Reporting tools organize scattered data and present them in the form of tables, charts, and dashboards. Their role is essential because it transforms abstract data into intuitive information, shows past and current status, and makes finding trends and patterns among much quicker. In this way, it is easier for companies and departments to track business progress and adjust strategies timely. big data Before the advent of professional reporting tools, Excel was the main tool used to build reports. But people who often deal with reports know that it is very troublesome to use Excel as a reporting software. It is easy to make errors and is time-consuming. Modern reporting tools more and more to meet the actual reporting needs of enterprises, from data collection, processing; to report making, presentation and sharing. Meanwhile, many reporting tools are designed for different business units, such as finance, sales, marketing, etc. In this article, I’ve reviewed some of the most popular reporting tools on the market today and picked out the ones that perform best in specific features. Welcome to take advantage of it! What Do the Best Reporting Systems Have in Common? The best reporting tools on the market have a few things in common. Before we start, here’s a list of the top 4 critical functional aspects of reporting software to guide you in your decision. 1. Convenient data combination The best tools usually support broad data sources. But that's not enough for enterprises. The reporting value also relies on getting scattered data currently housed in various systems into one report to break data silos and give users a comprehensive view of business performance. Best reporting tools on the market offer an easy way to combine data via a few clicks, handling multiple sets of data in a single report. 2. Ease of use Whether the IT department or the business users, they all want a reporting tool to help them get rid of the tedious work of making reports manually with Excel. In this way, they can spend more time analyzing and mining the meaning behind the data. The best reporting software offers an intuitive visual design environment for users to create custom reports via drag&drop. The learning cost is low. 3. Flexible to integrate and customize A good reporting tool should be flexible enough for developers to integrate the reporting platform with other systems. So users can check the reports directly in the CRM or ERP system. It removes the hassle and improves the user experience significantly. It also offers web scripts or API interfaces for deep development and rich reporting systems features. 4. Multiple reports delivery ways Sharing reports is often the last but most crucial step in an organization. It presents to your team, leaders, or clients the past performance results and the data analysis you have done to drive the next step or strategic change. A good reporting tool provides various ways to export and print reports, also supports the automated push of reports by email, SMS, or communication software. List of Best Reporting Tools and Software Based on the best reporting tools criteria, I selected eight top reporting softwares, ranging from free and open-source to commercial, specialized in different areas. - Best free reporting tool Google Analytics - Best reporting tool for enterprise-scale solutions FineReport - Best open-source reporting tool Jasper Reports - Best reporting software for data visualization Tableau - Best reporting tool for analytics ThoughtSpot - Best reporting software for financial Sage Intacct - Best reporting platform for marketing AgencyAnalytics - Best tool for project performance reporting Celoxis An In-depth Review of These Dashboard Reporting Tools 1. Google Analytics - Best free reporting tool If you work in marketing, is no stranger to you. Google Analytics It allows marketers to monitor users’ behavior on their website, social media, and other campaigns through real-time online reports. Google Analytics offers a free but robust entry-level version where you can track your digital marketing performance such as traffics, acquisitions, referrals, bounce rate. You can also such as lead form submissions, email list sign-ups, purchase completions on the report. The data is real-time so that you can adjust your campaign strategy timely. set customization goals You don’t need to worry about the deployment and operation if you have no background because the It is also convenient to export the reports into Excel and PDF. Or set scheduled reports to share with your team via email. reporting platform is intuitive and user-friendly enough. Finally, the feature provides you more comprehensive data analysis of your website performance. It would alert you if your web page took significantly longer to load. Analytics Intelligence the free version is powerful, supports customization goals, intuitive interface, analytics intelligence version Top features: the basic version is free Price: 2. FineReport - Best reporting tool for enterprise-scale solutions is an enterprise-scale reporting tool that provides an advanced solution for various, frequent, and complex business reporting