SimplyReport vs Looker Studio
Looker Studio is free. Google’s own documentation calls it “the no-cost version”, and for a lot of consultants it is genuinely the right answer — you can connect GA4 and Search Console, build exactly the report you want, and pay nothing for it, forever.
The comparison is not features. It is whether you would rather spend the time or the $29.
Choose Looker Studio if…
- You have the time, and you want total control. Nothing here is as flexible as a blank canvas with a GA4 connector on it — and nothing here is free either.
- You have already built your template and it works. The cost of a working Looker Studio setup is sunk; the cost of ours arrives every month.
- You need a data source we do not have. It connects to far more than GA4 and Search Console, and we connect to exactly those two.
- You want to own the artifact outright, with no vendor able to change it, reprice it or discontinue it.
- You are not in a position to wait. Looker Studio works this afternoon; SimplyReport is in closed beta and cannot take your money.
Choose SimplyReport if…
- You are rebuilding the same report every month and the schema keeps breaking.
- You want the analysis written for you. Looker Studio draws the chart; it does not tell your client why organic fell.
- You would rather spend $29 than the Monday.
Side by side
| SimplyReport | Looker Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29/mo | Free |
| Setup | Connect two sources | Build the report yourself |
| Written analysis | Yes | No — it charts data, it does not write about it |
| Data sources | GA4 + Search Console | Far more, via connectors |
| Client view | One link, no login | A shared link, or a PDF you export |
| Control over layout | A template | Total |
| Billable today | No — closed beta | Free, today |
“the no-cost version of Data Studio” is Google’s own wording, from the Looker Studio Pro subscription overview, read 2026-08-11. Looker Studio Pro exists and adds enterprise capabilities over the no-cost version; Google's documentation does not state it — it links to a marketing page instead, which returned truncated content, and the older pricing path 404s. No Pro price is quoted anywhere on this site. Our column is the same one as our pricing — nothing here claims a feature that page does not.
If the Monday is the problem
SimplyReport is in closed beta, from $29/month when it opens. The two free tools work today and need nothing from you.