BrightGauge alternatives: the top data visualization dashboards for MSPs

In tech, staying ahead of the competition means staying as relevant as possible to your target market. Being able to constantly evolve, providing better features, more innovation, and integrate with emerging technologies, while keeping the same level of support and community engagement is a perpetual challenge.

Take BrightGauge, for instance. Launched in 2011, BrightGauge specialized in data visualization to break down data silos, allowing users to bring together key business metrics from various tools into one single, coherent view. However, reports suggest a recent decline in BrightGauge's popularity among MSPs.

There are a number of reasons why vendors fall out of favour - and it's often for reasons out of their control. From a complicated merger or acquisition (a famous example being Microsoft's purchase of Skype), to an overnight disruptive entry into market (see: DeepSeek and Nvidia), tech fortunes can turn on a sixpence.

When it comes to BrightGauge, recent organizational changes have impacted the product, leaving MSP customers looking for replacement tech. Some of the grumbles from MSP forums include:

Limited integrations: Some users report missing integrations or suboptimal data display from certain sources.

Pricing concerns: BrightGauge's pricing structure has become less competitive.

Limitations: Despite being easy to use, some users note that BrightGauge has limitations in its functionality.

Decline in support: Users online have been vocal about the recent drop in service levels citing slow response times, prolonged issues and limited support channels.

Top BrightGauge alternatives for MSPs

In this blog, we’ll set out to explore what platforms are being used by MSPs, the features that make them perfect for an MSP environment and the possible drawbacks that may present a challenge in your organization. So, if you’re an MSP looking to move away from BrightGauge or are simply weighing up tools in the data visualization market, you’ll able to make a more informed decision.

SquaredUp: the leading alternative

SquaredUp's mission is to inform, enlighten, and empower businesses with smart dashboards that help them understand their data, has gained the attention of a large number of MSP clients.

The company's core offering is a unified visibility layer providing instant access to over 100 data sources. Unlike traditional monitoring and observability tools that rely on data warehouses, SquaredUp uses a data mesh approach, connecting directly to various data sources and stitching the information together. This allows teams to search, visualize, and analyze data across all their tools in one place, effectively translating scattered data into actionable insights.

Since its inception, SquaredUp has grown to serve hundreds of enterprises worldwide, transforming how MSPs monitor and visualize their data. But is it a good alternative to BrightGauge?

Why SquaredUp wins for MSPs

SquaredUp is gaining popularity as a perfect-fit tool for MSPs for many reasons. From customizable dashboards to flexible access control, and notification APIs to enterprise application mapping – SquaredUp is a versatile piece of dashboarding software ideal for MSP requirements. 

Cost

SquaredUp offers a more transparent and cost-effective pricing structure, starting at $0/month for the free plan to $27/month for Starter and scaling up with additional features. In contrast, BrightGauge is often reported as expensive, with unclear pricing details. SquaredUp also provides unlimited dashboards and users in higher tiers, delivering greater value for MSPs managing multiple clients.

HaloPSA ecosystem advantage

SquaredUp integrates natively with HaloPSA through its WebAPI plugin, providing real-time ticket insights and enabling MSPs to monitor and manage service tickets effectively. This integration offers a seamless "single pane of glass" experience that BrightGauge lacks, giving MSPs a significant advantage in operational efficiency and client management.

MSP-ready architecture

SquaredUp is designed specifically for MSP workflows, offering pre-built customer health dashboards, multi-tenant workspaces, and dependency mapping capabilities. These features allow MSPs to monitor client environments holistically, something BrightGauge struggles to match due to its more basic reporting capabilities.

Future-proof scaling

Powered by its unique data mesh architecture, SquaredUp connects directly to over 100 data sources without requiring a costly data warehouse. This scalability allows MSPs to grow their operations effortlessly while maintaining real-time visibility across all tools and platforms. BrightGauge's limited integrations and less flexible architecture make it harder for MSPs to scale efficiently.

Customization and accessibility

SquaredUp offers many different visualisation options, allowing users to customize what they see and how they see it. Users can choose from different tile types including Data, Image, Text, and Embed tiles to create diverse dashboard layouts, visualize data in different graph types, design dashboards with drag and drop functionality and apply filters and group data to refine visualizations.

Power BI: the broad fit consideration

Power BI has evolved through various iterations, including PowerPivot and Power Query, before being officially launched as Power BI in 2015. Over the past decade, it has grown into one of the most widely-used business intelligence tools globally, in no small part due to its integration with the Microsoft ecosystem and robust data visualization capabilities

Its wide range of features for data connectivity, transformation, and visualization, make it a popular choice for businesses across various industries.

Benefits of Power BI over BrightGauge for MSPs

Power BI has been the popular software of choice for MSPs over recent years and carries many benefits.

Advanced AI and machine learning capabilities

Power BI leverages artificial intelligence to provide predictive analytics and automated insights. This allows MSPs to anticipate client needs, identify potential issues before they escalate, and make data-driven decisions more effectively than with BrightGauge's more limited analytics capabilities.

Real-time analytics and reporting

With Power BI, MSPs can create live dashboards that update in real-time. This feature outperforms BrightGauge's data retention limit of 210 days, allowing MSPs to access and analyze historical data for up to 365 days, providing a more comprehensive view of long-term trends and performance.

Cost-effective pricing model

While specific pricing for BrightGauge is not publicly available, it is reported to be expensive. Power BI offers a more transparent and potentially more cost-effective pricing structure, with plans starting at $9.99 per user per month.

How the features compare: SquaredUp vs PowerBI vs BrightGauge

We’ve broken down the key features of all three platforms that are most important to MSPs.

Conclusion

While Power BI offers significant advantages over BrightGauge for MSPs, it's worth noting that both tools may require substantial investment in time and expertise to fully leverage their capabilities. For MSPs seeking a more tailored solution that combines the best of both worlds, SquaredUp emerges as a compelling alternative.

SquaredUp offers MSP-specific features like customer health dashboards and multi-tenant workspaces, which are not native to Power BI or BrightGauge. With its intuitive interface, rapid setup time (under 5 minutes), and extensive integrations including a HaloPSA plugin, SquaredUp provides a more focused and efficient solution for MSPs. Additionally, SquaredUp's pricing model, which includes a free tier, and scales based on features rather than per-user, may offer better value for many MSPs compared to both Power BI and BrightGauge.

In the shifting landscape of MSP tools, SquaredUp stands out as a solution that combines the powerful analytics capabilities of Power BI with the MSP-centric approach of BrightGauge, all while offering a more accessible and cost-effective package tailored specifically for the MSP market. Want to find out more? Sign up for free to see how SquaredUp can create smart, customizable dashboards for your organization.