Top 5 Business Intelligence Software Of 2024

How important is Business Intelligence? Well, it can make or break a business!

The 2011 movie Moneyball shows Billy Beane trying to rebuild his baseball team after his top players join other teams for more money. He rebuilds his team on a shoestring budget and recruits using parameters such as wins, losses, physique, ethics and personalities on and off the field…but something changes!

He meets Peter Brand, a Yale graduate in economics, who has a new method for identifying the best prospects to build a team, using statistics such as a player's OPS (on-base plus slugging) average. By placing players who fit this bill, Billy could scout undervalued but talented players within his budget. This oddball couple leveraged the art of data and statistics to create tangible results and took on-field decisions based on off-field data and insights.

However, data is complex — and decoding it is trickier than it seems. In fact, more than 74% of employees surveyed felt unhappy working with data. In the real world, you may or may not find your math prodigy but you can leverage tools that can help analyze data to decipher meaningful insights for your business decisions.

We bet you have checked out our Top Business Intelligence Software in 2023!

This year, we present a new list – so here are the top Business Intelligence Software of 2024. Dive in!
 

Top 5 Business Intelligence Software Of 2024

Business Intelligence (BI) Software helps collect, process and analyze massive chunks of structured and unstructured data from internal and external business systems. These solutions allow users to present data in user-friendly formats such as reports, charts, etc.

Read on and find the top Business Intelligence Software of 2024 – in random order.
 

IBM Cognos Analytics	Looker	Microsoft Power BI
Sisense	Qlik Sense

 

Tool 1: IBM Cognos Analytics

Cognos is an Ottawa, Ontario-based company founded in 1969 and was acquired by IBM in 2008. Cognos is now a part of IBM’s business intelligence and performance management products. They’ve come a long way, as IBM Cognos' products were ranked among Leaders of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence in 2024.


IBM Cognos Analytics, a new name on our list, integrates reporting, modeling, analysis, dashboards, data stories and event management, so businesses can understand their organization's data and make effective business decisions. It’s used for data mining, analysis of the data, event monitoring and metric selection for visualizations, among other critical tasks.

One of the biggest differentiating factors of this tool is its artificial intelligence features and the ability of this Business Intelligence Software to adapt to your business needs. Watson AI is used in IBM Cognos to deliver web-based data modeling, interactive dashboards and enterprise reports and data exploration and predictions, making it a powerhouse of a BI solution.

Feature Ratings:

Ease Of Use: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Value For Money: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐
Startup Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Enterprise Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Customer Support: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
 

Tool 2: Looker

Formerly known as Google Data Studio, Looker provides solutions for converting data into customizable, informative reports and dashboards. It’s based out of Santa Cruz, California and was founded in 2012. Looker currently scores 89/100 in the Business Intelligence (BI) category among G2 users and boasts of winning the “Leader in Business Intelligence (BI) Software” award in 2023, 2022 and 2021 – pretty impressive!


This Business Intelligence Software helps maintain control of enterprise data and the user experience while reducing embedded application development costs. Users can create reports from scratch or use report templates from the existing library. Looker also helps access, analyze and act on the up-to-date, trusted version of data and deliver trusted data experiences at scale, from the cloud of your choice!
Apart from empowering users with real-time insights, Looker deploys and tests changes to metrics, enabling collaboration and unified measurement across the enterprise. For existing Google Cloud or Google Workspace users, Looker is the natural choice as it seamlessly integrates with any SQL database or data warehouse solution, such as Amazon Redshift and Greenplum.

Feature Ratings:

Ease Of Use: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Value For Money: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐
Startup Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Enterprise Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Customer Support: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
 

Tool 3: Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft needs no introduction, but here's one anyway – headquartered in Redmond, Washington, US, this business was founded in 1975. Its 200,000 employees serve clients such as LinkedIn, Accenture, Caterpillar, PayPal, IKEA, and other major brands. It also won the ‘Data Quadrant Gold Medalist’ by Gartner and was named among the Top Rated Software in 2024 by G2. Pretty cool!


Power BI by Microsoft returns to our list this year – and why not? It helps visualize data and share insights across the organization as well as embed them in apps or websites. Connecting hundreds of data sources, this tool brings data to life with real-time dashboards and reports. Moreover, Power BI consists of three basic elements that all work together: a Windows desktop application called Power BI Desktop, an online software as a service called Power BI and Power BI Mobile apps for Windows, iOS and Android devices.

The three elements are designed to effectively create, share and consume business insights. Power BI's most effective USP is that it easily integrates your Microsoft tools and creates stunning visuals, offering simple data visualization and analysis across the entire business ecosystem and obtaining in-depth insights into the business's operation and performance.

Feature Ratings:

Ease Of Use: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Value For Money: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐
Startup Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Enterprise Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Customer Support: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
 

Tool 4: Sisense

Headquartered in New York, Sisense was founded in 2004 in Tel Aviv, Israel, as a provider of business intelligence tools for small to midsize businesses. By 2012, they raised $10 million and expanded their operations to the US. In 2022, Sisense earned the 7th Spot on G2’s Best Software Awards for Best Analytics + AI Products and the Expert’s Choice Award in 2023!


Sisense is an end-to-end BI tool for embedded analytics and data-driven app development. It caters to no-code, pro-code and low-code users, helping them collect information from sources and unify them into a single repository. The app’s powerful visual reports can be used to generate smart analysis that enables users to share their insights with the team and clients easily.

The best part is that it has an easy-to-use interface, which even non-technical users can quickly adapt to. Their novel In-Chip engine allows you to ask any question and get answers immediately without needing to go back to the drawing board for new queries. This unique technology facilitates rapid data processing and features like data blending, data modeling and data visualization. Sisense also provides advanced analytics capabilities, allowing you to perform complex calculations and predictive analytics on business data.

Feature Ratings:

Ease Of Use: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Value For Money: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐
Startup Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Enterprise Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Customer Support: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
 

Tool 5: Qlik Sense

Founded in 1993 in Lund, Sweden, Qlik is now based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The company focuses on business intelligence and data analytics solutions, growing from 35 employees in 1999 to more than 25,000 in 2024. They recently bagged the Solution Provider of the Year in by Wipfli and Data Integration Partner of the Year in 2023 along with several other awards!
 
 
Qlik Sense is a unique BI solution designed to provide users with loads of information and the perfect way to analyze it to create opportunities and smarter decisions. Its smart search and exploration capabilities allow users to analyze business data by interacting with charts and visualizations or even by typing in keywords. It offers smart visualizations, advanced summarization and intelligent use of visual tools to deliver insights in a simple way.

What makes Qlik Sense unique is its application for business users of all skills. It offers cloud analytics tools with AI-powered insights and generates reports based on company data and equipped with machine learning and artificial intelligence, it offers data preparation, natural language interactions and predictive analytics.

Feature Ratings:

Ease Of Use: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Value For Money: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐
Startup Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Enterprise Friendly: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Customer Support: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
 

Final Thoughts

With these business intelligence tools, it’s easier than ever to make data-driven decisions and generate valuable insights to move your business forward. When picking a BI Software, keep in mind the end goal of your business needs, the level of data expertise and the degree of self-service required. We hope this list helps you in choosing the best Business Intelligence Software for your business in 2024!