12 Best Cloud Analytics Tools of 2024

Alteryx is like a power-up for your data analytics, enriching insights with advanced data science. It helps teams make informed decisions with predictive and prescriptive models suggesting the next action.

Why I picked Alteryx: I chose Alteryx because of its intelligent preparation and analysis abilities, including feature engineering, auto modeling, generative AI, and NLP. These elements propel the scheduling and orchestration of the data prep and analysis stages to the top players in cloud analytics.

Alteryx Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include active data profiling, role-based access control, and the ability to schedule and orchestrate data pipelines. Standouts for me are the support for software development lifecycles and predictive data transformation, allowing you to integrate data into your workflows.

Integrations include native pairings with Snowflake, Tableau, AWS, Data Visualization, Azure, and Power BI, where Alteryx is the orchestration engine automating and modeling the data collected from these tools.

Tableau is a market leader in cloud analytics platforms, combining BI and visual analytics to transform how teams use data to solve problems. Data exploration is at its core, allowing users to discover insights and share reports.

Why I picked Tableau: I chose Tableau because of its interactive dashboards and unlimited data exploration capabilities. Using NLP to navigate challenges and action plans, you can build visualizations with statistical modeling.

Tableau Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include line patterns and multi-row calculations, which I think makes data analysis easier to navigate. I like the Tableau GPT tool, which uses AI to provide smart in-product guidance, user query predictions, and contextual insights into your workflow. It also employs a dedicated trust layer to ensure enterprise data security and compliance.

Integrations include native connections with Microsoft Excel, Amazon Redshift, Databricks, Dropbox, Google Analytics 4, Google Sheets, Marketo, OneDrive, Salesforce, and about 80 others. You can use the Tableau API for additional integration options.

Part of the Google Cloud, Looker is a BI platform that you can self-service, build custom applications with, or model to your existing BI environment. Looker Studio is a data visualization portal where you can connect hundreds of data sources and create customized reports.

Why I picked Looker: Looker’s powerful data exploration and automation are why I chose it for this list. I think it's an easy way to provide a central source of truth for the whole team, with accurate and consistent data. You can embed analytics into any app or webpage and customize metrics for each department for tailored reporting.

Looker Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include report automation and forecasting. A standout for me is the semantic layer architecture which supports setting data security frameworks by enabling you to set up row and column-level permissions.

Integrations include native connections with Salesforce, Shopify, Airtable, Google Ads, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Slack, HubSpot, Dropbox, and Quickbooks. You can import SQL data sources and connect other apps with a custom API.

Grow is a BI tool ideal for growing companies because it scales effectively and makes data accessible through a central source of truth. Key values and data recognition are automatic and allow custom metrics to be set for every team and department.

Why I picked Grow: Grow lets you connect and store data from hundreds of data sources and SQL databases, providing full-stack BI. This all-encompassing and cost-reducing environment is why I chose Grow. Even if your data spans billions of rows, Grow can accommodate you.

Grow Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include connecting raw data from databases, CRMs, ad platforms, social media, accounting and finance, marketing analytics, and files. I love how you can create a customizable central dashboard and blend multiple data sources to develop intuitive insights and reports.

Integrations include hundreds of native connections with business tools and apps. Popular native integrations include Salesforce, Shopify, Airtable, Asana, Freshbooks, Google Ads, and Hubspot. If there is no connection for your data source, you can do a data export directly or to an SQL database. A custom REST API is also available.

GoodData is a cloud-based BI and analytics platform that allows you to build low-code and no-code solutions. It is customizable and powerful enough to deliver data at any scale.

Why I picked GoodData: I selected GoodData because of its advanced self-service data exploration abilities. The user interface provides a drag-and-drop function so users can create interactive dashboards and data visualizations without any coding or expert knowledge.

GoodData Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include customizable dashboards — you can even white-label them! One of my favorite GoodData features is the ability to integrate and embed real-time analytics dashboards into any application.

Integrations include native connections with Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Databricks, Greenplum, and SQL databases. Additional integrations can be made with the Python SDK, React SDK, or the GoodData REST API.

IBM Watson Analytics allows analysts to build and manage AI models, automating life cycles and speed times to value. It accelerates business growth with transparent data the team can share and understand.

Why I picked IBM Watson Analytics: I chose IBM Watson Analytics because of the new Watsonx AI, which is powered up and ready for enterprise-level AI-powered data analysis and insights. You can train Watsonx, validating and fine-tuning the machine learning models to understand your business and your data in a way that helps you scale.

IBM Watson Analytics Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include the IBM Watson Studio, which helps you refine data and optimize your decision-making process with predictive models. The studio allows you to compare metrics side-by-side, making risk assessment a breeze. I think IBM Watson Analytics is an excellent solution for financial analytics as you can plan, budget, and forecast your data.

Integrations include native connections with Box, DropBox, Salesforce, Twitter, and all IBM cloud solutions. You can connect other tools with custom APIs.

Amazon QuickSight is a business intelligence (BI) tool for data-driven organizations. With natural language processing (NLP) and generative artificial intelligence (AI) powers, it provides a single source of truth for the whole team.

