It’s a known fact that data analytics tools help you climb the ladder of productivity. Similarly, the importance of data collection and analysis is not an alien topic. What triggers most of us is this question:

How do you choose the best tool among the plethora of options available in the online market? 

This blog will look deeper into the top ten data analytics tools, their features, pricing, and all you need to know about them.

Off we go!

What is a Data Analytics Tool?

Data analytics tools employ advanced algorithms and statistical methods to interpret complex data sets. They take all the information available and transform it into actionable insights.

Analytical tools tell you what’s going on. Imagine having an expert guide you through your decisions!

Whether it’s figuring out what customers like or guessing what might happen next, these tools act as your strategic ally.
Thinking that’s a bit much, huh? Wait until I walk you through the array of features each one offers.

What to Look for in Data Analytics Tools?

When you’re on the lookout for a perfect match, make sure these points fulfill the checklist.

1. User-Friendly Interface: Look for tools that have an easy-to-use interface. A good data analytics tool should be a friendly guide, not a confusing puzzle. You want to click and explore without needing a tech degree!

2. Real-Time Updates: Find a tool that gives you information when needed. It’s like having a live chat with your data, where the numbers talk to you instantly. No more waiting – get updates as they happen.

3. Customizable Dashboards: Your data is unique, so it should be your tool. Look for tools that let you create dashboards that fit your business needs. It’s like arranging your favorite apps on your phone – everything where you want it.

4. Predictive Analytics: A promising tool should be like a fortune teller for your business. It predicts what might happen next based on your data. It’s not magic, just intelligent algorithms working behind the scenes.

5. Collaboration Tools: Business is a team effort; your data tool should support that. Look for tools that let your team work together on the data. It’s like having a shared whiteboard where everyone adds their insights.

Since that’s covered, how about we discuss the ten elephants in the room?

Top 10 Data Analytics Tools

1. Tableau

No tech jargon – that’s the best part about Tableau. It offers a user-friendly experience where you can drag and drop your way to valuable insights. Tableau is your go-to companion if you wish to make your business more data-driven. It takes all kinds of data from almost anywhere and transforms it into actionable insights with incredible speed and simplicity.

Key Features

• Intuitive User Experience: Tableau puts you first. Forget learning complex software. Instead, you can ask questions and explore data seamlessly with built-in visual best practices.
• Powerful Analytics for Everyone: It is designed for all skill levels. Tableau’s role-based licensing ensures everyone, from data scientists to business users, can uncover insights faster. The platform even integrates accessible machine learning and intelligent data prep.
• Rapid Learning Curve:  Tableau makes data analysis engaging, fun, and easy to learn. Why? Because it is built on scientific research. Quick, iterative analysis with immediate feedback is the name of the game.
• Flexibility and Choice: Tableau grows with you. It can connect to all your data, no matter where it resides.
• Enterprise-Grade Security: You can trust Tableau with your data. It’s like having a super lock that keeps your data safe. (even as your business gets bigger)

Ideal for: Tableau is for everyone! Whether you’re a small business just starting or a big company, it fits right in and makes your work easier.

Pricing: Contact the team for a quote

2. KNIME

KNIME is short for Konstanz Information Miner. It is a data analytics, reporting, and integration platform that provides a range of tools for data science. The platform is mainly known for its user-friendly visual workflow builder.

It is a dreamland for analysts. Why? Because it is a free and open-source platform.

Key Features

• Access & Blend: You can link with any data source, regardless of the type of device, size, or file format.
• Transform & Analyze: You can automate tasks and provide access to various analytics techniques. Plus, the seamless integration with popular ML libraries is a steal!
• Visualize and Explore: Use charts and visualizations to make the process enjoyable.
• Re-use: Did you know that KNIME lets you save and share segments of your workflows?
• Integrate: Tailor it according to your taste by integrating Python, R, and Javascript scripts.

Ideal for: As mentioned above, it’s a free and open-source platform. It is for anyone eager to get into the world of data science.

3. Python

There you go, another open-source platform. Python is a high-level programming language that goes beyond just code. Data scientists adore it because of the vast libraries such as NumPy, Pandaa, and Matplotlib. Whether data manipulation, computation, visualization, or reporting, the platform covers you.

Key Features:

• Scripting Language: It’s all about the user. Python is flexible and goes beyond traditional analytics. The focus is on readability!
• Libraries: As I stated above, you have Pandas for manipulation, NumPy for numerical computations, and Matplotlib for data visualization. What more can we ask for? 
• ML Integration: The platform excels in machine learning integration. You get access to libraries like Scikit-learn and TensorFlow.
• Other Integrations: Python is so adaptable. It connects data analysts, scientists, and software developers.

