How Much Does Embedded Analytics Cost in 2024?

What is Embedded Analytics?

Embedded analytics brings advanced data analysis and visualization directly into software applications, elevating their native functionality. This allows users to conduct intricate data analysis seamlessly within the app, an essential feature for SaaS solutions aiming to offer a holistic user experience. Its applications, such as user behavior tracking and personalized customer interactions, are tailored to the demands of software companies eager to provide superior in-app analytics.

Embedded Analytics Pricing Models

When it comes to embedded analytics, pricing models can vary significantly based on the provider and the scale of deployment. Understanding these models is crucial for selecting the right solution for your organization. Here are some common pricing models:

• User-Based Pricing: This model charges based on the number of users accessing the analytics solution. It’s ideal for organizations with a predictable number of users, allowing for straightforward budgeting.
• Usage-Based Pricing: Charges are based on the amount of data processed or the frequency of usage. This model is beneficial for organizations with fluctuating data needs, as costs align with actual usage.
• Feature-Based Pricing: Costs are determined by the features and functionalities included in the analytics solution. This model allows organizations to pay only for the features they need, making it a cost-effective option for those with specific requirements.
• Tiered Pricing: Offers different pricing tiers based on the level of features and functionality required. This model provides flexibility, enabling organizations to start with a basic plan and upgrade as their needs grow.

Selecting the right pricing model involves assessing your organization’s needs and budget. Some providers offer flexible pricing models that can be customized to meet specific requirements, ensuring you get the best value for your investment in embedded analytics.

Embedded Analytics Products

Embedded Dashboards

Dashboards are the cornerstone of embedded analytics, offering stakeholders a visual and intuitive overview of complex data. They are dynamic, with real-time updates for up-to-the-minute information. Certain dashboards offer the ability for end-users to customize their own. Businesses can adapt them to various needs, including layout, data sets, and visualization types. Such versatility makes them ideal for diverse applications like sales tracking and analyzing customer behavior.

Report Builders

Report builders can be invaluable tools for creating and customizing detailed reports that capture a moment in time. It’s designed for ease of use, allowing users of all skill levels to effortlessly compile and arrange data. This feature enables the focus on pertinent business metrics through user-friendly interfaces and intuitive controls like drag-and-drop. Reports can range from simple data summaries to in-depth analyses, catering to diverse business requirements. Additionally, automation features streamline the reporting process, saving time and ensuring consistent data monitoring.

Generative AI for Self-Service

Generative AI in embedded analytics provides the ability for users to conduct self-service data analysis. AI simplifies the creation of custom reports and insights by generating complex data based on non-technical user prompts. It automates data processing and identifies patterns, reducing reliance on specialized personnel. Users can interact using natural language, making the system more intuitive. Beyond simplifying data analysis, generative AI provides predictive insights, enhancing decision-making with timely and relevant information tailored to specific queries.

Power BI and Related Products

Power BI offers robust integration capabilities with Azure and Microsoft 365, making it an excellent choice for embedding analytics into applications. Organizations can leverage Power BI to provide customer-facing dashboards and analytics efficiently, thanks to its ease of deployment and customization options. Power BI Embedded is tailored for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) looking to integrate powerful analytics and visualizations directly into their applications, enhancing user experience with interactive dashboards and reports. Power BI Premium is designed for enterprises seeking advanced analytics capabilities and comprehensive BI solutions, including data management and deployment at scale, with a flexible pricing structure. Power BI Pro, a per-user subscription service, is essential for organizations needing individual user access to analytics and dashboard capabilities, and it is necessary for embedding solutions, offering both user-based and usage-based pricing models.

Customization and Self-Service Analytics

Customization and self-service analytics are pivotal in maximizing the value of embedded analytics solutions. Customization allows organizations to tailor the analytics solution to their specific needs, ensuring it aligns perfectly with their business processes. Self-service analytics empowers users to access and analyze data independently, reducing reliance on IT departments and speeding up decision-making.

Key features of customization and self-service analytics include:

• Data Visualization: The ability to create interactive and dynamic data visualizations that provide deep insights into complex data. These visualizations help users understand trends and patterns at a glance.
• Data Connectors: The capability to connect to various data sources and integrate data from multiple origins. This ensures that all relevant data is available for analysis, providing a comprehensive view of the business.
• Data Preparation: Tools for preparing and transforming data for analysis. This includes cleaning, aggregating, and structuring data to ensure it is ready for accurate analysis.
• Published Data Sources: The ability to publish data sources for easy access and sharing. This feature enhances collaboration and ensures that all users are working with the same data sets.

