7 Best Open Source Drag-And-Drop Report Builders

Are you tired of manually creating reports or relying on expensive and complex reporting tools?

Look no further than the world of open source drag-and-drop report builders.

With these tools, you can easily connect to your databases and quickly create custom reports without needing to know complex coding languages.

Understanding Drag And-Drop Report Builders

If you’re looking for a way to create professional reports without needing to learn complex coding languages, then drag-and-drop report builders are the solution you need.

These tools allow you to create reports with ease, using a simple drag-and-drop interface to customize the design and layout of your report.

In this section, we’ll take a closer look at what drag-and-drop report builders are, why they’re important, and how open source report builders can benefit your business.

The Importance of Open Source

One of the key benefits of using an open source drag-and-drop report builder is that it gives you complete control over the customization and design of your reports.

Unlike proprietary software, open source tools are freely available to anyone, and can be modified and improved by developers all over the world.

This means that you can customize your report builder to meet your specific needs, and benefit from the collective knowledge and expertise of the open source community.

With open source software, you have access to the source code, which means you can review it for any potential security vulnerabilities or bugs. This gives you greater peace of mind, knowing that your sensitive data is safe and secure.

In addition to the benefits of customization and security, open source report builders are also typically more cost-effective than proprietary alternatives.

Since open source software is freely available, you don’t need to pay licensing fees or subscription costs.

This can save your business a significant amount of money in the long run, while still providing you with the same level of functionality and ease-of-use as proprietary software.

Top 7 Open Source Drag And-Drop Report Builders

When it comes to creating reports, you want to use a tool that makes it easy to drag and drop data, create custom reports, and share them with your team.

Here are five of the best open-source drag-and-drop report builders that you can use for free.

1. QueryTree

QueryTree is an open source drag-and-drop report builder that allows you to create custom reports and dashboards without writing any code. It connects to your data sources and lets you drag and drop fields to create reports, charts, and tables.

QueryTree allows you to connect to MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Microsoft SQL Server databases using secure encrypted connections. QueryTree only requires read-only access to your database, so your data remains secure.

You can then invite your teammates to use your data to create, share, export, and schedule reports using QueryTree’s intuitive drag-and-drop report builder.

Example of QueryTree report builder

QueryTree Features

• Data organization with the sorting tool
• Remove errors in the data automatically
• Share reports in different formats
• Statistical tools to perform data calculations
• Encrypted connections for databases

Why use QueryTree?

• Easy to use: QueryTree’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: QueryTree supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: QueryTree allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Collaborative: QueryTree allows you to share your reports and dashboards with others, and collaborate on them in real-time.

Example of data visualization in QueryTree

How to get started with QueryTree?

Getting started with QueryTree is easy. Here are the high-level steps to follow:

1. Sign up for a free account on the QueryTree website.
2. Connect your data sources to QueryTree using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Share your report or dashboard with others, and collaborate on it in real-time.

2. Metabase

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence and analytics tool that allows you to create custom reports and dashboards. It is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to non-technical users.

Metabase allows you to connect to a wide range of data sources, including SQL databases, MongoDB, and Google Analytics.

Metabase offers a simple, intuitive interface that allows you to create charts and dashboards quickly and easily. It offers a range of visualization options, including bar charts, line charts, and pie charts.

You can also share your reports with your team and schedule them to run automatically.

Example of user interface in Metabase

Metabase Features

• 15+ templates for data visualization
• Automated report creation post data visualization
• Visual query builder for creating queries of complex data
• Insert data visualizations in different webpages or presentations
• Performance management tools for tracking intensive data queries

Why use Metabase?

Metabase offers a number of benefits for users looking for an open source drag-and-drop report builder, including:

• Easy to use: Metabase’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: Metabase supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: Metabase allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Collaborative: Metabase allows you to share your reports and dashboards with others, and collaborate on them in real-time.
• Free and open source: Metabase is completely free to use, and its open source nature means that you can customize and extend it to suit your needs.

Example of a dashboard in Metabase

How to get started with Metabase?

Getting started with Metabase is easy. Here are the high-level steps to follow

1. Download and install Metabase from the official website.
2. Connect your data sources to Metabase using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Save and share your report or dashboard with others.

3. Whatagraph

Whatagraph is a simple yet incredibly powerful drag-and-drop report builder that integrates with over 40+ different data sources.

You can drag the metrics you wish to see onto the custom report – it’s really that easy. Start The 7-day Free Trial Join marketing agencies and teams worldwide who use Whatagraph to work with marketing data!

Whatagraph Features

• Easily create reports with the extensive template gallery or the “Smart builder” that creates a custom report based on chosen sources
• Automate sharing and schedule the report send out to be right on time every time. Share a link to a live report with your clients when necessary, letting them explore the data at any given moment
• Connect sources and automatically pull data from 40+ native integrations
• Pre-made, custom, unique widgets as building blocks for your perfect reports

Example of a dashboard in Whatagraph

Why use Whatagraph?

