Looker is made to show your data. Count uses it to show your people what to do next.
Why Growing Teams Choose Canvas Over Grids: to break free from rigid dashboards and collaborate like they're in the same room.
The Canvas Difference
Count: Figma Meets Your Data
An infinite, collaborative workspace where SQL, Python, and visualizations live together. Build metric trees, process flows, and narrative reports that show relationships between metrics—not just the metrics themselves.
Think:
- Place a chart next to the SQL that powers it
- Map your entire customer journey with live data
- Create a metric tree showing how revenue breaks down
- Add screenshots of your app next to usage analytics
- Collaborate in real-time like Google Docs, but for data
Looker Studio: Traditional Dashboard Grids
Fixed-canvas reports with pre-sized widgets. Great for standard dashboards, but constrained when analysis needs to breathe.
Reality:
- Reports locked into rigid grid layouts
- Each widget lives in isolation
- Resizing requires manual pixel-pushing
- No way to show the relationship between metrics
- Static, presentation-only format
Real-Time Collaboration: Built for How Teams Actually Work
Count's Multiplayer Analytics
Everyone in the canvas at once:
- See teammates' cursors as they work
- Comment directly on cells, visuals, or anywhere on the canvas
- Add sticky notes for context
- @mention colleagues to pull them into the conversation
- Watch queries update live as your team explores together
Role flexibility that makes sense:
- Analysts write SQL/Python and build complex analyses
- Explorers use low-code tools to dig deeper without SQL
- Members can adjust filters and explore without editing queries
- Viewers see everything, can comment, and use interactive filters
- Unlimited collaborators included in every plan
The result: Your CFO can explore revenue breakdowns alongside your analyst, in real-time, without needing to know SQL.
Looker Studio Pro's Collaboration
Free version:
- No real collaboration features
- No access controls
- Share-only (not real-time co-editing)
Pro version ($9/user/month):
- Real-time multi-user editing (finally)
- Team workspaces
- Role-based permissions
- But: Everyone who needs to edit pays per seat
- And: Still constrained by dashboard format
What's Possible: Use Cases That Shine on Canvas
1. Metric Trees: Show What Drives Growth
With Count: Create a visual hierarchy showing how your North Star metric breaks down. Revenue → Products → Channels → Campaigns, with live data at every node. Your CEO sees the whole picture, then drills into any branch.
With Looker Studio: Build separate dashboards for each level. Hope stakeholders click through in the right order.
2. Product Analytics Meets Product Screenshots
With Count: Place your app's onboarding flow screenshots directly next to the funnel analytics. Drop-off at step 3? The product screenshot is right there. Your PM, designer, and analyst see the same view.
With Looker Studio: Charts in one place, screenshots in Figma, context in your head.
3. Customer Journey Mapping
With Count: Map the entire journey—ads, website visits, signups, activation, retention—in a single canvas with real data flowing through it. Sales, marketing, and product see how their work connects.
With Looker Studio: Build multiple dashboards. Send Slack messages trying to explain how they relate.
4. Deep-Dive Analysis That Tells a Story
With Count: Break complex SQL into connected cells that flow visually. Show your thinking, not just your charts. Stakeholders follow the logic from raw data to insight without a separate deck.
With Looker Studio: Export to slides. Explain over Zoom. Answer "but how did you get that number?" in Slack.
5. Live Client Presentations
With Count: Turn any canvas into a slideshow with live data. Client asks "what if we filtered for Q4?" You adjust it live, in the meeting.
With Looker Studio: Schedule a new meeting after you rebuild the dashboard.
| Count | Looker Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas Type | Infinite, freeform | Fixed grid dashboard |
| SQL Support | Full syntax alongside local DuckDB in a powerful IDE | Limited (basic queries only) |
| Python Support | Full Python with Pyodide | ❌ Not available |
| Real-Time Collaboration | ✅ Multiple cursors, live updates | ✅ Pro only |
| Comments & Discussion | ✅ Anywhere on canvas | ✅ Pro only |
| Viewers | ✅ Free collaborators | ❌ Pay per user |
| Metric Trees | ✅ Complete flexibility | ❌ Requires workarounds |
| Version Control | ✅ Built-in snapshots | Limited |
| dbt Integration | ✅ Import, model, export and execute models | ❌ |
| Data Warehouse Optimization | ✅ DuckDB caching | ❌ |
| Embed Reports | ✅ | ✅ |
| Scheduled Reports | ✅ Email/Slack | ✅ Pro only |
Quick Decision Framework
Choose Looker Studio if:
- You're a solo analyst or very small team (< 5 people)
- You only need basic operational dashboards
- Your data lives entirely in Google products
- Budget is absolutely zero
Choose Count if:
- You have 3+ people who need to work with data
- Analysis involves exploration, not just viewing
- You want stakeholders engaged, not just informed
- You're ready to move beyond "dashboard factory" mode
- Your team deserves better than spreadsheets and slides