Not All Charts are Created Equal:

PowerBI | Tableau | Looker















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Not All Charts are Created Equal:

PowerBI Tableau Looker












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TRANSFORMATION OF DIGITAL DATA:

Navigating competitive markets globally

Mark Drasutis



Olivia Lee

INTELLIGEN CONSULTANT

Meet Olivia Lee – one of our brilliant consultants.

With a background in customer and insights analysis across industries like gaming, insurance and retail, Olivia brings a sharp eye for data storytelling and dashboard design. She’s skilled in tools like PowerBI, BigQuery, Tableau, Looker and SQL, and has a knack for turning complex datasets into clear, business-friendly insights.

Published on April 7, 2025 by Olivia Lee

As businesses become increasingly data-driven, the need for effective platforms to deliver insights has grown. But with so many options out there, I often get asked: which tool is best? 


As controversial as this may be, I’m going to take the risk and walk you through three of the most popular data visualisation tools, Power BI, Tableau, and Looker Studio, and rank them across a few key categories:

Nature's Symphony

Breathtaking colors of our planet
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Faces of Humanity

Portraits of people from around the globe
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Sands of Time

Stark beauty of desolate dunes
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  • Sands of Time

    Stark beauty of desolate dunes
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  • Beyond Boundaries

    Visual odyssey across continents
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  • Nature's Symphony

    Breathtaking colors of our planet
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    • In this episode of Mastering Data, our CEO Erin Evans engages in a compelling conversation with Mark Drasutis, GM of Digital and Customer Platforms at the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Mark's career journey, spans notable organizations like the Economist, AOL Europe, Yahoo, News Corp Australia, IAG, and his current role at ASX, reflects his expertise in digital innovation and strategic foresight. This episode is jam-packed with insights gleaned from navigating competitive markets globally, Mark delves into crucial aspects of data modeling, AI training, balanced scorecard strategies, safe AI implementation, data-driven SEO tactics, leadership, how to find a mentor, and digital transformation in the Australian market.One not to be missed!

    Ease of Use Features

    When it comes to ease of use, Looker Studio takes the top spot. Its web-based drag-and-drop interface is intuitive, especially for non-technical users. If you're used to the Google ecosystem, the interface will feel familiar right away.


    Power BI and Tableau come in as close seconds. Both tools have sleek interfaces that make it easy to drag and drop fields into visuals. I’ve seen plenty of beginners pick them up quickly and start building out basic dashboards.


    That said, Power BI does have an edge if you’ve used other Microsoft products before. The DAX formula language feels similar to Excel formulas, and Power Query (used in Excel and Access) adds a nice layer of familiarity. But whether it’s Power BI or Tableau, moving from basic to advanced visualisations does involve a learning curve which I’ve experienced firsthand.

    Pricing

    This one’s pretty straightforward.


    > Looker Studio is the most affordable—it’s free as part of the Google ecosystem.


    > Power BI comes next, with flexible pricing options based on your needs:

    • Power BI Pro: $15 per user/month
    • Power BI Premium Per User (PPU): $20 per user/month

    The PPU licence unlocks additional features like automated report exports, deployment pipelines, and increased data capacity (100GB vs 1GB in Pro). It’s worth noting that even to view a Power BI report in a Pro or Premium Workspace, you’ll need a valid licence.


    > Tableau is the priciest option:

    • Tableau Viewer: $15 per user/month (for report viewing only)
    • Tableau Explorer: $42 per user/month (for interacting with dashboards)
    • Tableau Creator: $75 per user/month (for full dashboard creation)