• Easy to use: Whatagraph’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: Whatagraph supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: Whatagraph allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Automated: Whatagraph can automatically generate reports and dashboards based on your data, saving you time and effort.
• Collaborative: Whatagraph allows you to share your reports and dashboards with others, and collaborate on them in real-time.

How to get started with Whatagraph?

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Sign up for a free account on the Whatagraph website.
2. Connect your data sources to Whatagraph using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Save and share your report or dashboard with others.

4. KNIME

The Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) is open source software used for reporting. The KNIME Report Designer extension integrates BIRT into KNIME Analytics Platform and allows you to create reports based on the results of your workflows.

KNIME Features

• Support bulk data analysis
• Data blending for different data types
• Statistical tests for hypothesis
• AI models for data regression, representation, etc.
• Store the processed data in multiple formats

Example of how easy it is to create and customize a chart in KNIME

Why use KNIME?

• Easy to use: KNIME’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: KNIME supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: KNIME allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Scalable: KNIME can handle large amounts of data and complex reporting requirements, making it suitable for enterprise-level reporting.
• Automation: KNIME can automate repetitive tasks and generate reports and dashboards based on your data.
• Collaboration: KNIME allows you to share your reports and dashboards with others, and collaborate on them in real-time.

Example of report viewer in KNIME for data analysis

How to get started with KNIME?

1. Download and install KNIME from the official website.
2. Connect your data sources to KNIME using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Save and share your report or dashboard with others.

5. NextReports

NextReports Designer is a desktop application written in Java so it can run on any OS with a Java version 7+. It is a free and open-source report builder that allows you to create reports from various data sources.

NextReports features a drag-and-drop interface, a report wizard, and a chart wizard. You can also export your reports to various formats like PDF, Excel, and HTML.

NextReports Features

• Connections to most popular databases like Oracle, MySql, MSSQL, PostgreSQL, Firebird, Derby and SQLite
• Intuitive interface that makes report creation a quick and easy task
• Allows you to schedule NextReports and Jasper reports and to automatically deliver reports via E-mail, FTP, SSH, Windows Share, WebDAV to your business contacts in most popular file formats like HTML, EXCEL, PDF, RTF, CSV, TSV, TXT, XML

Why use NextReports?

NextReports offers a number of benefits for users looking for an open source drag-and-drop report builder, including:

• Easy to use: NextReports’ intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: NextReports supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: NextReports allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Free and open source: NextReports is completely free to use, and its open source nature means that you can customize and extend it to suit your needs.

How to get started with NextReports?

Here are the high-level steps to follow:

1. Download and install NextReports from the official website.
2. Connect your data sources to NextReports using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Save and share your report or dashboard with others.

6. JasperReports

JasperReports is a powerful open-source reporting tool that allows you to create custom reports using a drag-and-drop interface.

JasperReports features a wide range of data sources, including SQL databases, XML, and CSV files. You can also export your reports to various formats like PDF, Excel, and HTML.

JasperReports Features

• Drag and drop functionality to design reports
• Support for data filtering and conditional formatting
• Interactive report generation via different graphs and charts
• Share reports in multiple formats like PDF, XLS, ODT, XML, etc.
• Restrict the access with the multi-tenant management

Example dashboard in JasperReports

Why use JasperReports?

• Easy to use: JasperReports’ intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: JasperReports supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: JasperReports allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Powerful: JasperReports can handle large amounts of data and complex reporting requirements, making it suitable for enterprise-level reporting.
• Free and open source: JasperReports is completely free to use, and its open source nature means that you can customize and extend it to suit your needs

How to get started with JasperReports?

1. Download and install JasperReports from the official website.
2. Connect your data sources to JasperReports using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Save and share your report or dashboard with others.

7. Flexmonster

Flexmonster is an open source drag-and-drop report builder that allows you to create custom reports and dashboards without writing any code. It connects to your data sources and lets you drag and drop fields to create reports, charts, and tables.

With Flexmonster, you can represent your data through multiple pivot charts and graphs to easily understand it and gain actionable insights from it. Flexmonster comes with an easy-to-use toolbar for saving, formatting, or exporting reports to different formats.

Flexmonster Features

• Report export into PDF, Excel, HTML, CSV, etc.
• Data aggregation and filtering
• Built-in pivot charts for data visualization
• 10+ themes for report customization
• Support for data grouping

Why use Flexmonster?

• Easy to use: Flexmonster’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom reports and dashboards, even for non-technical users.
• Flexible: Flexmonster supports a wide range of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services.
• Customizable: Flexmonster allows you to customize your reports and dashboards with a range of formatting options and visualizations.
• Fast and responsive: Flexmonster can handle large amounts of data and complex reporting requirements, while still providing fast and responsive performance.
• Cross-platform: Flexmonster can be used on a wide range of platforms, including desktop and mobile devices.
• Collaboration: Flexmonster allows you to share your reports and dashboards with others, and collaborate on them in real-time.

Example of a dashboard in Flexmonster

How to get started with Flexmonster?

