ClientdeckComparison
Clientdeck vs Data Studio, formerly Looker Studio
Updated October 2026. The honest version. Where each one wins, and how to choose.
Clientdeck is a Looker Studio alternative for agencies who would rather send a finished, branded report than build a dashboard themselves, with client approval built in, from NZ$49 a month.
Name change, April 2026: Google renamed Looker Studio back to Data Studio. The free tool is now just called Data Studio, with a paid Data Studio Pro above it. Most people still search for the old name, so we have kept it on this page. Everything below refers to the same product.
Let us be straight. Data Studio is free, and it is genuinely powerful. Google built a flexible tool that can pull from almost any data source and let you build whatever dashboard you can imagine. If you have the time and the technical skill to build and maintain a dashboard yourself, and free is what matters most, Looker Studio is hard to beat. Clientdeck is a paid tool that does the work Looker Studio leaves to you: it writes the report, puts it in your brand, and gets the client to approve it. Here is where that trade off plays out.
1. Free, but you build every dashboard yourself
Looker Studio costs nothing, but it is a do it yourself tool: you connect the data sources and you build the dashboard, chart by chart. There is no automatic narrative explaining what happened, and no report waiting for you at the end of the month. You get a blank canvas and Google's tools. Clientdeck writes the whole report for you, so there is nothing to build.
2. It looks like a Google dashboard, not your agency
A Looker Studio dashboard carries Google's look, not your agency's brand. Clientdeck's reports carry your logo, your colours and your own voice, in one of more than twenty distinct designed layouts, sent under your name.
3. Nobody writes the words, and nobody signs off
Looker Studio has nothing that writes the narrative for you, no automated branded report emails, and no way for the client to comment on or approve what they are looking at. They just view a dashboard. Clientdeck writes the report, sends it automatically, and lets the client comment and approve it themselves, all with no login.
What changed in September 2026
As at September 2026, Swydo has added client comments in beta, and AgencyAnalytics lists client commenting as in progress on its public roadmap. Clients can now ask questions in more than one tool.
What no reporting tool we checked does is let the client sign the report off, with a dated record of who approved it and when. Clientdeck does.
We check monthly and will update this page if any of that changes.
| Clientdeck | Looker Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Meta and Google Ads, Google Analytics, Search Console and email, as one finished report | Do it yourself dashboards from any data source |
| Price | NZ$49 to NZ$399 / month | Free |
| Branded to your agency | ✓ | Looks like Google |
| Writes the report narrative | ✓ | None |
| Client approves on the report, no login | ✓ | No client users |
| Automated branded report emails | ✓ | None |
| Time to build | Minutes, nothing to build | Hours, built and maintained by you |
Use Looker Studio if
- Free is what matters most and budget comes before everything else.
- You have the time and the technical skill to build and maintain dashboards yourself.
- You do not need the report branded to your agency or approved by the client.
Use Clientdeck if
- You want a finished, branded report with nothing to build.
- You want your client to sign the report off, not just read it.
- Your time is worth more than the cost of the plan.
Can the client approve the report in Looker Studio?
Not as at September 2026. Looker Studio has no client users, so there is nothing for a client to approve. In Clientdeck, your client approves the report themselves, and you keep a dated record.
See a real report before you decide
Seven reports, seven days, no card needed. Build your first client report in minutes, cancel any time.
Start your free trialAll six tools compared · Also compare: AgencyAnalytics · DashThis · Whatagraph · Swydo · See Clientdeck pricing
Comparison based on publicly available information as of September 2026, including Google's own Data Studio documentation and Google's April 2026 announcement renaming Looker Studio to Data Studio. Prices change, so check the current figures before quoting them. Data Studio and Looker Studio are trademarks of Google. Clientdeck is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.