BI Tools for Mac and BI Software for macOS With Prices for a 10 Person Team
One major BI tool will not install on a Mac, one ships a real macOS app, and the rest live in a browser tab. Here is which is which, and what each costs a team of ten.
Runs in Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Read-only connection. Nothing to install.
Ask the demo shop a question, or type your own:
Reading the schema, writing SQL… Writing SQL… Running (read‑only)… SQL AgentSQL wrote
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A real MySQL shop: customers, products, orders and signups over the last year. AgentSQL writes the SQL, runs it read-only, and answers.
Direct answer
BI tools for Mac fall into three groups. Tableau is the only major BI tool with a native macOS desktop app, and it has run natively on Apple silicon since release 2024.2. Power BI Desktop does not run on macOS at all: Microsoft's requirement is Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016 or later. Everything else (Looker Studio, Amazon Quick Sight, Metabase, Superset and Preset, ThoughtSpot, AgentSQL) runs in a browser, so it works on any Mac with nothing to install. For 10 people at list price, a year costs between $0 and $3,240 depending on the tool. Requirements and prices were read from each vendor on 13 October 2026.
›_ bi software for mac, tool by tool
What each BI tool needs to run on macOS, with its published price.
The middle column is the part most lists skip: whether you can build a report on a Mac, or only look at one.
| Tool | On a Mac | How you build on macOS | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power BI | Windows only | Desktop is Windows only. On a Mac you can open and edit reports in the browser, but not model data or write measures. | $14.00 Pro, $24.00 Premium Per User, per user a month |
| Tableau | Native Mac app | Native macOS desktop app, Apple silicon since release 2024.2. A few database connectors are missing from the Apple silicon build. | $75 Creator, $42 Explorer, $15 Viewer, per user a month billed annually |
| Looker Studio | Browser | Browser. Nothing to install, strongest with Google data sources. | $0, or Pro at $9 per user per project a month |
| Amazon Quick Sight | Browser | Browser, inside an AWS account. | $24 Author, $3 Reader, per user a month |
| Metabase | Browser | Browser. Cloud, or self-hosted on your own server. | Cloud Starter $1,080 a year with 5 users, $65 a year each after |
| Apache Superset and Preset | Browser | Browser. Self-host the open source project or use Preset, the managed cloud. | Preset $0 to 5 users, then $20 per user a month billed annually |
| ThoughtSpot | Browser | Browser. Search-style analytics on a cloud warehouse. | $25 Essentials (5 to 50 users), $50 Pro, per user a month |
| AgentSQL | Browser | Browser. Ask in plain English, get the chart, the table and the SQL. | Team $59 a month billed yearly, up to 10 seats |
Tableau's role prices are the ones listed on its Cloud pricing page when we last read it on 10 September 2026; the site refuses automated checks, so confirm them before you sign. Every tier behind the other rows has its own page here: Power BI pricing, Tableau pricing, Quick Sight pricing, Metabase pricing, Superset and Preset pricing and ThoughtSpot pricing.
›_ bi tools for macos, three routes
Native app, browser tab or Windows in a window.
›_ which plan brought in the most revenue last quarter
Team led the quarter, ahead of Scale.
SELECT plan, SUM(amount) FROM invoices WHERE paid_at >= date_trunc('quarter', now()) - interval '3 months' GROUP BY plan
Illustration with sample data. The same screen on a MacBook, a Windows laptop or an iPad.
Route 1, a native Mac app
Tableau, and only Tableau
Tableau's deployment guide says you can install Tableau Desktop "on a Windows computer or a Mac computer", and that Desktop and Prep Builder "include native support for Apple Silicon" from release 2024.2. The same page links a notice that some database connectors are missing from the Apple silicon build. If your warehouse driver is one of them, plan on the Intel build instead, so check the list against your database before you buy Creator seats.
Route 2, the browser
Six of the eight tools on this page
Looker Studio, Quick Sight, Metabase, Superset, ThoughtSpot and AgentSQL have no desktop client, so the operating system stops mattering. That also removes version drift and IT-managed installs. The trade is that a browser tool is only as good as its connection to your data: Looker Studio is at its best with Google sources, Quick Sight assumes an AWS account, and ThoughtSpot expects a cloud warehouse.
Route 3, Windows on your Mac
How people keep Power BI Desktop
Microsoft's install page says Power BI Desktop is "fully supported on Azure Virtual Desktop" and Windows 365, and that "Citrix VDI and other virtual desktop environments, excluding Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, aren't supported". A local virtual machine on an M-series Mac means Windows on ARM, where Microsoft requires the 2025-09 cumulative update. It works. It also adds a Windows license and a second operating system to every analyst's laptop, on top of the $14.00 Pro seat. Our Power BI for Mac guide walks through both workarounds.
›_ business intelligence software for mac, the bill
One year for ten people on Macs at list price.
Annual billing where the vendor offers it. Role-priced tools assume two people who build and eight who read.
Tableau
2 Creators, 8 Viewers
$3,240
ThoughtSpot Essentials
10 users
$3,000
Preset Professional
10 users
$2,400
Power BI Pro
10 users, plus a Windows machine for every author
$1,680
Metabase Cloud Starter
10 users
$1,405
Amazon Quick Sight
2 Authors, 8 Readers
$864
AgentSQL Team
up to 10 seats
$708
Looker Studio
any number, Pro is $9 per user per project
$0
The arithmetic
Tableau: 2 Creators at $75 and 8 Viewers at $15, times 12. Quick Sight: 2 Authors at $24 and 8 Readers at $3. Metabase: $1,080 covers five users and the next five are $65 each. Preset and ThoughtSpot charge every user the same, $20 and $25 a month.