1. Download and install Flexmonster from the official website.
2. Connect your data sources to Flexmonster using the built-in connectors.
3. Drag and drop fields onto the report builder canvas to create your report or dashboard.
4. Customize your report or dashboard with formatting options and visualizations.
5. Save and share your report or dashboard with others.

To conclude,whether you’re looking for a tool that integrates with multiple data sources or one that allows you to schedule reports to run automatically, there’s an open-source reporting tool out there that can meet your needs.

Key Features of Effective Report Builders

When choosing a drag-and-drop report builder, it’s important to consider the key features that make it effective. Here are some of the most important features to look for:

Customization and Design

An effective report builder should offer a wide range of customization options, allowing you to create reports that fit your specific needs.

This includes the ability to customize the layout, color scheme, and font styles. Look for a report builder that offers a variety of design templates or the ability to create your own.

Integration with Databases

The ability to connect to a variety of databases is crucial for any report builder. Look for a report builder that supports multiple database platforms, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Microsoft SQL Server.

This will allow you to easily pull in data from different sources and create reports that are based on real-time data.

Data Visualization and Reporting

Data visualization is an essential component of any report builder. Look for a report builder that offers a variety of chart types, such as pie charts, bar graphs, and line charts.

This will allow you to create reports that are easy to read and understand. Additionally, the report builder should offer a variety of reporting options, such as PDF, Excel, or HTML.

Support for Mobile and Web

An effective report builder should be able to create reports that can be accessed from anywhere, on any device.

Look for a report builder that offers mobile and web support, allowing you to create reports that are optimized for different devices and platforms.

Working with Different Data Formats

An effective report builder should be able to work with a variety of data formats, including CSV, Excel, and JSON.

This will allow you to easily import data from different sources and create reports that are based on real-time data.

Advanced Features

Finally, look for a report builder that offers advanced features such as dashboards, data sources, and components.

Dashboards allow you to create a single view of your data, while data sources allow you to connect to multiple data sources.

Components allow you to create reusable elements, such as tables or charts, that can be used across multiple reports.

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Installation and Setup

Setting up a drag-and-drop report builder open source tool may seem daunting, but it’s actually quite simple. Here’s what you need to know to get started.

Documentation

Before you begin, make sure to read the tool’s documentation thoroughly. This will give you a good understanding of the tool’s features and how to use them.

Most open source report builders have extensive documentation available on their website.

Community Support

If you run into any issues during the installation process, don’t worry. Most open source report builders have a strong community of users who are happy to help.

You can find support by joining the tool’s online community forum or by asking for help on social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.

Windows

On Windows, most open source report builders can be installed using an installer executable file. Simply download the file from the tool’s website and run it. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Linux

On Linux, you can install most open source report builders using your distribution’s package manager. Simply search for the tool’s name in your package manager and install it from there. Alternatively, you can download the source code and compile it yourself.

Mac

On Mac, most open source report builders can be installed using a package manager such as Homebrew or MacPorts. Simply search for the tool’s name in the package manager and install it from there. Alternatively, you can download the source code and compile it yourself.

Docker

If you prefer to use Docker, most open source report builders have Docker images available on Docker Hub. Simply pull the image and run it. You can also customize the image to fit your specific needs.

Cloud

If you want to use an open source report builder in the cloud, most tools have cloud-based options available. Simply sign up for an account and follow the on-screen instructions to get started. You can also deploy the tool on your own cloud infrastructure if you prefer.

Benefits Of Using Open Source Report Tools 

1. Cost-effective: Open source report tools are often free to use, which can save you money on licensing fees and other costs associated with proprietary software.
2. Customizable: Open source report tools are customizable, which means that you can modify and extend them to suit your specific needs and requirements.
3. Community support: Open source report tools often have a large community of developers and users who can provide support, answer questions, and share knowledge.
4. Flexibility: Open source report tools can be used with a wide range of data sources and platforms, which gives you more flexibility in how you use them.
5. Innovation: Open source report tools are often at the forefront of innovation, with new features and capabilities being added all the time by the community of developers and users.

Top Takeaways: Best Open Source Drag-And-Drop Report Builders

In conclusion, if you are looking for a drag-and-drop report builder that is open source and free to use, there are many great options available. These tools are perfect for businesses of all sizes, including enterprise-level organizations.

Key Takeaways For Open Source Report Builders

• Open source drag-and-drop report builders are powerful tools that allow you to create custom reports and dashboards without writing any code.
• Some of the best open source drag-and-drop report builders include Whatagraph, JasperReports, and Metabase.
• These tools offer a range of benefits, including ease of use, flexibility, customization, collaboration, and cost-effectiveness.
• Open source report tools are also customizable, have a large community of support, and can be used with a wide range of data sources and platforms.
• The key to getting started with open source drag-and-drop report builders is to choose the tool that best meets your needs, connect your data sources, and start creating custom reports and dashboards.

All in all, open-source drag-and-drop report builders are excellent choices for businesses that want to gain insights from their data without having to spend a lot of money on expensive reporting tools. Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, these tools can help you get the insights you need to make informed decisions.

FAQ: Open Source Report Builders With Drag-and-Drop