Short answer
Microsoft Power BI is our top pick for small businesses, scoring 91/100 when price and ease of use carry more weight. Paid plans start at $14/user/mo (Pro, paid yearly; Premium Per User $24).
This list uses the same tools and ratings as our main business intelligence tools ranking, reweighted for teams of roughly 1 to 50 people: price and ease of use count for more, and enterprise depth counts for less. Tools that score 70 or higher on the small-business weights are included.
The reviews
Starting price$14/user/moPro, paid yearly; Premium Per User $24
Free trial / planFree plan (Power BI Desktop and a free account for personal use; sharing needs Pro); free trial of paid features
Main score92/100
Microsoft Power BI is a BI platform with a free Windows app, Power BI Desktop, for modeling data and building reports, and a cloud service for publishing and sharing them. The free account is for personal analysis; Pro ($14 per user a month, paid yearly) adds publishing and sharing, with a 1 GB model memory limit and 8 refreshes a day; Premium Per User ($24) raises that to 100 GB and 48 refreshes a day and adds advanced AI, dataflows and XMLA read/write. Fabric capacity plans let viewers use reports without a per-user license from F64 up.
Who it's best for
Companies on Microsoft 365 that want analysts to build governed reports and everyone else to view them, at a low per-user price.
Strengths
- Pro at $14 a user a month, included in Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5
- Free Power BI Desktop for modeling and building reports
- Premium Per User raises model size from 1 GB to 100 GB for $24
Watch-outs
- Every viewer needs Pro to see shared content, unless you buy F64 or larger Fabric capacity
- Power BI Desktop runs on Windows only
- Capacity and Embedded pricing is variable and quoted separately
Skip it if: Your team works on Macs and wants to build reports without a Windows machine.
Read our full Microsoft Power BI review →
Starting price$9/user/moData Studio Pro, per user per project; the standard version is free
Free trial / planFree plan (no charge for creators and report viewers)
Main score78/100
Data Studio, called Looker Studio until 2026, is Google's report and dashboard builder. The standard version is free for creators and report viewers and connects to Google Sheets, Google Ads, BigQuery and Google Analytics, plus over 1,300 community connectors. Data Studio Pro ($9 per user per project a month) puts content in a Google Cloud project owned by your organization, with team workspaces, project-level permissions, Google Cloud support and customer-managed encryption keys.
Who it's best for
Marketing teams and small businesses that report on Google Analytics, Ads and Sheets data and want free shareable dashboards.
Strengths
- Free for creators and report viewers
- Native Google Analytics, Ads, Sheets and BigQuery connectors
- Pro adds organization-owned content and team workspaces for $9 a user
Watch-outs
- Limited data modeling compared with Power BI or Tableau
- Many non-Google sources rely on community connectors
- Admin controls and Google Cloud support need Pro
Skip it if: You need a governed data model shared across many departments.
Read our full Data Studio review →
Starting price$100/moStarter Cloud, 5 users included, $6 per extra user ($1,080 a year billed annually); Pro $575
Free trial / planFree plan (open source, self-hosted, unlimited users); 14-day trial of Cloud plans
Main score81/100
Metabase is an open-source BI tool for asking questions of a database with a click-based query builder or SQL, then saving them to dashboards. The open-source edition is free to self-host with unlimited users; Starter ($100 a month for 5 users, then $6 a user) adds Metabase Cloud hosting and support; Pro ($575 a month for 10 users, then $12 a user) adds row- and column-level permissions, SSO, usage analytics, auditing and multi-tenant embedded analytics. Enterprise starts at $20,000 a year.
Who it's best for
Startups and product teams with data in a SQL database that want self-serve dashboards for free or a low flat price.
Strengths
- Free open-source edition with unlimited users
- Row-level permissions, SSO and multi-tenant embedding on Pro
- Simple click-based questions alongside SQL
Watch-outs
- SSO and row-level permissions need Pro ($575 a month)
- Users of your embeds count toward the user total
- Smallest G2 review base here (147 reviews)
Skip it if: Your data lives mainly in spreadsheets and business apps rather than a database.
Read our full Metabase review →
Starting price$24/moBasic, billed annually, 2 users and 0.5 million rows; Standard $48 for 5 users and 1 million rows
Free trial / planFree plan (2 users, 10,000 rows); 15-day trial, no card
Main score80/100
Zoho Analytics is a self-service BI tool that connects to databases, files and business apps, with reports, dashboards, data storytelling and AI credits on paid plans. Free covers 2 users and 10,000 rows; Basic (from $24 a month billed annually) covers 2 users, 0.5 million rows, 2 business app connectors and a daily refresh; Standard ($48) covers 5 users and 1 million rows with 50+ connectors and 8 refreshes a day; Premium (about $115) covers 15 users and 5 million rows.
Who it's best for
Small and mid-size businesses that want dashboards over their CRM, finance and marketing apps without a data team.
