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Business Intelligence · head to head

IBM Cognos Analytics vs MotherDuck

IBM Cognos Analytics logo

IBM Cognos Analytics

Business Intelligence

AI-powered business intelligence

From
$15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MotherDuck logo

MotherDuck

Databases

Serverless analytics data warehouse built on DuckDB

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only MotherDuck has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: IBM Cognos Analytics listed on UK G-Cloud at £42.53 per user per month for IBM Cognos Analytics, via reseller Computacenter; MotherDuck the free Lite plan caps compute at 10 hours per month, which limits it to light or hobbyist workloads.
  • They diverge on capability: IBM Cognos Analytics covers AI Assistant, MotherDuck covers Serverless DuckDB instances.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IBM Cognos Analytics and MotherDuck actually diverge.

Attributes where IBM Cognos Analytics and MotherDuck differ
AttributeIBM Cognos AnalyticsMotherDuck
Starting price$15/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, Mobile, Cloudweb, api
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDatabases
Founded19112022

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 IBM Cognos Analytics

  • AI Assistant
  • Natural Language Queries
  • Automated Insights
  • Story Telling
  • Mobile Analytics
  • IBM Db2
  • Oracle
  • SQL Server

Only in MotherDuck

  • Serverless DuckDB instances
  • Cloud storage querying
  • MCP server
  • Dives
  • Flights
  • Read-scaling replicas

What people use each for

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

IBM Cognos Analytics

  • Self-service analyticsnot MotherDuck
  • Data explorationnot MotherDuck
  • Ad-hoc reportingnot MotherDuck
  • Collaborative analysisnot MotherDuck
  • Embedded analyticsnot MotherDuck

MotherDuck

  • Ad-hoc analytics on gigabyte-to-terabyte datasetsnot IBM Cognos Analytics
  • Querying data lake files in S3/GCS/Azure without ingestionnot IBM Cognos Analytics
  • AI agent data analysis via MCPnot IBM Cognos Analytics
  • Scheduled data pipeline transformationsnot IBM Cognos Analytics

Where each one falls short

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

IBM Cognos Analytics

  • Listed on UK G-Cloud at £42.53 per user per month for IBM Cognos Analytics, via reseller Computacenter

MotherDuck

  • The free Lite plan caps compute at 10 hours per month, which limits it to light or hobbyist workloads.
  • Business plan usage charges on top of the $250/month base can make costs less predictable than flat-rate competitors.
  • There are no academic or non-profit discounts, unlike some competing data platforms.
  • Annual billing requires going through a sales conversation rather than a self-serve toggle.

Pricing, plan by plan

IBM Cognos Analytics

$15/month
  • Standard$15/month
    • Dashboards
    • Reporting
    • AI Insights
  • Plus$35/month
    • Advanced Analytics
    • Planning
    • Premium Support

MotherDuck

Free
  • LiteFree
    • Up to 3 internal active users
    • 2 service accounts
    • 10GB free storage
  • Business$250/month
    • Up to 10 internal active users
    • Unlimited service accounts
    • 5 instance types with read-scaling replicas
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited internal users and service accounts
    • Fixed-cost capacity pricing
    • AWS PrivateLink, IP allowlisting

Which should you pick?

Choose IBM Cognos Analytics if

  • You need ai assistant.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Cloud.
  • You also want natural language queries.
IBM Cognos Analytics review

Choose MotherDuck if

  • You need serverless duckdb instances.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want cloud storage querying.
MotherDuck review

Questions people ask

Is IBM Cognos Analytics or MotherDuck better?
Neither clearly leads. IBM Cognos Analytics starts at $15/month and MotherDuck at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IBM Cognos Analytics or MotherDuck?
MotherDuck has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $15/month for IBM Cognos Analytics and Free for MotherDuck.
Does IBM Cognos Analytics or MotherDuck run on more platforms?
IBM Cognos Analytics runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Cloud. MotherDuck runs on web, api.
Can I use MotherDuck for free?
Yes. MotherDuck has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. IBM Cognos Analytics starts at $15/month.
What is IBM Cognos Analytics best used for?
IBM Cognos Analytics is most often used for self-service analytics, data exploration, ad-hoc reporting, collaborative analysis. Of those, self-service analytics and data exploration are not what MotherDuck is typically brought in for.
What can IBM Cognos Analytics do that MotherDuck cannot?
IBM Cognos Analytics covers AI Assistant, Natural Language Queries, Automated Insights, Story Telling. MotherDuck covers Serverless DuckDB instances, Cloud storage querying, MCP server, Dives.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

MotherDuck: What does MotherDuck cost?

The Lite plan is free (up to 3 users, 10GB storage, 10 hours of Pulse compute/month). Business is $250/organization/month plus usage, with Enterprise available at custom fixed-cost pricing.

Source
MotherDuck: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?

Yes, the Lite plan is free for up to 3 internal active users and 2 service accounts, with 10GB of storage and 10 hours of Pulse compute per month.

Source
MotherDuck: How is usage metered?

Compute instances (Pulse, Standard, Jumbo, Mega, Giga) are billed per second at hourly rates from $0.60 to $24.00/hour, storage is $0.04/GB-month, and AI Functions cost $1.00 per AI Unit.

Source
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