By leveraging these features, organizations can enhance their data analysis capabilities, making it easier for users to generate insights and drive informed decision-making.

Comparing Embedded Analytics Pricing Models

Implementation and Integration Costs

When selecting an embedded analytics solution, it’s essential to consider the implementation and integration costs, as these can significantly impact the total cost of ownership. These costs typically include:

• Development Costs: The expenses associated with developing and customizing the analytics solution to meet your specific needs. This can involve significant investment in time and resources, especially for complex customizations.
• Integration Costs: The cost of integrating the analytics solution with existing systems and data sources. This ensures seamless data flow and consistency across your organization’s technology stack.
• Maintenance Costs: Ongoing expenses for maintaining and updating the analytics solution. Regular maintenance is crucial to ensure the solution remains up-to-date with the latest features and security updates.

Considering these costs upfront helps in budgeting and ensures that there are no surprises down the line. A thorough evaluation of these costs will provide a clearer picture of the total investment required for an embedded analytics solution.

Looker Embedded Analytics

Renowned for its advanced analytics capabilities, Looker empowers users with deep data exploration and insight discovery. Acquired by Google in 2020, it integrates with Google's suite of products. Its unique LookML language elevates data modeling, making it a powerful tool for complex analyses.

Capabilities:

• Data Exploration: Looker's platform excels in advanced data exploration, allowing users to delve deep into their datasets to unearth insights. 
• Customization and Integration: Looker's tools are highly customizable, ensuring they can be tailored to meet specific business needs. Its integration capabilities make it a versatile choice for various business environments.
• Advanced Data Modelling: Looker employs a unique modeling language LookML, that provides a robust layer to ensure all users have consistent data and results. However, this proprietary language does have a steep learning curve as opposed to pure SQL based modeling layers.

Pricing:

Looker's pricing structure for embedded analytics begins at approximately $120,000 per year. They have discontinued offering a free trial and generally don't advertise their pricing details publicly, although individuals have reported negotiating lower prices based on company volume. Their pricing scales based on individual viewers. This higher per-user price can be a deterrent for embedded analytics, especially since embedded analytics typically require widespread user access to data. Looker also outsources its support so basic support and setup is not included in their pricing, relying on outside consultants and agencies that can dramatically increase the startup and ongoing cost for Looker.

GoodData Self Service Analytics

GoodData is designed for large-scale data reporting and analytics needs. Its comprehensive suite of analytics tools, combined with a user-friendly interface, makes it ideal for a broad spectrum of BI applications.

Capabilities:

• Scalability and Security: GoodData is designed to handle large-scale deployments, making it an ideal choice for businesses with extensive data reporting needs. Its emphasis on security ensures that data remains protected, a crucial aspect for enterprise-level analytics.
• Comprehensive Analytics Solutions: Offering a wide range of analytics tools, GoodData caters to diverse business intelligence needs, from basic reporting to complex data visualizations.
• User-Friendly Interface: Despite its comprehensive nature, GoodData maintains a user-friendly interface, making it accessible for non-technical users.

Pricing:

GoodData offers a distinct pricing structure for internal and embedded analytics. For internal analytics, the startup plan is reasonably priced at $360 per-user per year, with a platform fee of $1,500 per year. They offer a 30-day free trial to try their platform. However, for their embedded analytics features, to provide high-quality analytics to your customers, the cost is significantly higher at $18,000 per year ($1,500 per month) for their base platform fee plus additional costs for each workspace or customer that you serve. To get access to data source managers, an important consideration for embedded analytics, companies must upgrade to a more expensive bespoke Enterprise plan.

Power BI Embedded

The oldest of the business intelligence solutions, Tableau is well known for its complex visualization capabilities. Its strengths are in creating impactful data visualizations and its wide-ranging connectivity options.

Capabilities:

• Intuitive User Interface: Tableau is known for its point and click interface, allowing users to build visualizations and dashboards without code.
• Robust Visualization Tools: Tableau's strength lies in its powerful data visualization capabilities, enabling users to create compelling and insightful data representations.
• Wide Range of Connectivity Options: It offers extensive connectivity options, allowing users to integrate data from numerous sources seamlessly.

Pricing:

Tableau's general pricing structure for server licensing is tiered, offering three user types: Creator ($840 per year), Explorer ($420 per year), and Viewer ($144 per year). Each tier caters to different user needs, with Creators having the most comprehensive access and capabilities, followed by Explorers and Viewers with more limited functionalities.