Ideal for: Anyone who is eager to learn!

4. Qlik

Qlik acquired Talend in 2023 and became one of the sought-after data analytics platforms. Why not? Now you get the scalability of Talend and the next-gen capabilities of Qlik in one place! Plus, the analytics platform provides agility for data professionals. And did you know it was formerly called Qliktech? 

Key Features

• Real-Time Data Movement: You get LIVE business-ready data. Oh wait, it’s not that you get it. It reduces the dependency on production operations. How? With automated transformations and AI/ML assisted flexibility.
• Database Synchronization: Easily deliver large volumes of data. Keep your insights up-to-date and accurate.
• Warehouse Modernization: Ensure your data warehouse is clean and agile.
• Data Lake: It is a place to store and analyze different data sets.

Ideal for: The suite is perfect for businesses aiming to capture impeccable data!

5. Coupler.io

Coupler.io is a no-code data analysis and reporting platform built by Railsware in 2020. This data analytics tool provides full capabilities to gather, transform, manage, and visualize business data. The ETL part of the solution allows for the export and combining of data from various apps. At the same time, the analysis side opens a way to display those records in comprehensive reports and dashboards.

Key features:

• Data Integration: You can automatically grab data from 60+ apps like ad platforms, social media, CRMs, accounting software, and more. Data destinations include spreadsheets, databases, and visualization software of your choice.
• Dashboard Templates: Use the free dashboard gallery to create dashboards with preset indicators quickly. Choose anything from multi-channel PPC to revenue templates. They provide pre-built Power BI dashboards and, of course, templates for Looker Studio.
• Data Transformation: Transform your data through joining, filtering, and other manipulations to highlight specific data sets for analysis and eventually get a tailored report.
• Data Analytics Consultancy: When you have specific business analytics needs and want to leverage custom reporting but don’t have time to do so, you can ask for consulting services.

Ideal for: Marketing teams and agencies, businesses, and departments needing a simple yet solid reporting and performance analytics solution.

6. SAS (Statistical Analysis System Viya)

As their tagline states, there is nothing called “too much data.” (Well, not unless you have advanced data analytics tools to back you up!)

Just imagine having to source and proofread a billion data points! Impractical, right? SAS helps you tone them down to well-informed perspectives. It is an AI and analytics platform that makes data analysts faster, more scalable, and undeniably productive!

Key Features:

• Effortless Data Preparation: You can access, cleanse, and transform data. Yes. Any data! The complexity and size is not an issue.
• Rapid Model Development: Use the quick-start model recommendations to identify the most effective ones.
• Simplified Deployment: Manage the models with ease. You can quickly deploy robust decision flows and automate performance monitoring.
• Decision Making: SAS delivers better decisions from data, managing, modeling, and deploying- all in one solution.

Ideal for: As the name suggests, it is more suitable for those in the field of statistics.

7. Apache Spark

Whether diving into data engineering, exploring data science, or delving into machine learning, Spark™ is a versatile and unified engine. It is the go-to solution for large-scale data analytics. The best part? It offers simplicity, speed, and scalability. Also, it is an open-source platform.

Key features

• SQL Analytics: Go about your data fast. You get to execute distributed ANSI SQL queries. This makes ad-hoc reporting and dashboarding as easy as pie!
• Streaming Data Processing: Bring it all together and process them in batches. Also, you get it in real-time and in your preferred language.
• Machine Learning Capabilities: Teach your computer to learn from your data. You can start from your computer and then scale up to many computers without sweat.
• Data Science Exploration: Explore vast amounts of data without compressing it first. It’s like having a magnifying glass for your data. You can see the details even when there’s much to look at.

Ideal for: This tool is for you if you want a unified engine for large-scale data analytics.

8. Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is a powerful visualization and business intelligence tool by Microsoft. The platform allows you to transform data into valuable insights in an instant. It’s like you have a means to make the data work harder.

• Copilot in Power BI: Can it get easier? All you need to do is describe the insights you need or, perhaps, ask a question.
• Business Intelligence for All: Everyone in your organization can make informed decisions using up-to-the-minute analytics.
• Trusted and Secure Data Hub: Trust is paramount. Easily create datasets from any source and add them to the Power BI data hub.
• Translate Insights into Impact: You can turn insights into decisions faster if you integrate them into the apps you might already use. For instance, Microsoft 365.

Ideal for: It delivers better decision-making capabilities whether you are a growing business or a multinational corporation.

9. Splunk Cloud

As a service, Splunk helps you effortlessly turn your data into answers. The cloud-powered platform offers many features, including data collection, indexing, and analysis capabilities. You get all this because it provides out-of-the-box dashboards and pre-configured tools.

