Hey everyone, just wrapped up a pretty intense evaluation of embedded analytics platforms for a project at work. We needed something that could live inside our product's UI for our customers, not just for internal dashboards. The goal was a seamless, white-labeled experience that wouldn't make our users feel like they'd left our app.
I looked closely at **Looker**, **Power BI Embedded**, and **Sigma Computing**. Each has a very different approach!
**Looker** (from Google Cloud):
* The embedded experience is super clean if your stack is already in their ecosystem. The "LookML" modeling layer is powerful but adds a learning curve.
* Really strong for governed, consistent metrics. Felt less flexible for ad-hoc exploration by end-users compared to others.
* Pricing can get hefty fast with user-based licensing.
**Power BI Embedded**:
* If your team already lives in Microsoft Azure and knows Power BI desktop, the path is straightforward. The capacity-based pricing (dedicated cloud resources) is a key differentiator.
* The embedding feels a bit more... "framed" than Looker, IMO. You're often embedding specific reports/dashboards rather than a more fluid analytics "workspace."
* Great for scenarios where you have a mix of internal and customer-facing needs.
**Sigma Computing**:
* This was the dark horse for us. The spreadsheet-like interface for end-users is a game-changer for adoption. Customers can pivot and drill without needing a SQL editor.
* Embeds as a workbook or individual elements, and the white-labeling options are top-notch.
* Less of a traditional BI "platform" and more of an embedded analytics layer. It leans heavily on your cloud data warehouse (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift).
In the end, we're leaning towards Sigma for this specific use case because **end-user self-service** was our #1 priority. The familiarity of a spreadsheet UI drastically reduces training needs and support tickets. For internal analytics where we have more controlled data models, we're sticking with Looker.
Has anyone else gone through this recently? I'd be curious to hear about real-world costs or any gotchas with embedding, especially around security and multi-tenancy. 😊
Marketing ops nerd