14 KPI Tools to Track Your Business’s Goals

What are KPI tools?

KPI dashboard tools are digital platforms that automatically collect, organize and visualize key performance indicators from various business systems to help teams monitor progress toward their goals in real-time. These tools transform raw business data into meaningful, actionable insights through customizable dashboards, charts and alerts.

How to choose the right KPI software for your business

When selecting KPI software, focus on five key criteria that will determine the tool’s effectiveness for your organization:

• Integrations: Ensure the platform connects with your existing business tools — customer relationship management (CRM) systems, accounting software, marketing platforms and project management tools. The more seamless these integrations, the more comprehensive your KPI tracking will be.
• Visualization capabilities: Look for tools that offer diverse chart types, customizable dashboards, and the ability to display data in ways that make sense for your team. Interactive visualizations help users drill down into specific metrics for deeper insights.
• Collaboration features: Choose platforms that allow easy sharing of dashboards and reports with team members, stakeholders and clients. Features like commenting, real-time collaboration and automated report delivery enhance team alignment.
• Pricing structure: Consider whether the tool charges per user, offers unlimited user plans or has usage-based pricing. Factor in your team size and growth plans to avoid unexpected costs as you scale.
• Ease of use: Prioritize intuitive interfaces that don’t require extensive training. The best KPI tools balance powerful functionality with user-friendly design, ensuring team adoption and consistent usage.

Best KPI dashboard software by business type

Small teams and startups

For startups and small teams with limited budgets but growing data needs, these tools offer the best value:

1. Databox stands out as the most user-friendly and affordable option for small teams. With more than 130 integrations and pre-built templates, Databox makes it easy to create custom dashboards without technical expertise. The platform offers real-time KPI alerts via email, Slack or mobile, ensuring teams stay informed about critical metrics. Its AI-powered analytics and automated reporting features save time while providing actionable insights.
2. Datapad is a powerful dashboard software designed to help small businesses visualize, monitor and analyze key metrics in real-time. With its customizable and interactive dashboards, Datapad allows users to track performance across various areas of their business, from sales and marketing to operations and customer service. The software integrates seamlessly with a wide range of data sources, providing a unified view of critical business data. Datapad’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for users to build personalized dashboards tailored to their needs without the need for coding.
3. Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) provides a completely free option that’s ideal for Google-centric businesses. It connects seamlessly with Google Analytics, Google Ads and Google Sheets, offering unlimited dashboards and reports at no cost. The drag-and-drop interface makes it accessible for non-technical users.
4. SimpleKPI is a user-friendly tool that helps businesses track essential metrics. Despite its simplicity, it can handle a wide range of KPIs — including finance, marketing, operations and service metrics — and is suitable for any industry. SimpleKPI integrates with popular software and offers 24/7 customer support, along with a full-screen mode to display KPIs in real time.
5. HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM platform that connects marketing, sales, content management and customer service. The platform’s free KPI software allows users to build dashboards, create automated reporting and track team performance metrics. Users can leverage the Smart CRM for reliable metrics from a single source, tracking marketing spend, sales output and customer satisfaction.

Agencies and mid-sized businesses

Mid-sized businesses and agencies need tools that balance advanced features with scalability:

6. Scoro is a KPI platform that helps businesses monitor every aspect of their performance in real time, all from a single dashboard. It integrates with other business software, offers customizable dashboards with unlimited widgets, and provides a centralized solution for managing work, tracking finances, planning projects and compiling reports. Scoro also includes tools to improve workplace collaboration, boost project profitability and automate routine tasks.
7. Klipfolio serves as a powerful business intelligence (BI) platform for agencies and mid-sized companies. With more than 140 integrations and customizable “Klips” (widgets), it enables deep customization for complex reporting needs. However, users should note that it has a steep learning curve and may experience connection stability issues with some integrations. 
8. Geckoboard is a live KPI-tracking solution with a drag-and-drop interface that lets businesses design their own visual dashboards for a range of metrics. It’s designed for fast-moving teams that struggle to focus on essential business segments, and it integrates with popular platforms such as Google Analytics, Salesforce and Shopify. Geckoboard pulls data directly from synced programs to create clear, engaging visualizations of key metrics, and it’s simple to set up and use.
9. Grow is a BI dashboard and reporting platform that aims to (as the name suggests) help businesses grow faster. Its features include data integration from various sources, customizable charts, and pre-built metrics for instant BI dashboard creation. Grow provides unique insights by blending, mashing and comparing data from multiple sources.
10. Asana is a project management solution that includes project-based KPI tracking tools. It uses a card system that lets users create tasks, set objectives and due dates, and assign team members responsible for completing each item. Asana’s KPI tracking system supports objectives and key results to help administrators match tasks to broader company goals. The dashboard provides a tactical overview to help you monitor progress across individual projects. 