needs. FineReport The design of FineReport covers different roles’ needs in the reporting. you can’t miss FineReport’s For IT departments, simple deployment and integration. FineReport is written in Java, which of enterprise software. It is flexible to integrate the system with third parties such as CRM, OA, ERP, etc., and embed reports seamlessly into any application software. ensures the flexibility and scalability FineReport’s also simplifies the customization process of reporting systems. Besides, . rich APIs the operation and maintenance cost is low FineReport’s provides the best platform for data extraction, integration, visualization, query, and analysis, without the need for code lines. For report developers, interactive Excel-like interface The data entry feature is outstanding. Users , with functions such as data validation and temporary storage. This streamlines the data collection process in reporting. can write the real-time data back to the databases via the online reports it is easy to get business insights from cool reports and dashboards on the . For managers, all-in-one management platform On top of that, managers can in the meeting. view reports no matter on the mobile devices during the trips or on TV screens simple deployment, flexible enough to integrate, customize and extend, data entry, scheduled report, TV and large screen display, 3D charts with cool animations, multiple formats exportation. Top features: free for personal use, quote-based for enterprise use Price: 3. Jasper Reports - Best open-source reporting tool is a Java-based engine that is the Jasper suite’s core. JasperReports The open-source community edition includes broad components for reporting. provides Java classes and APIs that allow users to generate reports and visualizations based on designs. It is available standalone and also comes embedded inside JasperReports Server or JasperReports Studio. The JasperReports Library is a standalone and embeddable reporting server that embeds the JasperReports engine, enabling users to operate on the user-friendly, web-based interface. The JasperReports Server Besides, JasperReports for users to explore the data. offer data integration, ETL, and OLAP components All the open-source reporting tools offer essential elements such as lines, areas, pies, radar, ring, etc. However, Jasper Reports collection among them. It adds maps, sparklines, pyramids, and Gantt diagrams provides the richest visual elements in the library. Besides, Jasper Reports , with a stable medium activity by its editor TIBCO Software. has a well-maintained repository offer data integration, ETL, and OLAP components; provides the richest visual elements among all the open-source reporting tools Top features: starting from $233.00/year, charged by per feature Price: 4. Tableau - Best reporting software for data visualization is considered one of the reporting tools with the most appealing visualization effects that make your data visible in a unique, and compelling presentation. Its compared to competitors. The visualization dashboards in the Tableau gallery are always impressive. Tableau visualizing capabilities are unparalleled Besides, its is on the top list of Tableau’s benefits. It provides a for users to easily understand data and discover in-depth insights. And the operation is fast enough, even process the big data stored in various places. robust and reliable performance highly interactive interface When you launch Tableau, the data connectors are readily available, which allows you to connect to any database. Then, the pulled raw data can be arranged into catchy diagrams via drag and drop in Tableau Desktop. The reports and dashboards you created can be shared in the Tableau server, where licensed users can access and use them. Apart from sharing, this enterprise platform also supports collaboration, distribution, governance, security model, and automation. Tableau Server also . You can ask a question with natural language and get answers in the form of a viz. And AI explained data points based on advanced statistical models help you make AI-driven decisions. leverages the power of natural language and AI Besides, Tableau where you can beef up your knowledge in data reporting, visualization, and business intelligence. has a thriving community unparalleled visualizing capabilities, robust and reliable performance, highly interactive interface, natural language and AI tech, online community Top features: Tableau’s pricing is available in three subscription options. Price: 5. ThoughtSpot - Best reporting tool for analytics is a BI reporting platform with solid search and AI-driven analytics capabilities. It brings a for business users to quickly ask questions through , regardless of the dataset’s size. ThoughtSpot Google-like search bar natural language queries It leverages the , which can continually scan billions of data to find the answers, even automatically AI insights engine SpotIQ discover the insights that you might not have thought to ask. ThoughtSpot also provides a user-friendly platform for users to create reports, build dashboards and analyze data without relying on IT. It is easy for