Free dashboards on Google data

Looker Studio, previously Data Studio, builds dashboards in a browser and is free. For a small business or a marketing team already inside Google's tools, it is frequently the right answer and it is routinely overlooked.

Where it is strongest. Connecting to Google Analytics, Google Ads, Search Console, Sheets and BigQuery with no setup beyond authorising. For anybody reporting on digital marketing this removes the exporting and pasting that consumes the first day of every month.

It is genuinely free for the core product, which matters for a small business or a freelancer producing client reports.

It shares like a Google document, by link or by email, with viewer or editor access, and the recipient needs no software.

Where it is weaker. Large or complex data, heavy transformation, and anything needing precise visual control. It is slower than Tableau or Power BI with substantial data, and its chart customisation is more limited.

Connectors beyond Google exist, some free and some paid through third parties, for Facebook Ads, WhatsApp Business data and most advertising platforms. Check the cost before designing a report around one.

The honest position. For a marketing report over Google data, or a small business dashboard over a spreadsheet, it is the fastest route to something useful. For a data warehouse serving an organisation, look elsewhere.