The hidden line
Power BI Pro looks mid-table at $1,680, but that buys ten seats nobody on a Mac can author with. Add a supported cloud PC or a Windows license and a virtual machine for each person who builds reports before you compare it with the others.
The zero
Looker Studio is free for any number of people, which is why it is the usual first stop. Teams tend to leave it when the questions move from marketing channels to the product database. Looker Studio alternatives covers what they move to.
›_ best bi tools for mac by situation
Which one to buy depends on who opens the laptop.
An analyst who wants a desktop app
Buy Tableau. It is the one tool here that opens a local file, works offline and feels like a Mac application. Budget $900 a year for each Creator and check the Apple silicon connector list first. The full role math is in Power BI vs Tableau.
A company already on AWS with many readers
Quick Sight. A $3 Reader seat is the lowest per-person price on this page, and the data is usually already in the same account. Two people build, everyone else reads, and nobody installs anything.
A startup with one person who knows SQL
Metabase Cloud. That person writes the queries and builds the dashboards in a browser, and the other nine look at them for $1,405 a year all in. It stalls when the SQL person becomes the queue for every new question. See Metabase alternatives for that stage.
A team where nobody wants to build dashboards
AgentSQL. Founders, ops leads and account managers type the question and read the answer. The Team plan is $59 a month billed yearly for up to 10 seats and 1,500 questions a month. It is the short route when the goal is a number today, and it is the self-service BI case with the least setup.
›_ from a macbook to an answer
Set up AgentSQL on a Mac in four steps.
01
Open a browser
Safari, Chrome or Firefox. There is no installer, no virtual machine and nothing for IT to approve on the laptop.
02
Connect read-only
Point it at Postgres, MySQL, Snowflake or BigQuery with a least-privilege account that cannot write.
03
Ask in plain English
Type the question the way you would ask an analyst. It writes the SQL against your schema and runs it.
04
Check the SQL, share it
The chart, the table and the query appear together. Save the question to the team library so the next person reuses it.
›_ where each one wins
An honest read on Tableau, Power BI and AgentSQL for Mac teams.
| What you need | Tableau | Power BI | AgentSQL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build reports on macOS | Yes, native app | No, Windows needed | Yes, browser |
| Pixel-tuned dashboards | Best on this page | Strong | No. Charts per answer, not designed dashboards |
| Data sources | Dozens of connectors, files included | Dozens of connectors, files included | Four: Postgres, MySQL, Snowflake, BigQuery |
| A non-technical person gets a new number | Asks a Creator | Asks a report author | Types the question |
| Ten people, one year | $3,240 | $1,680 plus Windows | $708 |
If your team lives in spreadsheets and CSV exports, or needs a board-ready dashboard with exact layout, Tableau is the better purchase and we will say so plainly. AgentSQL is for the other pile of work: the one-off questions against a production database or warehouse that nobody has built a report for. Many Mac teams run both, a couple of Tableau or Metabase seats for the dashboards that matter and text to SQL for everything else. The console at the top of this page is the product; try a question before you compare anything further.
›_ frequently asked
BI tools for Mac questions, answered.
Is there a Power BI for Mac?
No. Power BI Desktop runs only on Windows; Microsoft lists Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016 or later as the minimum requirement. On a Mac you can view and lightly edit reports in the Power BI service through a browser, but connecting new data, modeling it and writing DAX measures all need the Windows app.
Does Tableau work on Mac?
Yes. Tableau Desktop installs on macOS, and since release 2024.2 it runs natively on Apple silicon. Tableau notes that some database connectors are missing from the Apple silicon build, so check yours before you buy. An analyst who builds needs a Creator seat at $75 a month billed annually.
What is the best BI tool for Mac?
It depends on who does the work. For an analyst who wants a desktop app, Tableau is the only major BI tool with a native Mac version. For a team that mostly wants answers from a database, a browser tool is simpler: Metabase or Quick Sight for dashboards, AgentSQL for plain-English questions at a flat team price.
Can I run Power BI on a MacBook with Parallels?
You can, with caveats. On Apple silicon you are running Windows on ARM, and Microsoft requires the 2025-09 cumulative update for Power BI Desktop there. Microsoft supports Power BI Desktop on Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, and says other virtual desktop environments are not supported.
What is the Mac equivalent of Power BI?
There is no single one. Tableau is the closest desktop equivalent, with a native macOS app for building visual reports. Metabase, Quick Sight and Looker Studio cover dashboards in a browser. If what you used Power BI for was getting numbers out of a database, a plain-English tool like AgentSQL replaces that part.
Is there a free BI tool for Mac?
Looker Studio costs nothing and runs in a browser, and Apache Superset and the Metabase open source edition are free to license if you host them yourself. Free has limits: Looker Studio is weakest on SQL databases, and self-hosting costs server and engineer time. Paid browser tools start at about $59 a month for a team.
Do browser-based BI tools work in Safari?
The ones on this page are web applications, so they run in a current browser on macOS with nothing to install. AgentSQL works in Safari, Chrome and Firefox. For any other vendor, check its supported browser list before you standardize, because some list Chrome first and test Safari less.
How much does BI software cost for a small Mac team?
For 10 people at list price, one year runs from $0 on Looker Studio to $3,240 on Tableau with two Creators and eight Viewers. In between: Amazon Quick Sight $864, Metabase Cloud $1,405, Power BI Pro $1,680 plus Windows for authors, Preset $2,400 and ThoughtSpot $3,000. AgentSQL Team is $708.
›_ pricing and comparisons
›_ connect your database