non-technical business users to interact with ThoughtSpot and gain insights through anomaly detection, trend analysis, comparative analysis, and more. Besides the mainstream databases, ThoughSpot Cloud also supports popular like Amazon Redshift and Snowflake, allowing you to connect with and combines data sources on-premise or in the cloud. cloud data warehouses Google-like search bar, natural language queries, AI-driven, analyze billions of rows at sub-second speed, cloud data warehouses support Top features: available upon request Price: 6. Sage Intacct - Best reporting software for financial With business growing, companies have unique and sometimes highly complex accounting and financial management challenges. Accordingly, the demand for flexible, in-depth financial reporting is increasing. is a that can transform the way your financial reporting and business works. Sage Intacct cloud-based financial reporting tool It provides an easy-to-use solution for building customizable reports that incorporate financial and non-financial data, and the ability to quickly slice and dice the details. offering real-time filters Sage Intacct also supports such as accrual, cash reporting, tax basis, etc. Besides, via Sage Intacct, you can such as accounts payable, month-end close, and expense management. multiple accounting methods automate the business process Sage Intacct’s technology , so it’s easy to connect your financial solution with other cloud applications. leverages open APIs But you don’t need to worry about your data security. Sage Intacct offers , giving you a secure environment to protect your financial data at a low cost. world-class disaster recovery and security backups offering real-time filters, multiple accounting methods, automated accounts payable, month-end close, world-class disaster recovery, and security backups Top features: available upon request Price: 7. AgencyAnalytics - Best reporting platform for marketing is a marketing campaign-focused reporting platform where you can put all of your marketing channels in one place to get the whole picture of your campaign process. Agency Analytics It is highly suitable for marketing agencies to track marketing campaigns and report results to their clients. Agency Analytics supports including the most commonly used marketing tool such as Google Analytics, Search Console, Adwords, Facebook Ads, social media. 50+ data source connectors, Besides, AgencAnalytcis such as track the keywords ranking, monitor the backlinks, and audit the website. That means, if you don’t have high requirements for SEO monitoring, extra SEO tools are not necessary. offers the basic features of SEO tools After the reports are generated, you can choose to export reports into beautiful PDF or send automated emails to your clients. Last but not least, Agency Analytics . It is user-friendly for your global customer to operate the system in their local language. supports 23 languages 50+ data source connectors, offers the basic features of SEO tools, automated reports, broad language support. Top features: $49-$399/monthly, 14 days free trial Price: 8. Celoxis - Best tool for project performance reporting Using reporting in the project can help you stay on top of your projects and manage your stakeholder’s expectations. You can also keep your team members on the same page, let them know your project plan and status. is a project management software but stands out for its reporting with its advanced reporting engine. Celoxis Besides the such as project planning, project tracking, resource management, team collaboration, Celoxis provides features that improve your project’s bottom line. basic features of project management software real-time financial management In terms of reporting, Celoxis has the , where you can implement cross-project reporting, drill-down charts, and automated reports. best analytics engine in the market today It offers both in the cloud and on-premise versions. simple and straightforward interface, SaaS plan, comprehensive project management features, real-time financial management, advanced reporting engine Top features: $25/user a month for the SaaS plan, or $450/user for one-time payment on-premise. Price: Other Reporting Apps Options - a traditional reporting system for SQL, support 28 languages 1. Crystal Reports - a web-based reporting generator, provide automatic access to SAP BW queries 2. Cognos Analytics - an online reporting tool from Microsoft that works well with Excel 3. PowerBI - a hybrid-cloud bi reporting platform, the in-chip architecture accelerates the time it takes in data ingestion. 4. Sisense - an innovative BI reporting platform that combines visualization, machine learning, and collaboration. 5. Yellowfin - a self-service reporting tool with an “All-in-one” design that includes performance management 6. Board - a SaaS platform for building reports and dashboards 7. Cumul.io - an embedded analytics reporting system, support ad-hoc reporting 8. Izenda - provides finance-owned solutions that include a reporting tool 9. InsightSoftware - an open-source reporting and business intelligence tool, offer a Java environment 10. Birt