Strengths
- Free plan for 2 users and 10,000 rows
- Paid plans from $24 a month billed annually
- 50+ business app connectors from Standard
Watch-outs
- Plans cap rows: 0.5 million on Basic and 1 million on Standard
- Basic allows only 2 business app connectors and 1 refresh a day
- Lowest G2 rating here (4.2/5)
Skip it if: You need to analyze tens of millions of rows on a small budget.
Read our full Zoho Analytics review →
Starting price$300/moStarter, billed annually, 10 users and 10 GB of data; Standard $825 with no-cost users
Free trial / planFree trial (length not stated)
Main score82/100
Qlik Cloud Analytics is the cloud version of Qlik Sense, priced by data capacity rather than per seat above its entry plan. Starter ($300 a month billed annually) covers 10 users and 10 GB of data with dashboards, sharing, report generation and no-code automations; Standard ($825) includes 25 GB with additional users at no cost, plus shared and managed spaces; Premium ($2,750) includes 50 GB and adds automated machine learning, anonymous public access and SAP data extraction.
Who it's best for
Mid-size and large companies that want many people viewing dashboards without buying a license for each one.
Strengths
- Additional users at no cost from Standard ($825 a month)
- Governed shared and managed spaces from Standard
- Automated machine learning and public access on Premium
Watch-outs
- Starter is capped at 10 GB of data, and extra capacity can't be added
- Standard costs $9,900 a year before any extra capacity
- Trial length isn't stated on the pricing page
Skip it if: You're a team of a few people who only need a handful of dashboards.
Read our full Qlik Cloud Analytics review →
Starting price$15/user/moViewer, Standard, billed annually; Creator $75, Explorer $42; at least one Creator required
Free trial / planFree trial; free Tableau Desktop edition for local files
Main score83/100
Tableau, part of Salesforce, is a visual analytics platform sold per user by role. On the Standard edition, Creator ($75 a user a month, billed annually) builds workbooks and data flows with Tableau Desktop and Prep Builder, Explorer ($42) edits existing workbooks, and Viewer ($15) views and interacts with dashboards. Enterprise ($115, $70 and $35) adds Advanced Management, Data Management and up to 10 sites. Every deployment needs at least one Creator, and all plans require an annual contract.
Who it's best for
Analyst and data teams that build many custom visual dashboards for a large audience of viewers.
Strengths
- Rated 4.4/5 on G2 across 4,235 reviews, the most here
- Creator includes Tableau Desktop, Prep Builder and Tableau Pulse
- Free Desktop edition for analysis of local files and databases
Watch-outs
- Creators cost $75 a user a month, over five times Power BI Pro
- Annual contract only; no monthly plans
- Data Management and Advanced Management need Enterprise ($115 per Creator)
Skip it if: You need a low-cost tool for a small team or want to pay month to month.
Read our full Tableau review →
Starting pricePricing on requestCredit-based, unlimited users with no per-seat fees
Free trial / plan30-day free trial, no card
Main score76/100
Domo is a cloud data platform that combines connectors, data pipelines, dashboards, workflows and AI agents. It's sold on credits rather than seats: credits are used when you store data, update tables, run workflows or use ML inference, and users are unlimited. Domo publishes no prices; the 30-day trial is a full enterprise version with no credit cap, excluding Auto ML, Jupyter Workspaces and some governance features.
Who it's best for
Companies that want data integration, dashboards and apps in one platform and want everyone to have access.
Strengths
- Unlimited users with no per-seat fees
- Data pipelines, workflows and dashboards in one platform
- 30-day trial without a card
Watch-outs
- No published prices; you need a demo for a quote
- Costs depend on credit usage, so they're harder to predict
- The old free plan is closed to new sign-ups
Skip it if: You want a price you can check before you talk to sales.
Read our full Domo review →
How we weighted this list
| Criterion | Main ranking | Small business |
|---|
| Data connectivity & modeling | 20% | 14% |
| Visualization & dashboards | 20% | 14% |
| Self-serve analysis & AI | 15% | 10% |
| Sharing, embedding & governance | 15% | 10% |
| Ease of use | 15% | 26% |
| Price & value | 15% | 26% |
FAQ
What are the best business intelligence tools for small businesses?
Microsoft Power BI scores highest (91/100) once price and ease of use carry more weight, followed by Data Studio, Metabase.
How is this different from your main ranking?
Same tools and the same 0 to 5 ratings, but price and ease of use count for more, because small teams rarely have an admin or a big budget. The weights are in the table on this page. Data Studio, Metabase move into the top three as a result.
Which business intelligence tools are cheapest for a small team?
See the starting prices in the comparison table; free plans and trials are listed next to them. Price the plan that covers your team size, not only the entry plan.
What should a small business look for?
A free plan or low entry price, quick setup without an admin, and the two or three features you need on day one. Avoid paying for enterprise controls you won't use yet.
Vettlo Editorial TeamResearched and written by the Vettlo editorial team using our methodology. Prices and plan details come from each vendor's public pricing page.