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Business Intelligence · head to head

Amazon QuickSight vs Phocas

Amazon QuickSight logo

Amazon QuickSight

Business Intelligence

Scalable, serverless BI by AWS

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Phocas logo

Phocas

Business Intelligence

Pre-built BI and FP&A for wholesale distributors and manufacturers running mid-market ERPs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amazon QuickSight reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month; Phocas the value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway.
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, Phocas covers ERP connectors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon QuickSight and Phocas actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon QuickSight and Phocas differ
AttributeAmazon QuickSightPhocas
Starting price$3/monthOn request
Pricing modelper-userquote
PlatformsAWSWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon QuickSight

  • SPICE In-memory Engine
  • ML Insights
  • Natural Language Queries
  • Embedded Analytics
  • Pay-per-session
  • Redshift
  • S3
  • Athena

Only in Phocas

  • ERP connectors
  • Pre-built distribution content
  • Grid-first analysis
  • Financial statements
  • Budgets and forecasts
  • Rebates module
  • Alerts and subscriptions
  • Mobile apps

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon QuickSight

  • Business intelligencenot Phocas
  • Dashboard creationnot Phocas
  • Data visualizationnot Phocas

Phocas

  • A wholesale distributor on Prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writernot Amazon QuickSight
  • A manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheetnot Amazon QuickSight
  • A multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal BI teamnot Amazon QuickSight
  • A private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different ERPsnot Amazon QuickSight

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon QuickSight

  • Reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month
  • Author and Author Pro roles charged at $24 and $40/month
  • $250/month infrastructure fee required if Pro users or Q&A enabled
  • SPICE storage charged at $0.38/GB monthly (10 GB included)
  • Pixel-perfect reports start at $500/month for 500 monthly units
  • Alerts charged at $0.05-$0.50 per 1,000 metrics evaluated

Phocas

  • The value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway.
  • If your ERP is not on the maintained connector list you fall back to generic database extraction and lose the fast time to value that justifies the price.
  • The visualisation library is thin next to Power BI or Tableau, and analysts who want fine control over chart design will find it constraining.
  • Pricing is quoted per user and never published, and buyers routinely report large gaps between initial and renewal quotes with limited comparison leverage.
  • Modules are licensed separately, so a customer who bought Analytics and later wants Financial Statements or Rebates faces a new negotiation rather than an upgrade.

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon QuickSight

$3/month
  • Reader$3/month
    • Dashboard viewing only
  • Reader Pro$20/month
    • Enhanced reader capabilities
  • Author$24/month
    • Dashboard creation and editing
  • Author Pro$40/month
    • Advanced authoring features

Phocas

On request
  • Phocas$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription quoted by user count and modules
    • Analytics, Financial Statements, Budgets and Rebates licensed separately
    • One-off implementation and ERP connector setup fee

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon QuickSight if

  • You need spice in-memory engine.
  • You work on AWS.
  • You also want ml insights.
Amazon QuickSight review

Choose Phocas if

  • You need erp connectors.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want pre-built distribution content.
Phocas review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon QuickSight or Phocas better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month and Phocas at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon QuickSight or Phocas?
Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month and Phocas at On request.
Does Amazon QuickSight or Phocas run on more platforms?
Amazon QuickSight runs on AWS. Phocas runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Amazon QuickSight best used for?
Amazon QuickSight is most often used for business intelligence, dashboard creation, data visualization. Of those, business intelligence and dashboard creation are not what Phocas is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon QuickSight do that Phocas cannot?
Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, ML Insights, Natural Language Queries, Embedded Analytics. Phocas covers ERP connectors, Pre-built distribution content, Grid-first analysis, Financial statements.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon QuickSight: What does Amazon QuickSight cost per user?

QuickSight pricing varies by user role. Readers start at $3/month, Reader Pro at $20/month, Authors at $24/month, and Author Pro at $40/month. All prices are per user per month.

Source
Phocas: What does Phocas cost?

Nothing is published. It is quoted annually by user count and module, with a separate implementation fee, and varies by region.

Amazon QuickSight: Does QuickSight charge an infrastructure fee?

Yes, QuickSight charges an infrastructure fee of $250/month per account if the account has at least one Pro user, has Q&A enabled via topics, or has dashboard Q&A enabled.

Source
Phocas: Is it worth it over Power BI?

Only if you are in its target verticals on a supported ERP. Power BI is far cheaper per seat but you supply the data model.

Amazon QuickSight: What are QuickSight's session capacity pricing options?

Session capacity pricing starts at $250/month for 500 sessions. Annual plans range from $20,000/year for 50,000 sessions to $258,000/year for 1,600,000 sessions, with volume discounts reducing unit costs from $0.50 to $0.16 per additional session.

Source
Phocas: Does it replace my ERP reporting?

It replaces day-to-day analysis and sales reporting. Transactional and statutory reporting stays in the ERP.

Amazon QuickSight: How much does additional SPICE storage cost?

Additional SPICE storage beyond the included 10 GB costs $0.38 per GB per month. Authors receive 10 GB included, but Readers do not.

Source
Phocas: Can it do budgeting?

Yes, through a separately licensed Financial Statements and Budgets module on the same warehouse.

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