Sisense Pricing in 2025: Costs, Pros, Cons & Hidden Fees

Key Takeaways

• Sisense pricing starts at approximately $40,600/year for their Essential plan, while higher tiers can cost up to $327,000/year for enterprise-level features.
• Hidden fees are common with Sisense, including charges for plugins, data connectors, version upgrades, and extra costs for AI features (adding 20-30% to base costs).
• Multi-tenant analytics require choosing between simplified management (co-mingled data without self-service) or customer flexibility (one Elasticube per tenant with higher management costs).
• Qrvey offers a compelling alternative with flat-rate pricing that includes unlimited users, embedded dashboards, and deployment instances making it ideal for SaaS companies looking for customer-facing analytics. 

You landed here because you typed “Sisense pricing” hoping for a simple answer. But instead, you got gated content, contact forms, and quote requests. Sisense pricing follows the old enterprise software playbook: no clear numbers, mandatory sales calls, and pricing that magically aligns with what they think you can pay. Not what features you actually need.

For SaaS companies needing embedded analytics, this approach creates budgeting nightmares. The real shock comes later: per-user fees, Elasticube charges, and AI add-ons that balloon costs.

This post clears the fog. We’ve analyzed real customer experiences to uncover Sisense’s true pricing structure, from entry-level plans to enterprise contracts. We’ll walk through what you can expect to pay, call out the pros and cons, and compare it with a better-priced alternative, so you can make a smarter call, fast.

How Much does Sisense Cost?

Sisense doesn’t publicly share their exact pricing. But, based on market research and customer feedback, here’s what you can expect to pay:

Plan	Annual Cost	Features	Users
Essential	$40,600 – $60,000	Basic embedded analytics	5-15
Advanced	$69,600 – $138,000	Mid-tier scalability, AI/ML integration	15-50
Pro	$109,000 – $327,000	Enterprise-grade, unlimited Elasticubes	50+
Custom OEM	$200,000+	Tailored for large-scale deployments	Custom

Several factors influence these costs:

• Deployment model: Cloud hosting starts around $21,000/year for basic tiers, while on-premises solutions have lower initial costs (around $10,000-$35,000/year)
• Data volumes: Larger data sets require more Elasticubes, each costing up to $10,000 annually
• User counts: Adding users beyond your tier threshold triggers automatic upgrades
• Contract length: Multi-year commitments might reduce annual costs up to 5-15%

A typical mid-size SaaS company embedding Sisense for their customers will likely land in the $100,000-$150,000 range annually once all factors are considered.

Qrvey: An Alternative

Qrvey provides a full-stack, multi-tenant analytics solution specifically designed for SaaS companies. Instead of charging by user count or data volume, Qrvey offers simple, predictable pricing.

Feature	Qrvey	Sisense
Pricing Model	Flat-rate pricing	Variable based on users/data/features
Users	Unlimited	Tiered pricing
Self-Service	Yes (with co-mingled data)	Requires one Elasticube per tenant
White-Labeling	Complete	Limited
Data Access	Standards-based (AWS OpenSearch)	Proprietary (Elasticube)

When a SaaS company adds 50 new customers, Sisense might require negotiating a new contract or paying overage fees. With Qrvey’s flat-rate approach, those 50 new customers are already covered, allowing your margins to improve as you scale.

“Excellent Product and Customer Support” – Srinivasa S,  CTO

Done guessing at costs? Qrvey offers transparent, flat-rate pricing—no per-user fees or surprise add-ons. See exactly what you’ll pay upfront. Get Transparent Pricing Now

Sisense Pricing Plans: a Breakdown

Let’s dig into what you actually get at each tier and what might push you toward higher-priced plans.

Data Management Features

At the core of Sisense is its proprietary Elasticube system for data storage and processing. Here’s how the data management features break down by tier:

Feature	Essential	Advanced	Pro
Elasticubes	Limited (1-2)	Multiple (up to 5)	Unlimited
Data Connectors	Basic set	200+	400+
Data Volume	Limited	Medium	High
Live Connections	Limited	Yes	Yes
Data Refresh Rate	Daily	Hourly	Real-time options

Each additional Elasticube can cost $10,000–$35,000/year (based on data volume and features). For SaaS companies with multi-tenant analytics needs, this forces an impossible choice: either manage dozens of costly Elasticubes (one per customer) or sacrifice self-service customization, both of which hurt scalability.

