Tableau, Power BI, and Metabase connect to OpenSearch through ODBC/JDBC drivers and SQL translation. This means every query goes through OpenSearch's SQL plugin - which doesn't support complex JOINs, has limited aggregations, and caps result sets.
Knowi connects directly to the OpenSearch API. Full query DSL support, search templates, data streams, and no driver installation. Works with Amazon OpenSearch Service, self-hosted clusters, and Elasticsearch. See the setup guide.
OpenSearch has no native JOIN support. You can't correlate data across indices — logs in one, users in another, transactions in a third. OpenSearch Dashboards, Kibana, and Grafana are all limited to single-index queries.
Knowi joins multiple OpenSearch indices together, and combines them with PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Snowflake, REST APIs, and 30+ other sources — all in a single query, no ETL pipelines or data movement. Learn how cross-source joins work.
OpenSearch requires DSL or PPL syntax. Kibana requires KQL. Grafana requires Lucene queries. All demand technical expertise.
Knowi lets business users ask questions in plain English. The AI generates optimized OpenSearch queries and returns instant visualizations. No query language required - from question to dashboard in seconds.
OpenSearch stores complex JSON with nested objects and arrays. But OpenSearch Dashboards cannot visualize nested fields - a known gap with years of community demand. Knowi is the only BI tool that handles them natively.
Business users build their own dashboards and reports without learning DSL, PPL, or KQL. Drag-and-drop analytics on OpenSearch data.
Go beyond OpenSearch Dashboards' basic PDF export. Automated reports on a schedule with email PDFs, Slack alerts, and trigger notifications.
Same native connector works for both OpenSearch and Elasticsearch. Migrate between them without changing your analytics. Supports all versions. See also: Kibana alternatives.
Go beyond dashboards. AI agents that understand your OpenSearch data, answer questions in plain English, and take action automatically.
Ask "show me error logs by service this week" and get instant results. No DSL or PPL syntax required. The AI generates optimized OpenSearch queries automatically.
Agents detect anomalies in your OpenSearch data, identify trends, and surface insights you would miss. Proactive recommendations, not just reactive charts.
Describe what you need: "create a dashboard showing API latency by endpoint with error rates." The agent builds it - complete with visualizations and filters.
Complex requests trigger multiple specialized agents. "Find slow queries, correlate with server metrics, and create an ops dashboard" - handled automatically.
Search across all your dashboards, widgets, and datasets by meaning - not just keywords. Find the analysis you need in seconds.
Schedule reports to Slack, Teams, or email with natural language. "Send the infrastructure report to #ops every Monday at 9am."
See how Knowi compares to OpenSearch Dashboards, Kibana, Grafana, and QuickSight
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| Feature | Knowi | OpenSearch Dashboards | Kibana | Grafana | QuickSight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Index Joins | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cross-Source Joins (SQL, NoSQL, APIs) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | AWS only |
| Visualize Nested Objects & Arrays | ✓ | ✗ | Partial | ✗ | ✗ |
| Natural Language Query Builder | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Q (limited) |
| White-Label Multi-Tenant Embedding | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Self-Service for Business Users | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| 40+ Visualization Types | ✓ | Limited | ✓ | Time-series | ✓ |
| Agentic BI with Multi-Agent Orchestration | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Search Templates & Data Streams | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
Common questions about OpenSearch analytics and business intelligence
Knowi is the best BI tool for OpenSearch. It connects natively without ODBC/JDBC drivers or SQL translation layers, visualizes nested objects and arrays that OpenSearch Dashboards cannot display, joins OpenSearch data with SQL databases and REST APIs, and provides AI-powered natural language queries for business users.
OpenSearch is an open-source fork of Elasticsearch 7.10.2, licensed under Apache 2.0. It was created after Elastic changed Elasticsearch's license to SSPL/ELv2. OpenSearch is governed by the Linux Foundation and offers similar search and analytics capabilities with community-driven development. Knowi connects natively to both OpenSearch and Elasticsearch using the same connector.
Yes. Knowi is the only BI tool that natively visualizes nested objects and arrays in OpenSearch. OpenSearch Dashboards cannot visualize nested fields - this is a known limitation documented in GitHub issue #657 with years of community demand. Tableau and Power BI require SQL translation that flattens document structure. Knowi preserves the full nested hierarchy.
Yes. Knowi joins OpenSearch data with PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Snowflake, Redshift, REST APIs, and 30+ other sources in a single query - no ETL pipelines or data movement required. This is not possible with OpenSearch Dashboards, Kibana, or Grafana.
Yes. OpenSearch has no native JOIN support — you cannot correlate data across indices. Knowi lets you join multiple OpenSearch indices together in a single query, and also join them with external databases like PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and REST APIs. No ETL or data movement required.
OpenSearch Dashboards is a fork of Kibana 7.10.2, maintained by AWS under the Linux Foundation. It's limited to visualizing OpenSearch data only. Knowi goes further with multi-index joins, nested object visualization, cross-source queries with SQL and NoSQL databases, AI natural language queries, white-label embedding, and self-service analytics. OpenSearch Dashboards requires DSL or PPL knowledge; Knowi lets business users query in plain English.
Yes. Knowi provides white-label embedded analytics for OpenSearch. Embed dashboards via iframe or JavaScript SDK with SSO integration, row-level security, multi-tenant data isolation, and full custom branding. Deploy on SOC2 Type II compliant cloud or on-premise.
Yes. Knowi connects to Amazon OpenSearch Service, self-hosted OpenSearch clusters, and Elasticsearch. The same native connector works across all deployments - cloud managed, on-premise, or hybrid. No driver installation or SQL plugin configuration required.
Grafana connects to OpenSearch via a plugin focused on monitoring and observability - it excels at time-series metrics and operational dashboards. Knowi provides full business intelligence: nested object visualization, cross-source joins, natural language queries, self-service analytics for non-technical users, and white-label embedding. Grafana is ideal for DevOps monitoring; Knowi is built for business analytics on OpenSearch data.
Native connection. Nested object support. Cross-source joins. Free 21-day trial.