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Business Intelligence · head to head

SAP BusinessObjects vs Snowplow

SAP BusinessObjects logo

SAP BusinessObjects

Business Intelligence

Enterprise business intelligence suite

From
$400/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Snowplow logo

Snowplow

Business Intelligence

Behavioural data pipeline you run in your own cloud, relicensed away from Apache 2.0 in 2024

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: SAP BusinessObjects sAP BusinessObjects Private Cloud Edition is listed on UK G-Cloud 14 as a Cloud software service by SAP (UK) Limited titled 'SAP Business Objects Private Cloud Edition', alongside a reseller listing from NTT DATA Business Solutions; the G-Cloud search results describe it as subscription-based but show no per-user or per-month figure in the listing summary; Snowplow the core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • They diverge on capability: SAP BusinessObjects covers Crystal Reports, Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SAP BusinessObjects and Snowplow actually diverge.

Attributes where SAP BusinessObjects and Snowplow differ
AttributeSAP BusinessObjectsSnowplow
Starting price$400/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, MobileLinux, Web, Docker
Founded1972Unknown

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 SAP BusinessObjects

  • Crystal Reports
  • Web Intelligence
  • Lumira
  • Analysis for Office
  • Live Office
  • SAP HANA
  • SAP ERP
  • Oracle

Only in Snowplow

  • Own-cloud deployment
  • Schema enforcement
  • Warehouse loading
  • Enrichment
  • Trackers
  • Streaming output
  • Data models
  • Snowplow BDP

What people use each for

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

SAP BusinessObjects

  • Enterprise reportingnot Snowplow
  • Executive dashboardsnot Snowplow
  • Regulatory compliancenot Snowplow
  • Strategic planningnot Snowplow
  • Operational analyticsnot Snowplow

Snowplow

  • A data team that needs full-fidelity event data in its own warehouse to build attribution or machine learning features rather than to populate dashboardsnot SAP BusinessObjects
  • A regulated business that cannot send behavioural data to a third-party analytics vendor and must keep collection inside its own cloud accountnot SAP BusinessObjects
  • A product organisation tired of silently malformed events, which wants a schema contract enforced at collection timenot SAP BusinessObjects
  • A company modelling customer behaviour across web, mobile and server events that needs them in one consistent structurenot SAP BusinessObjects

Where each one falls short

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

SAP BusinessObjects

  • SAP BusinessObjects Private Cloud Edition is listed on UK G-Cloud 14 as a Cloud software service by SAP (UK) Limited titled 'SAP Business Objects Private Cloud Edition', alongside a reseller listing from NTT DATA Business Solutions; the G-Cloud search results describe it as subscription-based but show no per-user or per-month figure in the listing summary

Snowplow

  • The core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • You run the pipeline in your own cloud, which means the infrastructure bill, the on-call rota and the upgrade work are yours, and at high event volume that operational cost frequently exceeds what a hosted product would have charged.
  • Schema enforcement is the main benefit and the main friction, because every new event requires a schema to be authored and versioned, and teams without discipline around that end up blocked on their own governance process.
  • There is no analysis layer: Snowplow delivers data to your warehouse and nothing else, so you still need modelling, a BI tool and the people to run them before anyone sees a number.
  • The licence change fractured the community, spawning an Apache 2.0 fork, which means community contributions and third-party tooling are now split across two codebases with uncertain long-term maintenance.

Pricing, plan by plan

SAP BusinessObjects

$400/month
  • Standard$400/month
    • Core BI Tools
    • Web Intelligence
    • Crystal Reports
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Full Suite
    • Advanced Features
    • Premium Support

Snowplow

On request
  • Snowplow BDP$undefined/year
    • Commercial pricing quoted by event volume and deployment
    • Core pipeline components under the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, not Apache 2.0
    • Trackers, analytics SDKs and Iglu SDKs remain Apache 2.0

Which should you pick?

Choose SAP BusinessObjects if

  • You need crystal reports.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
  • You also want web intelligence.
SAP BusinessObjects review

Choose Snowplow if

  • You need own-cloud deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Docker.
  • You also want schema enforcement.
Snowplow review

Questions people ask

Is SAP BusinessObjects or Snowplow better?
Neither clearly leads. SAP BusinessObjects starts at $400/month and Snowplow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SAP BusinessObjects or Snowplow?
SAP BusinessObjects starts at $400/month and Snowplow at On request.
Does SAP BusinessObjects or Snowplow run on more platforms?
SAP BusinessObjects runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile. Snowplow runs on Linux, Web, Docker.
What is SAP BusinessObjects best used for?
SAP BusinessObjects is most often used for enterprise reporting, executive dashboards, regulatory compliance, strategic planning. Of those, enterprise reporting and executive dashboards are not what Snowplow is typically brought in for.
What can SAP BusinessObjects do that Snowplow cannot?
SAP BusinessObjects covers Crystal Reports, Web Intelligence, Lumira, Analysis for Office. Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment, Schema enforcement, Warehouse loading, Enrichment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Snowplow: Is Snowplow still open source?

Not in the permissive sense. On 8 January 2024 the core pipeline moved from Apache 2.0 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, with version 1.1 following in December 2024, alongside a community licence based on the Confluent Community Licence. Trackers and analytics SDKs remain Apache 2.0.

Snowplow: Can we still run it for free in production?

Free use of the relicensed core components is materially constrained and commercial use generally requires an agreement. Read the current licence text against your intended use rather than relying on older documentation.

Snowplow: Is there an Apache 2.0 alternative?

Yes, a fork called OpenSnowcat was created in response to the relicensing and continues under Apache 2.0.

Snowplow: What does Snowplow BDP cost?

Not published. It is quoted by event volume and deployment, and your own cloud infrastructure costs are separate and additional.

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