Data literacy is not just for those with a background in data engineering and in 2025, there are plenty of tools to support this idea.
One of them is ThoughtSpot, a BI tool that has data democracy in its DNA, allowing anyone to analyze and interpret data. With its AI-powered business intelligence and search analytics, the premise is that any organization can take charge of its data.
But it may actually be more complex than that. Today, we find out what ThoughtSpot really is about: core features, data visualization capabilities, embedding options, the usefulness of the AI tools, the pricing and much more.
What is ThoughtSpot?
ThoughtSpot is a modern business intelligence tool designed to make data exploration easier for both business users and data teams. It was founded in California in 2012 by Ajeet Singh and Amit Prakash, with backgrounds from Nutanix and Google.
Its standout feature is a natural-language search bar that allows users to ask questions in plain English and get answers as visualizations, tables, or charts, with no SQL or added complexity required.
The platform focuses on real-time insights, AI-supported exploration, and quick deployments. ThoughtSpot users are typically companies that want faster decisions, better self-service analytics, and built-in embedding capabilities for customer-facing dashboards.
Like many other tools in this industry, ThoughtSpot started out as an internal reporting BI tool and branched out into embedded analytics later on - we’ll cover why this is an important note later in the article.
ThoughtSpot receives a lot of praise for its speed and simplicity, especially in non-technical roles such as marketing, sales, and customer success. Let's see if it's the right fit for your team.
ThoughtSpot core features
ThoughtSpot promises to make data available to everyone. They accomplish this with a solid feature set for experienced data analysts and everyday users dealing with BI for the first time.
These are some of the most important features available in ThoughtSpot.
Search-based analytics
Users type a data question in the search bar, and ThoughtSpot translates it into a query, returning answers as charts or tables. This makes it easy for anyone to explore data without writing code. If you have a small team of data specialists and a larger team, this feature makes a lot of sense.
AI-powered insights (SpotIQ and Sage)
SpotIQ scans your data automatically to find trends, anomalies, and correlations you might not notice. Sage is a newer addition, using generative AI to guide exploration. It can even suggest follow-up questions and visualizations.
If you need to get insights quickly and you don't have time to consult with a BI team, this feature can be helpful.
Liveboards (real-time dashboards)
Unlike static dashboards, Liveboards update as new data comes in. Users can click, drill down, and change filters without needing to build a whole new report. It may sound revolutionary, but it’s essentially a real-time dashboard, a feature that’s standard in most BI tools today.
Interactive visualizations
Charts are clickable and dynamic. If a user sees a spike in a line graph, they can click it to explore what happened. This makes it easy for your internal team or your app end-users to explore data on their own terms.
However, ThoughtSpot's visualizations are not that great compared to some major BI players such as Power BI, Looker, or Tableau. It covers common chart types like bar, line, pie, area, scatter, heatmap, and KPI tiles. But it lacks more advanced options like bullet charts, Sankey diagrams, waterfall charts, or geospatial visuals that you’d find in Tableau or Qlik.
It also doesn't allow you to add custom fonts, branded layouts or different layers of customization – this is not a huge issue for internal dashboards for your team, but it can be a real drawback when you want to embed dashboards. This is where tools like Embeddable, which is designed for customer-facing dashboards, can be a better choice.
Pinboards for quick access
You can save common queries or visualizations to a pinboard for team-wide use. For example, if your sales team usually uses a certain visualization type to show MoM progress, they can access the pinned query to get the live data without setting anything up.
However, this is also a common feature in every BI tool, but ThoughtSpot has a different way of packaging it.
Ease of use
In theory, ThoughtSpot is built for technical analysts and business users, with varying opinions depending on experience level.
The great news for business users is:
- The search bar feels familiar and easy to use.
- No need to learn SQL or advanced data structures.
- Many users on G2 describe it as “Google for your company’s data.”
“I love how I can just ask a question and ThoughtSpot shows me the data. I don’t have to go through the data team.”
— G2 review
As for the technical users:
- The UI is simple, but setting up models and data relationships can be a learning curve.
- Power users sometimes wish for more dashboard customization or advanced filters.
- Embedding and API access are appreciated, but take some ramp-up time.