A SaaS company with 20 enterprise customers who each need self-service analytics would need 20 separate Elasticubes. At an average of $10,000 per Elasticube, that’s a $200,000 annual cost just for data management  before counting any other platform fees.

Embedding Capabilities

The real value of Sisense comes from embedding analytics into your own applications:

Feature	Essential	Advanced	Pro
iFrame Embedding	Yes	Yes	Yes
Embed SDK	Basic	Full	Full
White Labeling	Limited	Partial	Complete
Custom Actions	No	Limited	Yes
Dashboard Designer	Basic	Advanced	Advanced
Mobile Support	Limited	Yes	Yes

For full white-labeling capabilities, you’ll need the Pro plan or higher. Many SaaS companies discover this limitation only after implementation begins.

Your customers expect dashboards that match your application’s look and feel. When using the Essential or Advanced tiers, they’ll notice inconsistencies in fonts, colors, and overall user experience, small details that undermine the premium feel of your product.

AI & Advanced Features

Sisense charges premium rates for its AI capabilities:

Feature	Essential	Advanced	Pro
AI Assistant	No	Limited	Full
Narratives	No	Yes	Yes
Forecasting	Add-on (+$)	Add-on (+$)	Included
Custom Formulas	Limited	Yes	Yes
Natural Language Queries	No	Limited	Yes
Anomaly Detection	No	Add-on (+$)	Included

These AI features typically add 20-30% to your base costs. For a mid-tier implementation, that could mean an extra $20,000+ annually.

The practical impact? A product manager who wants to add AI-powered insights to their dashboards midway through a contract will face unexpected costs that weren’t accounted for in the initial budget.

Compare Qrvey’s flat-rate pricing: no per-user fees or hidden tiers

Sisense Hidden Costs

The price you’re quoted is just the starting line. Like an iceberg, most of Sisense’s costs lurk beneath the surface, invisible until you’re locked into a contract. We’ve tracked down the budget-busters that catch teams off guard, from mandatory add-ons to architectural limitations that force expensive workarounds.

Here’s what Sisense may not highlight in your sales demo but will definitely charge you for later:

1. Add-On Features

What Sisense markets as a “complete” platform often requires expensive extras. For SaaS companies in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, etc.), this creates a compliance dilemma:

• Column-level security – Needed for data privacy but requires upgrade
• Custom row-level permissions – Essential for multi-tenant isolation
• Dashboard access controls – Basic user management comes at a premium
• Advanced reporting tools – Standard in most modern analytics platforms
• Forecasting capabilities – Marketed as AI-powered but locked behind paywalls

The pattern is clear: Sisense’s modular pricing turns must-have features into budget-busting surprises. Many teams discover post-implementation that their “enterprise-ready” platform lacks enterprise necessities without costly upgrades.

2. Professional Services

The initial quote rarely accounts for the full scope of work required to make Sisense operational. Teams may encounter unexpected expenses across four key areas:

• Initial setup
• Integration consulting
• Custom development
• Training

3. Infrastructure & Scaling Costs

As you grow, costs accelerate:

• Additional environments 
• Data connector licenses
• Data volume increases
• Version upgrade services

4. Maintenance & Support

Ongoing costs include:

• Premium support
• Dedicated success manager
• Security patches and updates that sometimes requires paid professional services
• Custom plugin maintenance that requires developer time

Sisense Pros & Cons

Before choosing Sisense over competitors, weigh its strengths against its dealbreakers. Here’s what works and what doesn’t:

Pros

• Strong market presence in the US with established community
• Comprehensive data connectivity options
• Decent visualization capabilities with a variety of chart types
• Flexible deployment options (cloud, on-premise, hybrid)
• Good for internal business intelligence use cases

Cons

• Complicated pricing model that scales unpredictably with growth
• Limited customization for multi-tenant environments
• Recent security concerns (2024 data breach affecting customer data)
• Proprietary Elasticube format locks your data into their ecosystem
• Not optimized for customer-facing embedded analytics

Who is Sisense best for?

Sisense indeed suits specific use cases. But its pricing model and technical limitations mean it’s not the right fit for everyone. So who actually gets value from this platform?