Enterprises

Large enterprises require robust platforms that can handle complex data requirements and multiple user roles:

11. ThoughtSpot excels in enterprise environments with its search-based analytics approach. Users can type questions in natural language, and ThoughtSpot translates them into queries, returning answers as charts or tables. The platform includes AI-powered insights through SpotIQ and Sage, which automatically scan data for trends and anomalies. Its Liveboards provide real-time dashboards that update as new data comes in, with interactive drill-down capabilities.
12. Tableau remains a leader in enterprise data visualization, offering powerful analytics capabilities for complex datasets. Although it’s designed for retail and e-commerce companies, Tableau has excellent features and templates that can be valuable for businesses of all kinds. Its real-time data tools connect directly to platforms like Salesforce and Excel, pulling information from different sources into one place. Tableau’s templates and dashboards make it easy to track performance, spot trends and make timely decisions based on what the data is telling you.
13. Microsoft Power BI provides enterprise-grade KPI tracking with deep integration into the Microsoft ecosystem. The platform offers KPI visuals that communicate progress toward measurable goals. Power BI includes advanced features like goals (metrics) for creating scorecards, dynamic targets that adjust based on context, and data alerts for automatic notifications. 
14. Salesforce’s customizable CRM software offers a range of features, third-party integrations and add-on options, making it ideal for growing businesses with diverse needs. Like many of the best CRM software platforms, Salesforce can help your business track KPIs via a central, organized hub for customer data, sales pipeline management, reporting and more. As we discuss in our detailed Salesforce CRM review, this tool takes some time and tech know-how to set up. However, the result is a seamless platform that accommodates custom processes and can evolve with a company’s changing needs. 

Feature comparison table of top KPI tools

Free vs paid KPI tools: What’s the difference?

Understanding the distinction between free and paid KPI tools helps businesses make informed decisions based on their needs and budget.

Free KPI tools

Looker Studio leads the free options, offering unlimited dashboards and reports with no time restrictions. The platform includes 20 free data connectors, primarily for Google platforms like Google Analytics, Google Ads and Google Sheets. Users can create white-labeled reports, customize colors and remove Google branding without upgrading to the paid version.

Databox offers a free tier that allows users to explore the platform’s basic features. The free trial provides access to plan-specific features without requiring payment information. However, after the trial ends, accounts revert to a limited version with restrictions on creating new connections and building datasets.

Limitations of free tools include:

• Restricted data connectors (typically 20 or fewer)
• Performance issues with large datasets causing slow loading times
• No team collaboration features like role assignments or real-time co-editing
• Limited data blending capabilities, making it difficult to combine multiple data sources effectively

Paid KPI platforms

Paid platforms offer significant advantages for growing businesses:

• Advanced integrations: Paid tools typically offer hundreds of data source connections, enabling comprehensive business monitoring across all systems.
• Enhanced collaboration: Features like user roles, real-time editing, automated report delivery and team workspaces facilitate better teamwork and stakeholder communication.
• Superior performance: Paid platforms handle large datasets more efficiently, providing faster loading times and more responsive interfaces.
• Advanced analytics: AI-powered insights, forecasting capabilities, benchmarking against industry peers and custom metric building provide deeper business intelligence.
• Priority support: Dedicated customer support, training resources and technical assistance ensure smooth implementation and ongoing success.

The investment in paid KPI tools typically pays for itself through improved decision-making speed, reduced manual reporting time and better business outcomes from data-driven insights.

Why you should set and track KPIs for your business 

Here are a few reasons why setting and tracking KPIs is essential for business growth. 

It allows you to track progress toward company goals.

By setting and tracking KPIs, you can measure your performance against your goals, identify areas for improvement, and make strategic decisions to move your business forward.

“KPIs provide valuable insights that help inform decisions, allowing businesses to make more informed choices about how best to achieve their desired outcomes,” Tomas Keenan, founder of Step It Up Academy, told us. “Ultimately, having clearly defined KPIs in place helps businesses stay on track and remain competitive in the marketplace.”

Without clearly defined KPIs, it becomes difficult to measure progress or success, which, in turn, can lead to missed opportunities, reduced profits and decreased competitiveness.

It helps you solve issues and identify new opportunities.

A dashboard that combines different metrics gives you easy access to the information you need so you can spot problems or capitalize on new opportunities. For example, if you’re in a sales slump, tracking KPIs such as the number of calls made, appointments kept, or trade events attended can help you figure out what’s wrong and adjust your strategy. By monitoring these KPIs regularly, you can find the most effective path to boost sales and keep customers engaged on your website. 

“Alternatively, suppose you have a fantastic concept for a new product,” said Brad Anderson, founder and CTO of Fruition. “Before launching it on a large scale, you may test it with a few clients and use KPIs to validate your business model. You may track the number of interested customers, the cost to support the new product, the net promoter score, the implementation time, the number of defects, etc.”

It allows you to monitor your business’s health.

KPIs are like a company’s scorecard. Monitoring your vital indicators requires only a few key metrics. To drive results, focus on measuring what truly needs to change.

“I have discovered that it is essential to measure a few metrics for each of the four categories: employees, customers, processes and revenue,” said Sean Stevens, founder and CEO at Immerse Education. “These are disciplines associated with human resources, customer satisfaction, business processes and business strategy. First, ensure that you select the appropriate KPIs for your business; then determine who will be held accountable for them.”

It holds employees accountable.

Ryan Faber, CEO of Copymatic, noted that creating and tracking KPIs can help employees take greater responsibility for their work and results. “When employees are given clear, measurable goals to work toward, they can take ownership of their work and feel a sense of accountability for their performance,” Faber said.

Lauren Kubiak contributed to this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.