ChatGPT
Perplexity
Build your first embedded data product now. Talk to our product experts for a guided demo or get your hands dirty with a free 10-day trial.
.png)
If you’ve ever watched a customer click “Export to Excel” and disappear from your app, you know the frustration. Product teams invest months building dashboards, only to see users bypass them for something—anything—that gives them more control. The message is loud and clear: today’s users want to build, slice, and share their own reports, right where the action happens. For SaaS products, client portals, and data-driven apps, report building isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s now table stakes.
Luzmo’s industry report spells it out: 72% of users regularly bypass dashboards by exporting to Excel. Not because they hate your product—but because your dashboards don’t let them work the way they want. They need more flexibility, deeper interactivity, and reporting that’s as dynamic as the decisions they make. In short, users expect to build reports inside your app, not outside it.
What today’s users want from in-app report builders
Your users aren’t just passive consumers—they’re problem-solvers, and they want analytics to match. Here’s what they expect from a built-in report builder:
When you deliver all this, you get more than just happy customers. You unlock stickier adoption, more upsell, and fewer support tickets. Reporting becomes your secret weapon for engagement—not a backdoor out of your product.
Most analytics tools promise “in-app reporting,” but Luzmo was actually built for it. Here, report building isn’t an afterthought—it’s the main event.
The embedded dashboard editor lets every user create, customize, and share reports without developer help. Need a different chart, a new KPI, or a client-ready summary? Just drag, drop, and it’s live. There’s no need to call IT or wait for a product update.
With Luzmo Flex, report builders become an organic part of your user interface. You can drop interactive analytics components into any page or workflow, ensuring users never have to leave your environment to explore their data. This isn’t “bolt-on” reporting—it’s fully native.
Luzmo IQ pushes the boundaries further with AI-powered insights. Users can ask questions in plain English (“Show me top-performing regions by quarter”), and Luzmo recommends the right charts or tables—turning data discovery into a true self-service experience.
Data integration is always a headache, but with Luzmo Connect, connecting to warehouses, APIs, or cloud sources is straightforward. You don’t have to re-engineer your backend or juggle endless connectors. Just sync and go.
The experience is also built for scale. Luzmo supports full white labeling (from domain to color scheme), granular multi-tenancy, and secure access management—so you can roll out custom report building to clients, partners, or distributed teams without losing sleep over data privacy.
If you want to see what real, embedded report building looks like, book a demo or check out Luzmo’s transparent pricing. Curious how it stacks up? See a head-to-head comparison or read why market leaders switch to Luzmo.
If you’re looking for an old-school, desktop BI solution or reporting that lives in isolation from your product, Luzmo isn’t the fit. Its strengths are in embedding, real-time interactivity, and empowering end users—inside your own app, not in silos.
Qlik is a long-time leader in interactive, exploratory analytics—and it brings those strengths to embedded report building too. The Qlik associative engine lets users filter, cross-filter, and explore data from any angle. This makes it easy for power users to build highly custom reports, surface outliers, and discover hidden trends—all from inside a web app.
Branding and embedding, however, aren’t always as seamless as you’d hope. Qlik’s report builder is robust, but making it fully match your app’s UI often requires technical investment and custom coding. Security, multi-tenancy, and compliance features are enterprise-grade, so Qlik is a safe bet for regulated or highly segmented environments.
Best for: Complex, regulated, or highly data-driven SaaS platforms with the technical muscle to handle integration and customization.
Metabase is the go-to open-source platform for startups and scale-ups wanting flexible, in-app report building on a budget. Its user interface is approachable—think question builders, not SQL windows.
Embedding Metabase in your app is easy with widgets or iFrames, and users can build, filter, and group reports with minimal training.
Where Metabase shines is in speed: you can spin up a self-service report builder for your product in days, not months. Community plugins add extra chart types and connectors, and the cost (free or low) is hard to beat.
The trade-off? Branding is limited, advanced workflow integration is basic, and enterprise controls (like row-level security, audit trails, or true multi-tenancy) aren’t as mature as the premium players. Metabase works best as a quick-start or for smaller SaaS products.
Best for: Startups, internal tools, or small teams that value speed, flexibility, and a gentle learning curve.
If your product is already part of the Microsoft ecosystem, Power BI Embedded offers deep, interactive reporting with the reliability of the Microsoft stack. You get drag-and-drop report design, rich chart types, and strong data governance—all embeddable in your app with robust authentication.
For reporting, Power BI excels in filters, drill-through, and custom visuals. Users can build their own reports inside the web UI, and developers can automate much of the data refresh and sharing process.
But—making Power BI Embedded “feel” fully native inside a SaaS app is tricky. Branding is limited, workflow integration can be clunky, and pricing is based on consumption (which can add up fast at scale). It’s often best for internal portals, B2B tools, or large enterprise dashboards—not modern, multi-tenant SaaS.
Best for: Microsoft-centric products, portals, or teams who want advanced analytics without leaving the Office 365 comfort zone.
GoodData stands out for teams who want to own every part of the embedded reporting experience. Its “headless BI” approach means you can use the platform’s APIs to build custom reporting flows, automate report creation, and control everything from user management to report scheduling.
Security, compliance, and multi-tenant controls are strong. Developers can integrate GoodData into nearly any app, ensuring reports look and feel like a natural part of your product—not a third-party add-on. Business users can build and customize their own reports, though the learning curve is steeper than with Metabase or Luzmo.
GoodData’s strengths are flexibility and scalability, but you’ll need engineering resources to make the most of it. For highly regulated, fast-growing, or white-label SaaS products, it’s a top contender.
Best for: Product teams with technical resources, regulated industries, or anyone needing granular, programmable reporting at scale.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but here’s a checklist to guide your decision:
Want a full feature breakdown for all top solutions?
Download the report builder comparison matrix for a side-by-side view, including integration details, enterprise controls, and customization features.
Final thought: Give users more than “export”—make reporting your product’s secret weapon
In-app, interactive report builders are no longer optional. Users want to answer their own questions, design their own reports, and share insights—without ever leaving your product.
The right report builder doesn’t just reduce support requests; it drives engagement, increases retention, and turns analytics from a cost center into a revenue driver.
Luzmo leads the pack for truly embedded, user-driven report building, but every tool here offers a path to more engaged, empowered users—if you match it to your product’s needs and your customers’ expectations.
Ready to see what modern reporting looks like inside your app?
Start with Luzmo’s embedded dashboard editor, explore integration options, or book a demo and give your users the reporting power they’re asking for.
Build your first embedded data product now. Talk to our product experts for a guided demo or get your hands dirty with a free 10-day trial.