Enterprise Analytics Teams

Sisense works well for larger companies with dedicated analytics teams. These teams can manage the complexity of Elasticubes and have the budget to absorb the higher costs.

The learning curve is steep but manageable when you have specialists who can focus solely on the Sisense implementation.

Single-Tenant Applications

Organizations without multi-tenant requirements avoid one of Sisense’s biggest challenges: the trade-off between management simplicity and self-service flexibility.

A SaaS company with a single, large enterprise client per deployment can set up dedicated instances without the scaling headaches that multi-tenant deployments face.

Organizations with Limited Growth Plans

The pricing model becomes increasingly problematic as you scale. Companies with stable user bases avoid the unpredictable cost increases that come with growth.

A mature SaaS product with predictable user growth can budget for Sisense more accurately than a rapidly scaling startup adding hundreds of customers monthly.

Sisense Customer Reviews

Positives

“Sisense is a powerful and flexible business intelligence (BI) platform known for its ability to handle complex data modeling and provide scalable analytics. It supports both live and in-chip (ElastiCube) data models, offering versatility depending on performance and latency needs.” – Raman S., verified G2 review

Complaints

We struggled integrating it with Slack. Some of the basic widget customisations need custom scripting (if it is a frequently requested feature/capability the team strives to add it in the upcoming product releases, which is good). Having to purchase addons from third-party vendors for basic features is not ideal. – Priscilla R., verified G2 review

See what customers say about Qrvey 

Alternative To Sisense: Qrvey

While Sisense struggles with multi-tenant complexity and hidden costs, Qrvey was built specifically for SaaS companies needing to embed analytics into their applications. It solves the exact pain points Sisense users face without the pricing surprises.

Full Multi-Tenant Self-Service

What happens when you need both efficient data management AND customer flexibility? Most analytics platforms force you to choose one or the other.

Qrvey solves this dilemma by allowing self-service customization even with co-mingled data. 

This means:

• A single data model to manage (lower operational costs)
• Each tenant can customize their analytics (better customer experience)
• No need to duplicate data models per customer (improved scalability)
• Secure data isolation between tenants (enterprise-grade security)

Standards-Based Data Engine

Your data shouldn’t be locked away in a proprietary format. Qrvey uses AWS OpenSearch as its analytics engine, providing:

• SQL access to your analytics data
• Standard APIs for integration with other tools
• Better performance for large data sets
• Lower infrastructure costs

“Excellent platform for embedded, cloud-native analytics and automation on AWS” – Dara K, Analytics Program

Complete White-Labeling

When customers use your embedded analytics, they should feel like they’re still in your application. 

Qrvey provides:

• Full control over colors, fonts, and UI elements
• JS-based embedding (no iframes)
• Custom branding for each tenant
• Seamless user experience

Workflow Automation

Data without action is just noise. Qrvey’s built-in workflow automation turns insights into outcomes with features like:

• Built-in workflow automation
• Custom triggers based on data conditions
• Automated data collection and processing
• Action-oriented analytics

Feature	Qrvey	Sisense
Pricing Model	Flat-rate	Variable
Users	Unlimited	Tiered
Deployment Instances	Unlimited	Additional cost
White-Labeling	Complete	Limited
Self-Service with Co-mingled Data	Yes	No
Data Engine	AWS OpenSearch (open standards)	Elasticube (proprietary)
Deployment	Your cloud environment	Multiple options
Workflow Automation	Included	Limited

Turn analytics into a revenue stream. Book Your Personalized Demo Now.

Does Sisense pricing Fit your Budget?

For SaaS companies, Sisense pricing creates a fundamental challenge: costs that grow unpredictably as your business scales. Each new tenant, especially if they need self-service capabilities, drives up both direct costs and management overhead.

Qrvey offers a compelling alternative with flat-rate pricing that includes unlimited users, embedded dashboards, and deployment instances,  making your costs predictable as you grow.

As our CTO explains: “It’s not just an internal cost center like traditional enterprise analytics tools. With multi-tenant analytics, you create a revenue center from your analytics outcomes – managed by your product teams for your external customers.”

If analytics monetization is part of your strategy, consider how the pricing model affects your margins as you scale.

Compare your options using our build vs. buy calculator or test and see Qrvey in action.