Tool matchup
Bricks vs Looker Studio — AI-generated charts vs the free live-data dashboard standard. Choose based on your reporting workflow.
AI-powered dashboards and reports from CSV, Excel, or PDF data. Upload data → get draft charts and narrative to refine for executives. No SQL or technical skills required.
Prices checked April 5, 2026thebricks.com pricing page
Free dashboarding from Google. Connect data sources, build shareable reports, deliver recurring client dashboards at zero cost. Pro upgrade available at $9 per user per project per month.
Prices checked November 2, 2026cloud.google.com pricing page
Looker Studio is the default for recurring client dashboards. It is completely free, connects to 800+ data sources including Google Analytics and Google Sheets, and the dashboards refresh automatically with live data. For consultants delivering monthly or weekly performance reports to clients, no-cost live connections are a significant advantage. Bricks wins for one-off executive reporting from uploaded datasets. Upload a spreadsheet or CSV, get a draft chart with AI-generated narrative commentary to refine. No SQL, no data source configuration. For consultants who receive data dumps from clients and need to produce a clean executive summary quickly, Bricks' AI-narrated charts are genuinely faster than building in Looker Studio. The practical split: use Looker Studio for recurring client dashboards with live data, use Bricks for one-off reports from uploaded files. They serve different moments in the delivery workflow and many consultants end up using both — Bricks for fast ad-hoc analysis, Looker Studio for the repeatable reporting layer.
Looker Studio leads by 4 points (close call).
Decision shortcuts
Client-ready brief
Send a concise summary of winner, trade-offs, and rollout recommendation.
Best fit
Best for: Consultants delivering executive reporting from uploaded datasets.
Why pick it: Upload a spreadsheet and get a draft dashboard without building charts by hand. The AI generates narrative commentary alongside charts — ready for a client deck, not just data.
Watch for: No live data connections. If you need dashboards that refresh automatically from live sources, use Looker Studio or Databox instead.
Best for: Consultants delivering recurring client dashboards on a budget.
Why pick it: Completely free with live data connections to Google Analytics, Sheets, BigQuery, and 800+ connectors. The only $0/mo dashboarding tool that handles recurring client reports.
Watch for: Steeper learning curve than Bricks. If you need a one-off report from a spreadsheet, Bricks is faster.
Swipe sideways to compare all columns.
Bricks | Looker Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Quick facts | ||
| Pricing sanity | Free, paid from $17.50/mo | Free |
| Integrations | 3+ | 2+ |
| Score breakdown | ||
| Outcome fit | 20/25 | 20/25 |
| Setup speed | 14/20 | 14/20 |
| Pricing sanity | 10/15 | 14/15 |
| Integrations | 10/15 | 8/15 |
| UX polish | 13/15 | 11/15 |
| Trust & support | 6/10 | 10/10 |
| Summary | ||
| Best for | Consultants delivering executive reporting from uploaded datasets. | Consultants delivering recurring client dashboards on a budget. |
| Key strength | Strong on UX quality | Strong on trust |
| Main weakness | Weaker on trust and support | Fewer integrations |
Pricing
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Free | Free |
| Premium | $17.50 per user / month (billing period not stated) |
Prices checked April 5, 2026thebricks.com pricing page
| Plan | Price | Limits (vendor's wording) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | No charge for report creators and viewers |
| Pro | $9 per user / month (billing period not stated) | Per user per project per month; team content management, admin features and Google Cloud support |
Prices checked November 2, 2026cloud.google.com pricing page
Cost calculator
$17.50 per month · $210 per year
Cheapest plan that fits: Premium, $17.50 per seat or user
The vendor does not say whether this price is billed monthly or annually.
$9 per month · $108 per year
Cheapest plan that fits: Pro, $9 per seat or user
The vendor does not say whether this price is billed monthly or annually.
Uses list prices from each vendor's pricing page, before tax and discounts. Free plans and custom-quote plans are left out.
Method
Recommended by consultants
From a consultant who wrote about this tool. This does not affect the score.
Common questions
Bricks is better for consultants who work primarily in spreadsheets and want AI-powered data analysis without learning a dashboard tool. Looker Studio is better for recurring client dashboards with multiple data sources. Choose based on whether your reporting is ad-hoc (Bricks) or recurring (Looker Studio).
Bricks focuses on spreadsheet and CSV data with AI-powered analysis, while Looker Studio connects to 800+ data sources including Google Analytics, BigQuery, and most marketing platforms. For consultants pulling data from multiple client platforms, Looker Studio's connector library is unmatched.
Looker Studio scores 77/100 and Bricks scores 73/100 on Curalo's consultant rubric. The biggest gap is Trust & support: Looker Studio 10/10 vs 6/10.
Bricks's cheapest paid plan is Premium at $17.50 per user / month (billing period not stated). Looker Studio's cheapest paid plan is Pro at $9 per user / month (billing period not stated).
Bricks has a free plan. Looker Studio has a free plan: No charge for report creators and viewers.
Bricks: $17.50 a month on Premium. Looker Studio: $9 a month on Pro. Annual list prices where available, before tax.
No live data connections. If you need dashboards that refresh automatically from live sources, use Looker Studio or Databox instead.
Steeper learning curve than Bricks. If you need a one-off report from a spreadsheet, Bricks is faster.
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