4 Power BI Alternatives for Building Custom Dashboards

Power BI is Microsoft’s popular business intelligence software, known for its powerful data visualization capabilities and easy integration with Microsoft tools. But when it comes to costs, complexity, and privacy, there are reasons to look for Power BI alternatives. A self-hosted, non-subscription platform like DashboardFox could give you the freedom you need to visualize and share data without incurring excessive fees or scaling your IT team.

DashboardFox: The Best Power BI Alternative for On-Premises Control and a One-Time Fee

DashboardFox is the premier solution for teams that want to escape the endless subscription fees most BI tools require. You get to pay once and use it forever. Plus, it’s entirely self-hosted, so your data stays on-premises, and you never have to worry about a cloud data breach again.

If you want to maintain a lean budget, keep costs predictable, and maintain tight security, DashboardFox is an ideal solution. It’s built to give small to mid-size businesses the freedom they need with the data-reporting tools they rely on.

Why DashboardFox is the Smart Choice

DashboardFox helps businesses ease the strain of complex, expensive BI tools. You might find that when you use software such as Power BI or Tableau, you only use a fraction of the features. The IT learning curve makes many elements of modern BI tools inaccessible, which makes user-friendly software like DashboardFox the perfect alternative.

• Pay Once, Own It Forever: DashboardFox uses a one-time, perpetual license model. This means you never have to pay monthly subscription fees or added costs to acquire more licenses. DashboardFox grows with your team, free of charge.
• Your Data Stays on Your Servers: Data security and compliance means self-hosting is essential for many businesses, such as healthcare companies that need to meet HIPAA, or finance teams that need total control over confidential data. The self-hosted nature of DashboardFox means you don’t have to worry about a third-party leak or someone accessing your information. Your own cybersecurity efforts will directly protect your data streams.
• Empower Your Whole Team: The biggest standout feature from DashboardFox among Power BI alternatives is its no-code design. You can drag-and-drop features, visualize data with clicks, and create reports without a single line of code. This means marketing managers can craft a campaign performance dashboard without filing a ticket with the IT department. Non-technical staff can use the software to view data or create dashboards and reports, all without creating more work for your IT staff,

Who Benefits Most from DashboardFox?

DashboardFox isn’t built for companies of a specific size. Instead, the software focuses on delivering the best BI solutions for budget-minded companies that have strict security needs and teams with diverse data reporting needs.

• Cost-Conscious Leaders: IT directors and executives looking to reduce operational expenses without sacrificing capability.
• Security-Focused Teams: Department heads in sectors like finance, HR, or healthcare, who cannot compromise on data security.
• Managers Who Need Autonomy: Business managers who want their teams to be self-sufficient in accessing and analyzing data.

Schedule a personalized demo to see how you can build your first dashboard in minutes.

Other Power BI Alternatives to Consider

There are other alternatives to Power BI that can help you manage your business data in meaningful ways. Each option serves businesses with different needs, so you can easily compare platforms to find one that works for you.

Domo

Overview: A cloud-based platform that uses AI to generate reports, share insights, and integrate all your data sources.

Key Features:

• AI agents and AI-powered data reports
• Widespread software integration
• Tailored options for sales, marketing, IT, and more

Pricing: Paid; pricing isn’t available publicly, so it’s typically expensive and costs scale according to your needs.

Best For: Large companies with dedicated IT staff and data scientists.

Tableau

Overview: A market leader in data visualization, known for creating aesthetically pleasing and highly interactive charts and graphs.

Key Features:

• Advanced visualizations
• Tableau public to share visualizations publicly
• Interactive dashboards

Pricing: Subscription-based; it starts at $15 per user per month.

Best For: Large organizations with expert data analysts who need granular control over visual design and have a substantial budget for BI.

Looker (Google Cloud)

Overview: Position Looker as a cloud-native platform that is part of Google Cloud. Emphasize its focus on a centralized data model.

Key Features:

• Uses its own modeling language, LookML
• Full integration with Google Cloud and BigQuery
• Cloud-hosted for real-time syncing

Pricing: Pricing is custom and often geared toward enterprise-level deployments, making it a costly option.

Best For: Tech-forward companies deeply integrated with the Google Cloud ecosystem that have available developer resources to manage LookML.

Learn more about self-hosted vs. cloud BI solutions.

How to Choose the Right Power BI Alternative for Your Business

When it comes to getting the best BI tool, you must consider what your business needs now and in the long term. Strategic decision-making ensures you can afford costs today and justify their investment in the future.

One of the most helpful ways to determine if a BI tool is worth it is to analyze the total cost of ownership, or TCO. The TCO helps you determine the true cost of using software by considering:

1. Subscription Fees: Calculate the annual cost based on the number of users and how that cost grows over three years.
2. Implementation and Training: Factor in the time and resources needed to get the team up and run. Is a simple setup or a complex, consultant-led project required?
3. Dedicated Staff: Ask if the tool requires hiring a dedicated data analyst or developer to be used effectively.

Determine Your Data Hosting and Security Requirements

Your data might be online, but is that the safest place for it? Consider privacy risks, cybersecurity options, and your business’s obligations to its consumers.

1. Do you operate in a regulated industry like healthcare or finance?
2. Do you need full control over the server environment for security audits?
3. Is keeping your data off from third-party cloud servers a company policy?

Explain that if the answer to any of these is “yes,” a self-hosted solution like DashboardFox is not just preferable, but necessary.

Small to mid-size businesses need data governance to strategically secure their data and its use, both internally and externally. The ability to self-host means you can rely on your own security measures to protect internal and consumer information.

Power BI Alternatives: Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free Power BI alternative?

Yes, there are open-source options like Metabase and Apache Superset. However, free to use doesn’t mean zero cost. Most free Power BI alternatives require significant technical expertise to set up and maintain, have limited or community-only support, and often lack the robust security features businesses need. So, companies wind up investing a lot more money in training and outsourcing support than they would if they had a more intuitive, user-friendly software.

What is the biggest drawback of Power BI?

Power BI prices its services per-user, per month, which can make its subscription model costly for many small to mid-size businesses. Think of it as a data tax, where the more people who need to work with your data, the more expensive it becomes to manage. On the other hand, a one-time fee model lets you have widespread adoption without the financial penalty. You don’t have to pay more to add more users overtime.

How easy is it to migrate from Power BI?

Power BI is easy to migrate from if you choose DashboardFox, since it connects directly to the underlying database like SQL Server or MySQL. There is no data migration to worry about. Instead, all you must do is point DashboardFox to the same data sources Power BI was using. Then, you just must recreate reports with the fast drag-and-drop builder.

Ready to Ditch Subscriptions and Take Control of Your Data?

Try a Power BI alternative that aligns with your business goals: predictable costs, ease of use for the entire team, and ironclad data security. DashboardFox was built to deliver on these exact needs with its one-time cost, scalable model, and code-free interface.

Book a free, no-obligation demo today and see how DashboardFox can fit your business.