll major databasesCustom connector frameworkSlack for alertsGithub

Visualization Capabilities

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

Redash

Very basic visualizations: each query can be visualized as a table, chart (line, bar, pie, scatter) or pivot. Limited formatting options. Dashboards are grids of query results visualizations and text. Suited for lightweight reporting.

Looker Studio

Drag-and-drop report editor. Offers charts like time series, bar, geo maps, tables. Customization is decent (colors, labels), though not as fine-grained as Tableau. Supports community visualizations (bring custom JS charts). Layout is canvas-style – good for dashboards and infographics.

Visivo

Highly custom UI with easy defaults

Detailed Differentiators

Each platform's unique strengths and limitations.

Redash

Light footprint, easy to deploy. Great for engineers to quickly share SQL results with team (share link to dashboard).

Minimal feature set by modern standards: no semantic layer, weak visualization variety, and no fine-grained permissions (all users can see all queries by default in OSS). The project has slowed development (Databricks shifted focus).

Looker Studio

Completely free for most use-cases. Extremely easy for simple needs – non-tech users can create a shareable dashboard in minutes. Being Google, sharing and embedding is seamless.

Lacks advanced analytics (no calculated fields beyond basic formulas, limited data shaping). Performance can suffer on large data sets unless using aggregated extracts. No row-level security (one report = one set of credentials or extracted data).

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.

Redash

DB Access: Yes, stores DB credentials and queries the source directly for each refresh. Virtualization: No – it's a thin layer over the DB. Push: No, only pull (with caching of recent results). Other: Basic user roles; can embed visualizations via public URLs (security relies on random tokens). Lacks advanced security features like row-level controls.

Looker Studio

DB Access: Yes, live connects to sources using provided credentials (or OAuth tokens). Option to cache query results in Google's cache for performance. Virtualization: Data remains in source or cache – Data Studio doesn't store data persistently (except cached). Push: No, it pulls data when rendering charts. Other: Uses Google account auth for access; you can manage view/edit permissions on reports. Lacks fine security on data level (you'd need separate reports or filters per audience).

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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