AgencyAnalytics vs Looker Studio (now Data Studio): Buy or Build

The short answer: Looker Studio is now called Data Studio again, the name Google restored on 16 April 2026 (release notes), and it is still free for everyone who builds or views a report (Data Studio pricing). For an agency with 10 clients whose reports mix Google Ads, Meta Ads and GA4, the choice is between paying AgencyAnalytics 10 x $20 = $200 a month billed annually, or $250 billed monthly (AgencyAnalytics pricing), and paying someone's hours to build and maintain the same reports in Data Studio, plus a connector for every non-Google platform. Both checked on 26 October 2026. Choose AgencyAnalytics if your job is client reporting as a product, with logins, approvals and your brand. Choose Data Studio if your job is custom reports built by someone who enjoys building them, mostly from Google's own data.

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The rename changes nothing you need to do: old lookerstudio.google.com links redirect, and existing reports keep working (Data Studio welcome page). AgencyAnalytics sells a finished reporting operation per client. Data Studio gives you a free drag-and-drop editor and leaves the operation to you.

Before you price the hours:

1. Cost the build, not just the licence. For example, if a monthly client report takes 3 hours to build in Data Studio and 30 minutes to check each month, 10 clients take 10 x 3 = 30 hours once and 10 x 0.5 = 5 hours a month after that. AgencyAnalytics' $200 a month billed annually (pricing) is the price of skipping most of those hours, so put your own hourly cost beside it.
2. Sort your sources into Google and everyone else. Data Studio's own connectors cover Google Analytics, Google Ads, Search Console, YouTube Analytics and the Marketing Platform, plus databases and Sheets (available connectors). Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads and HubSpot need a third-party community connector. AgencyAnalytics lists those platforms among its connected data sources (MCP article).
3. Decide what a good month looks like. Hours spent on reporting per client, reports sent on time, and client questions about a number. Take this month's figures as the baseline before changing anything.

What each one gives an agency

The differences that decide it

The connectors you will buy anyway

Data Studio is free, but a report on Meta Ads is not. Community connectors are built by third parties (community connectors), and the commercial ones are sold as separate subscriptions; Windsor.ai, for one, lists Data Studio as a destination from $19 a month billed annually (Windsor.ai pricing). In a Google Workspace organisation, community connectors also need Apps Script switched on, or their charts show an error. AgencyAnalytics folds those platforms into the per-client price.

Sending to people outside the agency

Data Studio's free scheduled email sends a PDF with a link back to the report. Its quotas are written per sender: 200 recipients a day and 800 a month on an individual account, 500 and 3,000 on Google Workspace, unlimited on Pro, and a schedule from the Owned by me folder cannot carry a custom subject or message (delivery article). Chart alerts go only to members of your own organisation, so a client cannot receive one directly (alerts article). AgencyAnalytics is built for exactly that audience: each client logs in to a portal carrying your logo, and scheduled reports can wait for an account manager's approval.

How fresh the numbers are

Data Studio refreshes Google Ads, Google Analytics, Search Console and YouTube data every 12 hours, and that rate cannot be changed, though editors can refresh a report by hand (data freshness). For a monthly client report that rarely matters. For a client who opens the dashboard at noon to check this morning's spend, it does.

One step an AI can take, and what a person checks

Data Studio documents a Gemini step for report builders on Pro: describe the field you want, such as cost per conversion by campaign, and Gemini suggests a calculated-field formula from your data source's fields, which you then accept or edit (Gemini overview). Gemini in Data Studio needs an administrator to switch it on and the Editor role to use. The check is arithmetic: pick one campaign, divide its cost by its conversions in Google Ads by hand, and compare with the new field before it goes into a client report. Google says the preview features are free for a limited time and may later cost extra. On the AgencyAnalytics side, how AI Summary and approvals fit together is covered in the client report summaries use case.

What ten clients cost

Checked on 26 October 2026 on the AgencyAnalytics, Data Studio and Windsor.ai pricing pages, in US dollars a month, for 10 clients with Google Ads, Meta Ads and GA4.

Start with the free tool, then trial the paid one

Data Studio needs no trial: build one client's monthly report from Google Ads and GA4 this week and time the build. Then spend AgencyAnalytics' 14 days, no card, rebuilding the same report and sending it through the portal (pricing), following the AgencyAnalytics how-to. If you do want Data Studio Pro's team features, read its trial terms first. Pro can be tried free for 30 days with no limit on users, and billing then begins automatically (About Data Studio Pro), charged monthly for every licence in the subscription whether or not anyone uses it (subscription overview), so a trial opened for the whole team turns into a bill for the whole team unless someone trims the licences before day 30.

Choose AgencyAnalytics if your job is client reporting as a service

• Clients expect a branded login, and reports should wait for approval before they go.
• Most clients run Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok ads alongside Google's.
• Nobody on the team wants to maintain report templates and connectors.

Choose Looker Studio, now Data Studio, if your job is building custom reports

• Your clients' data is mostly Google Ads, GA4 and Search Console.
• Someone on the team builds reports well and has the hours.
• A shared link or a scheduled PDF is all your clients need.

For AgencyAnalytics against other paid tools, see DashThis vs AgencyAnalytics and Whatagraph vs AgencyAnalytics.

FAQ

Is Looker Studio still free under the Data Studio name?

Yes. Google lists Data Studio at no charge for creators and report viewers, with Pro as the paid upgrade at $9 per user per project a month, checked on 26 October 2026 (Data Studio pricing).

Do viewers of a Data Studio Pro report need a licence?

No. Only people who create, edit or manage content in Pro workspaces need one; viewers need sharing permission only (subscription overview).

Does AgencyAnalytics have a free plan like Data Studio?

No. It offers a 14-day trial without a card, then a 30-day money-back guarantee on a first purchase (pricing).