Governed metrics, without the modeling language.
Looker proved that a semantic layer is what makes BI trustworthy — and priced it for enterprises. AZ-Five gives a lean team the same discipline: measures defined once, changed through review, traced by lineage — with unlimited free seats and no LookML to learn.
Where Looker is stronger.
A comparison you can trust has to start with what the other side does better.
- LookML at enterprise depth
- A mature, versioned modeling language with years of tooling, patterns and expertise around it.
- Google Cloud integration
- First-class BigQuery integration and a home inside the Google Cloud ecosystem.
- Enterprise BI ecosystem
- A large partner and consultant network, and battle-tested governance for very large BI deployments.
Side by side.
| Capability | Looker | AZ-Five |
|---|---|---|
| Semantic layer | LookML — powerful, versioned, its own language to learn | A governed measure catalog — defined in the app, changed through review |
| Change management | LookML projects in Git | Branches and change requests on data itself, with downstream impact shown |
| Dashboards | Mature enterprise dashboards | Dashboards that carry the quality state of the data behind them |
| Data quality | Not its domain | Profiling, rule checks, SLAs, health attached to every number |
| Product analytics | Not its domain | Events, funnels, replay, flags, experiments, surveys built in |
| Storage | Queries your warehouse — BigQuery and others | Includes the lakehouse — open Delta tables, no warehouse to buy |
| Self-serve asking | Explores built by modelers | Chart builder over measures, plus an AI assistant answering in plain English |
| Pricing model | Sales-quoted platform and per-user pricing | Usage-based, unlimited seats on every tier |
COMPARISON CHECKED 2026-09
The fares, side by side.
Looker's column quotes cloud.google.com/looker/pricing as it read on the date below. AZ-Five's column is the fare table. Prices are theirs to change; if we're out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
| Capability | Looker | AZ-Five |
|---|---|---|
| How it is priced | Sales-quoted: a platform fee plus per-user licenses (developer, standard, viewer) | Published tiers, usage-based; no per-user licenses |
| Free tier | None — Looker Studio is a separate, free product | 1M events, 5,000 replays, 1M flag requests, 5 GB storage, 100 compute minutes a month — every feature, unlimited seats, no card |
| Seats | Priced per user, by license type | Unlimited seats on every tier |
| Published prices | Not listed publicly — contact sales | Plus $29/mo and Professional $199/mo with larger allowances and longer history; Enterprise custom, annual |
| Warehouse | Bring and pay for your own (BigQuery or another) | Included — open Delta tables, no warehouse to buy |
| Embedding | Embed edition, quoted separately | Embeds on every tier; badge removed from Plus, white-label on Enterprise |
LOOKER PUBLISHES NO LIST PRICES · MODEL AS DESCRIBED 2026-09-08 · CHECK THEIRS
What the network adds.
- One definition per KPI
- Measures are defined once and resolved everywhere — the discipline LookML enforces, without maintaining a modeling codebase. See the line
- Ask in plain English
- The assistant answers from the measure catalog and discovered schemas, and proposes any change for approval before it applies. See the line
Straight answers.
Something we got wrong about Looker? Tell us at hello@az-five.com and we'll fix it.
Is AZ-Five a Looker alternative?
For governed BI on a lean team, yes: one catalog of measures, change review with visible blast radius, lineage to the source, and dashboards everyone can read without a per-seat license. Looker remains the deeper choice for large enterprises invested in LookML and Google Cloud.
Do I have to learn a modeling language?
No. Measures are defined in the app — SQL where you want it, the builder where you don’t — and governed through branches and change requests rather than a separate modeling codebase.
How do seats work?
They are unlimited and free on every tier, including the free one. Pricing follows data volume, history and query priority — never how many people read a dashboard.
Can stakeholders self-serve?
Yes — the chart builder works over governed measures, and the AI assistant answers plain-English questions from the same catalog, proposing any write for approval first.
How does pricing compare?
Looker does not publish list prices: it is quoted through Google Cloud sales as a platform fee plus per-user licenses, and you bring and pay for your own warehouse. AZ-Five publishes its tiers — free with unlimited seats, then $29 and $199 a month — and the lakehouse is included.
Try the whole network free.
Unlimited seats, every feature, no card. Bring one dataset and see whether one system beats the stitched stack.