looker-studio vs supermetrics
Looker Studio vs Supermetrics — features, pricing, and which to choose for your SEO workflow in 2026.
Quick Verdict
Most SEO professionals eventually face the same reporting dilemma: Google's free Looker Studio versus Supermetrics' premium data pipeline. While both help you create SEO dashboards, they solve the problem from opposite angles — Looker Studio as a visualization-first tool with basic data connections, and Supermetrics as a data-first platform that moves information between systems.
The choice usually comes down to whether you need a simple dashboard for core Google data (Search Console, GA4, Google Ads) or a comprehensive data pipeline pulling from dozens of SEO tools into your preferred analysis environment. One is free but limited; the other costs money but connects virtually everything.
Feature Comparison
Looker Studio excels at creating interactive dashboards with native Google integrations. You can connect Search Console, GA4, Google Ads, and YouTube Analytics with a few clicks, then build custom charts, filters, and date comparisons. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create client reports or internal dashboards, and the sharing features let you give stakeholders real-time access to data. Supermetrics operates as a data pipeline rather than a visualization tool. It connects to 150+ marketing platforms including Ahrefs, SEMrush, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn, and virtually every major SEO tool. Instead of building dashboards, Supermetrics moves this data into Google Sheets, Excel, Looker Studio, Tableau, or your data warehouse. The automation runs on schedules, so your spreadsheets and dashboards stay updated without manual exports. The key difference: Looker Studio visualizes data from a handful of Google sources, while Supermetrics aggregates data from everywhere and sends it wherever you need it. Many users actually combine both — using Supermetrics to pull third-party SEO data into Looker Studio for visualization.
Pricing Comparison
Looker Studio is completely free with unlimited dashboards and reports. The only costs come from data sources that charge for API usage (like some third-party connectors), but all Google sources are free forever. Supermetrics starts at $29/month for basic connectors and limited rows, scaling up to enterprise plans over $1,000/month. The Core plan at $99/month covers most SEO use cases with major platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and social media channels. However, each connector often has row limits, so agencies pulling data for multiple clients quickly hit the higher tiers.
Best For
Looker Studio works best for small to medium businesses primarily using Google's ecosystem. If your SEO stack consists of Search Console, GA4, and maybe Google Ads, Looker Studio creates professional dashboards without any recurring costs. It's also perfect for agencies that need client-facing reports with Google branding and real-time data access. Supermetrics suits agencies and enterprises managing multiple SEO tools and clients. If you're pulling rank tracking from SEMrush, backlink data from Ahrefs, social metrics from multiple platforms, and Google data into unified reports, Supermetrics automates the entire process. It's essential for teams using non-Google analysis tools like Excel or Tableau as their primary workspace.
The Verdict
Choose Looker Studio if you're working primarily with Google data and need free, shareable dashboards. Choose Supermetrics if you need automated data pipelines from multiple SEO tools, even if it means paying monthly. Most serious SEO operations eventually need both — Supermetrics to aggregate the data, Looker Studio to visualize it.