• Fast and Scalable Service Excellence: Splunk provides fast, flexible, and scalable service.
• Integrated Streaming, Search, and Machine Learning: You can easily search any data in real time to detect and prevent issues.
• Security and Reliability: This industry-certified platform ensures privacy and compliance standards.

Ideal for: Those who wish to address evolving use cases and enhance security.

10. Looker

Looker is a data analytics tool offered by Google. You can easily convert data into customizable reports and dashboards. You’ll never be bored. Make sure you transform the raw data into compelling visual narratives through a creative journey!

Key Features:

• Customizable Data Exploration: Tailor your analysis to meet your business needs. You can conduct in-depth investigations to find valuable insights.
• Drag and Drop Report Editor: You can include charts, links, and clickable images.
• Data Control: It turns any report into a template report.
• Collaborative Analytics: Share insights, collaborate on projects, and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Ideal for: Looker Studio adapts to various user needs. So, go ahead, whether you are a data analyst or an intelligence professional.

11. Excel

Now, Excel is a platform most of us might be familiar with. It has been our data-managing companion since god knows when!
(As a matter of fact, did you know that Microsoft released the first version of Excel for Macintosh in 1985 and the Windows version in 1987? )

The platform simplifies complex tasks. This makes it your go-to tool for organizing, calculating, and visualizing information.

Key Features:

• Spreadsheet Management: It offers a versatile platform where you can input, organize, and analyze data efficiently.
• Easy Calculation and Formulas: (Psst…Are you bad at math? Oh! If you said yes, nobody’s judging here. So am I!)
  Excel helps you out without a frown, from simple arithmetic to complex financial functions.
• Data Sorting and Filtering: You can sift through large sets of data. Quickly locate and analyze the information you need.
• User-friendly Interface: I saved the best for last. If you have used Excel, you know how easy it is to maneuver through the rows, columns, and pivot tables. Anyone who has curiosity in their blood can have their way around it!

Ideal for: This tool is for you if you deal with data regularly.

Data Collection

You need “data” to “analyze”. 
(Wait. Hear me out. I have a valid reason to bring this up!)

Without data analytics tools, all that information will be just numbers and words. Even so, if you decide to bring about meaning on your own, it will take years (Well, maybe at least a few days, right?)

Similarly, these tools are completely useless if you don’t have precise, to-the-point data in your hands.

Now, how do you go about that?

Manually fetching data is time-consuming and, if I may, outright impractical. You need an advanced tool to streamline the process. Admit it.

Why again? Because it’s tricky.

But don’t you worry! There are several data collection tools available in the market. I’ll talk about one that might have caught your eye.

SurveySparrow!

It’s not just any survey tool, I tell you. SurveySparrow simplifies your data collection journey.

With SurveySparrow, you get the following:

• Conversational Forms: Engage your audience with informal surveys. This unique approach makes surveys feel like a conversation. You can get higher response rates and more accurate data.
• User-Friendly Interface: Navigate the survey creation process seamlessly with the intuitive interface. The platform makes it easy for anyone to use. (It’s child’s play)
• Smart Integrations: Connect SurveySparrow with your favorite apps and tools. It offers integrations that streamline your workflow.
• Templates: You get 1000+ pre-designed survey templates.
• AI Surveys: (Just in case you feel a bit lazy) Create surveys with the help of artificial intelligence.

Oh, since we’re talking about integrations, there’s one that’ll pique your interest!

Google Integration: Your Data, Your Way

SurveySparrow’s integration with Google opens up a world of possibilities for data enthusiasts. It adds another layer of flexibility. Here’s why the feature is a game-changer:

1. Export to Google Sheets:

Effortlessly export data to Google Sheets. It’s like creating a central hub for your information. This makes sure that your data is accessible and ready for analysis.

2. Compatibility with Analytics Tools:

Use the exported data in any analytics tool of your choice. Whether you prefer Looker Studio, Tableau, or others, the Google integration feature makes your data versatile and adaptable.

3. Real-Time Collaboration:

Use it to work on your data collectively. With real-time updates, collaboration becomes seamless!

PS: In case you need help with the setup, check this out: Integrating SurveySparrow with Google Sheets

Wrap Up!

There you have it. This was our top pick on the data analytics tools in the market (and a bonus at the end!). Now, since you know each tool’s strengths, you must choose the one that best fits your requirements. The choice is not just a matter of preference, though. It is a strategic decision that can make or break your growth!

So, happy exploring!

Kate Williams

Content Marketer at SurveySparrow