In short, ThoughtSpot is easier for business users than traditional BI tools, provided that you have some engineering power on your team. Technical users may find it slightly rigid, depending on how much customization they want.
4. Data integrations
ThoughtSpot connects with a wide variety of data sources, especially cloud data warehouses. This makes it suitable for companies already using modern data stacks.
Supported data sources include:
- Snowflake
- Google BigQuery
- Amazon Redshift
- Databricks
- Microsoft Azure Synapse
- PostgreSQL and MySQL (via connectors)
- Google Sheets (limited)
- Salesforce, ServiceNow, and other SaaS tools (with prep work)
When it comes to data modeling, ThoughtSpot doesn’t store data directly. Instead, it connects to existing data warehouses and runs live queries. You’ll need to create “worksheet” layers or logical models on top of raw data for search and AI to work properly.
For teams without clean data models, this step adds some setup time. But once in place, the speed and flexibility of live querying pay off.
“The integration with Snowflake is flawless. We’ve moved away from static dashboards to live analytics and haven’t looked back.”
— Capterra review
5. Embedding analytics
ThoughtSpot started out as a BI tool, in the same way that Power BI or Tableau did, and then added embedding as a core feature later on. And just like those tools, embedding works, but it's nowhere near the level of customization and performance you'd expect it to be.
How it works:
- Uses ThoughtSpot Embedded with a low‑code builder, JavaScript SDK and web components.
- Deploy the dashboards you build in ThoughtSpot to users in your own application
- Set up auth and ensure row-level security is handled correctly
- Developers can insert a live search bar, charts, or entire dashboards inside any app.
Key benefits
- In-app analytics experience: Users search for data inside your own UI instead of switching platforms.
- Real-time reports: Embedded visualizations reflect live data, which users expect.
- Controlled access: Supports row‑level security and single sign‑on so users only see what they’re allowed to view.
- Quick integration: Developer playground lets you prototype search‑driven analytics in under an hour.
Limitations
- Slow loading speeds: some users report slow loading speeds for their customers in their application. As one user on G2 noted: “I have to refresh the whole site each time I want to access my most updated data. It would be helpful for the system to update and not require a full refresh to view. I use Thoughspot throughout the day.”
- Lack of customizability: in Thoughtspot, you use the charts they provide with some configuration options. If there’s a chart they don’t have, you can’t have it. Ultimatel, it won’t look and feel like it’s truly part of your application.
- Not always intuitive: As one user noted, “functionality and interactivity inside each data tile is not as intuitive… some limitations… challenging”.
- Variable Pricing: based on query volume - this can be fine for internal BI but when you present that to customers, it can be a lot of data throughput. Embedded apps that handle thousands of user searches may face unpredictable and steep costs.
The biggest downside to ThoughtSpot is that it will never provide fully customized embedded dashboards that look native in your product. ThoughtSpot's user interface remains even in your app when the dashboard is embedded, which is a major concern if you want a spotless UI and UX.
If you want to embed dashboards in your application for your customers:
Using an internal BI tool that’s got an embedding feature (like ThoughtSpot, PowerBI, Looker, Tableau, etc.) tends to produce sub-par outcomes - simply because they weren’t built for the job. Using a tool like Embeddable, which is built especially for embedded analytics, can help you deliver fast-loading dashboards that look and feel like your application. Sounds interesting?
Find out more about Embeddable.
Security & governance
ThoughtSpot offers a comprehensive security stack aligned with enterprise requirements:
- ARN-based security and row-level access control ensure users only view what they’re entitled to.
- SSO support via SAML, OAuth, Okta, and Azure AD ensures seamless login.
- Certifications include SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, GDPR, and CSA Star Level 1.
- Audit logs monitor data access, changes, and user activity, which is critical for compliance.
UpGuard and Nudge Security rate ThoughtSpot’s external security posture highly, with no major breaches reported recently.
In short, ThoughtSpot meets enterprise standards for governance and secures data across cloud environments and embedded contexts.
7. Collaboration & sharing
ThoughtSpot supports spontaneous collaboration and structured sharing:
- Live links allow users to share a liveboard or query by URL. Recipients can filter, drill down, or save these on their own boards.
- A reviewer shared: “sharing insights is quick and easy… team members can apply their own filters… decisions get made faster”.
- Comments and annotations let users discuss results directly on dashboards.