For embedded analytics, Tableau provides two licensing options, tailored for external use cases, like integrating with customer-facing applications. The Named User license offers discounted rates for Explorer at $315 per year and Viewer at $108 per year. This pricing is contingent on embedding dashboards for a company's external customers and scales upwards with the usage of the product. Alternatively, the Core based license, priced at $72,000 per 8 cores per year, is designed for scenarios with variable user numbers and concurrency rates, focusing on server capacity rather than individual users. This license allows businesses increased flexibility at a much higher cost.

Explo

Distinguished for its customization and white-label solutions, Explo seamlessly integrates into existing systems, maintaining brand consistency. Its user-friendly, embeddable analytics solutions are designed for diverse business environments and industry needs.

Capabilities:

• Customization and White-Label Solutions: Explo's highly customizable analytics solutions can be seamlessly embedded into existing systems. Its white-label options are particularly beneficial for businesses seeking to maintain consistent branding.
• User-Friendly and Easily Embeddable: Explo focuses on delivering analytics solutions that are not only easy to use but also simple to embed into existing applications, enhancing user experience and integration.
• Flexibility: The platform is designed to cater to a variety of business needs and industries, making it a versatile choice for different industries.

Pricing:

Explo's pricing for its embedded analytics solution is structured to offer value at different scales of use. Uniquely, Explo's “Launch Tier” offers a forever free plan with unlimited internal dashboard use and access to a dashboard builder without any cost, providing a risk-free way for companies to begin their journey analytics.

The next tier, the Growth plan, costs $8,350 per year ($695 per month) and is their entry point to embedded analytics. For more advanced needs, the Pro plan is $23,940 per year ($1,995 per month) and includes unlimited data schemas, white-labeled dashboards, and additional tools like a report builder and email add-ons. With a no-risk starting price and plans that scale for your business's needs, Explo is the best end-to-end embedded analytics solution.

ROI and Value-for-Money Approach

Evaluating the ROI and value-for-money of an embedded analytics solution involves considering several key factors:

• Cost Savings: Improved decision-making and increased efficiency can lead to significant cost savings. By providing timely insights, embedded analytics can help reduce operational costs and optimize resource allocation.
• Revenue Growth: Enhanced customer insights and targeted marketing efforts can drive revenue growth. Understanding customer behavior and preferences allows for more effective marketing strategies and product offerings.
• Customer Satisfaction: Personalized experiences and targeted support can improve customer satisfaction. Embedded analytics enables businesses to tailor their services to meet individual customer needs, leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.
• Competitive Advantage: Advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making provide a competitive edge. Organizations that leverage embedded analytics can stay ahead of the competition by making informed decisions quickly and accurately.

By considering these factors, organizations can assess the true value of their investment in embedded analytics and make informed decisions that align with their strategic goals.

Future of Embedded Analytics Pricing

The future of embedded analytics pricing is likely to be influenced by several emerging trends:

• Cloud-Based Pricing: The shift towards cloud-based analytics solutions is expected to lead to more flexible and scalable pricing models. Cloud-based solutions offer the advantage of paying for what you use, making it easier to scale up or down based on demand.
• AI-Powered Analytics: The integration of AI in analytics is likely to result in more advanced and sophisticated pricing models. AI can enhance the capabilities of analytics solutions, providing deeper insights and automating complex tasks.
• Self-Service Analytics: The growing demand for self-service analytics is expected to lead to more user-friendly and accessible pricing models. These models will cater to the needs of non-technical users, making it easier for them to access and analyze data.
• Fixed Pricing: The demand for fixed pricing is likely to increase, providing more predictable and transparent pricing models. Fixed pricing allows organizations to budget more effectively and avoid unexpected costs.

By staying informed about these trends, organizations can prepare for the future of embedded analytics pricing and make strategic decisions that ensure they get the best value from their investment.

Conclusion

In 2024, embedded analytics solutions present a broad variety of pricing, influenced by the provider, the scale of deployment, and feature sets. In selecting the right solution, companies need to weigh aspects such as implementation ease, customization options, and white-labeling potential. Among the many strong options, Explo should be under consideration given its balance of functionality, user-friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. For businesses looking to enhance their SaaS solutions with powerful analytics, exploring Explo's offerings could be a valuable step in their decision-making process.

Additional Insights:

• The Future of Embedded Analytics: Emerging Trends in 2024
• Enhancing End-User Experience: AI for Data Reporting
• Customer Examples

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