Why I picked Amazon QuickSight: I chose Amazon QuickSight because of its extensive filtering capabilities, allowing you to gain visual insights into your data in a way that makes sense to you. Key highlights make data analysis quick, and detailed graphs enable you to provide granular reports. You can scale your data visualization with interactive dashboards, paginated reports, and embedded analytics.

Amazon QuickSight Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include natural language queries to analyze your data and gain actionable next steps. I love that it’s like a genuine conversation with someone who can provide fast and accurate responses to help guide your business. You can scale QuickSight to accommodate tens of thousands of users, but you only pay for what you need, making it cost-effective.

Integrations include native connections with most Amazon tools, including Aurora and Redshift. There are also native integrations with Jira, Adobe Analytics, Salesforce, Snowflake, and various SQL databases. There is always the Amazon QuickSight API if you need additional integrations.

Microsoft Power BI uses Copilot, a next-generation AI tool that analyzes and turns your data into interactive reports. Tell your Copilot what you need or ask a question and it will pull data, analyze it, and visualize it into a report, summary, calculation, or narrative — whatever you request.

Why I picked Microsoft Power BI: I chose Microsoft Power BI because it creates beautiful and impactful dashboards and reports for your BI data. It provides a secure, centralized hub where you can create databases from any source and create an accessible single source of truth.

Microsoft Power BI Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include engaging data visualizations that you can create with the drag-and-drop interface. I liked how the platform offers AI to support and provides a tailored experience. Reports and insights can be shared across apps and tools to translate growth and action plans across teams.

Integrations include native connections like Oracle, DropBox, Slack, Todoist, Asana, Google Drive, Twitter, and all Microsoft tools. You can also pull data from custom APIs through the Power BI app.

Klipfolio PowerMetrics ensures your team is aligned on the same page from anywhere with real-time data and metrics — and not a line of code in sight. Combining metrics and data in one view encourages businesses to filter, segment, and analyze for efficient decision-making.

Why I picked Klipfolio PowerMetrics: I think Klipfolio PowerMetrics’ features are perfect for small businesses and start-ups, as it’s built around collaboration and these teams often need to pull together to find business-wide solutions. It takes a metrics-first approach, meaning you can share, compare, and analyze your business metrics on one dashboard while your data is modeled and prepped behind the scenes.

Klipfolio PowerMetrics Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include segmentation and filtering that can be used for specific goals. I think this is distinctive and suited for goal-driven businesses. You can set your business goals, create metrics, and assign data; then, you can make graphs and reports based on these goal filters to see if you’re on track.

Integrations include 17 native connections with Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Google Ads, HubSpot, Shopify, Xero, and Salesforce, among the favorites. You can connect data sources with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. You can request integrations from the MetricsHQ team if they are missing.

Oracle Analytics is a business analytics platform suitable for businesses of all sizes, and it offers self-service features and the ability to work with large data loads. With data forecasting, teams can make accurate decisions and action plans for business growth.

Why I picked Oracle Analytics: In my opinion, Oracle Analytics is a great tool to help scale your business. I love that a free plan is available where you can work with a wide range of features. These can then be upgraded and new features added as and when needed, so you only pay for what you use.

Oracle Analytics Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include text and voice search queries and business questions to gain insight into your data; I love how accessible it is, as not all tools on this list offer verbal instruction. NLP also makes it easy to communicate with your data. Custom map analytics and pathfinding allow you to explore data relationships visually.

Integrations include 37 native connections, like Google Analytics, Salesforce, DropBox, Amazon Redshift, Azure Synapse, Google Drive, and Snowflake. You can connect to any Java Database Connectivity-based (JDBC) data source, and the Oracle REST API allows you to integrate with many other data sources.

The Qlik Sense cloud analytics platform is powered by AI turning real-time data into auto-generated action plans and insights. Driving immediate activity creates a proactive and collaborative environment for business growth.

Why I picked Qlik Sense: I chose Qlik because of its AI-driven approach to analytics. Although most analytics tools provide some AI features, Qlik Sense distinguishes itself with the quality of its machine learning. Generative AI removes the challenge of knowing what questions to ask to gain the insights you need, and AI predictions guide data analysis and foster business growth.

Qlik Sense Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include fast, flexible, and interactive data visualization and exploration. I liked that its intelligent data alerts inform users of any outliers or sudden changes so you can take swift action with automatic event-driven triggers.

Integrations are limited, in my opinion, compared with competitors. However, Qlik Sense does have native connections with Amazon AWS, Google, Microsoft, Snowflake, SAP, Confluent, and Databricks. Open APIs mean you can connect other tools.

Zoho Analytics allows you to connect and transform large amounts of data into interactive reports to engage your entire team. The AI assistant can identify and explore metrics, trends, outliers, and insights.

Why I picked Zoho Analytics: I included Zoho Analytics because of its collaboration and storytelling features. You can share and publish views, where teams can add comments. Access controls can be customized, and you can create immersive presentations and build portals for a deeper shared understanding of your data.

Zoho Analytics Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include widgets, charts, pivot tables, and tabular views for data visualization. The augmented analytics features are robust with generative insights and trend predictions. The real standout for me is the what-if analysis, which allows you to forecast the differences between scenarios when one or more variables are changed.

Integrations include native connections with Salesforce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, LinkedIn, Eventbrite, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and all tools in the Zoho Suite. The Zoho Analytics API allows you to connect other tools and apps.