- Verified boards facilitate data trust, ensuring users access accurate, curated visuals.
- Role-based control ensures that sharing aligns with permissions and governance policies.
This collaborative approach means everyone from analysts to business users can explore data together without a data team bottleneck.
8. Pricing & Cost Considerations
ThoughtSpot provides two main pricing models:
- Analytics license – per-user access starts around $50/month for five users and 5M rows, higher tiers support more data and features.
- Embedded – query-based pricing with unlimited users. Embedded usage can scale unpredictably, depending on your query volume.
As for the analytics license, it starts at $50 per user per month, for up to 250 million rows of data and anywhere from 25 to 1,000 users. However, more detailed pricing requires a call with the sales team, as it depends on your desired feature set.
When it comes to their embedded offering, the pricing is much more complicated. It has a free Developer plan you can use for up to 10 team members and 25 million rows of data - but this only really lets you build a PoC.
The paid options have only one plan: Enterprise, and you can be charged based on users or usage.
If you choose to pay per usage, you get their Spotter AI Agent and the Analyst Studio.
You can get a full overview of ThoughtSpot pricing in our detailed blog post.
9. Pros and cons of ThoughtSpot for internal BI (based on user experience)
✅ Pros
Easy for non-technical users
ThoughtSpot is frequently described as intuitive, especially for business users without SQL skills.
Fast, real-time answers
Live querying across cloud warehouses delivers instant results.
Powerful AI features (SpotIQ & Sage)
SpotIQ helps uncover trends and outliers, while Sage guides users in asking the right questions.
Enterprise-ready security and governance
Role-based access, SSO support, and compliance certifications are all in place.
❌ Cons
Limited visualization types
Users say the platform has fewer chart types and customization options compared to other BI tools.
Data modeling is required upfront
Search doesn’t work well until data is cleaned and modeled in ThoughtSpot’s worksheet format.
“It’s great once it’s ready. But that prep phase is not small. You need someone technical to structure it first.”
— Reddit thread
The support may take some time to fix issues
Problems will arise, no matter if you're using ThoughtSpot for internal or embedded reporting. And when they do, the team there can be very slow to respond.
Basic branding for embedded dashboards
Developers find it hard to match embedded dashboards to their product’s design language.
10. ThoughtSpot vs Tableau, Power BI, Looker for internal Business Intelligence
Here’s a simplified comparison against the top ThoughtSpot competitors. For a full comparison, read our blog post to get more details on features, pricing, embedding options and more.
Of the internal BI tools, ThoughtSpot leads for self-service search. Tableau wins on dashboard flexibility. Power BI is affordable and easy for Microsoft users. Looker is powerful but technical.
11. Who is ThoughtSpot a good fit for?
ThoughtSpot is a strong internal BI tool for companies that want to make data accessible across the entire business, not just to analysts. If your team includes non-technical users who want fast answers without learning SQL or complex filters, it might be a good choice.
If you want to be able to query AI to get results, then ThoughtSpot is getting some early positive feedback from teams here, too.
We don’t recommend it for embedded analytics unless you expect low usage (so your costs don’t skyrocket), you’re already using ThoughtSpot for internal analytics, and you don’t mind if it feels like it’s not really a part of your application.
You’ll be better served if you use a dedicated embedded analytics tool, which is built from the ground up to let you create native-feeling, fast-loading dashboards in your application at an affordable price.
See examples of what can be created with Embeddable in our customer stories.
Frequently asked questions
What is ThoughtSpot used for?
ThoughtSpot is used for business intelligence and analytics. It helps both technical and non-technical users explore data, find trends, and create visual reports through search-driven queries. Teams use it for internal dashboards, performance tracking, and decision-making support.
How does ThoughtSpot handle embedded analytics?
ThoughtSpot allows you to embed dashboards and search-driven analytics into your own applications using its Smart Apps SDK. It supports live data, role-based access, and basic theming, but lacks deeper customization options. This can make embedded dashboards feel disconnected from the rest of your app.
What are the limitations of using ThoughtSpot for embedded analytics?
Limitations include slow loading speeds, restricted visualization choices, and limited control over design and layout. Costs can also rise quickly due to its query-based pricing model, especially in customer-facing apps with high usage.
