I Tried Microsoft Data Formulator… Here’s Why It Failed

We are testing out open-source AI data analytics tools and the first stop is Microsoft's recently released Data Formulator. We will show you if it is actually any good or if it is just another half-baked data tool! In this video, I put Data Formulator through my Open-Source Data Tool Evaluation Matrix and the results… aren’t pretty. While setup and installation are surprisingly smooth, the tool quickly falls apart when it comes to visualization, collaboration, and actual data analysis. Here’s how it scored across 8 core categories (1 = poor, 5 = outstanding): Getting Started & Setup: ⭐ 3.5/5 – Easy install, but configuration can get messy. Data Connectivity & Integration: ⭐ 2.5/5 – Connects okay, but no real transformation tools. Data Analysis & Exploration: ⭐ 1.5/5 – Weak querying, basically no exploration features. Data Visualization & Dashboarding: ⭐ 1/5 – Charts and dashboards are primitive at best. Collaboration & Sharing: ⭐ 0/5 – Yep, nothing here. Performance & Scalability: ⭐ 2.3/5 – Fast enough for small stuff, but zero scalability. Community & Support: ⭐ 2/5 – Sparse documentation, almost no community buzz. Cost & Licensing: ⭐ 4/5 – Open-source (MIT license), but you get what you pay for. 📊 Overall Score: 2.1/5 👉 Strengths: Simple dataset loading, easy LLM connections, basic SQL querying. 👉 Weaknesses: Almost no data exploration, transformation, or visualization capabilities. 👉 Best For: Developers who just want to rip pieces of the repo for their own projects—not for analysts who need a serious tool. Bottom line? I am not sure who Data Formulator is for, it certainly isn't any aspiring data analyst. But watch the full breakdown before you decide if it’s worth your time. For more tutorials and articles please visit our website at datasense.to Timestamps: -0:00 Introduction -0:39 Setup -1:55 LLM API Setup -4:10 First Graph -7:50 Prompting to Make Charts -11:30 Getting Started Ranking -11:50 Data Connectivity Ranking -13:30 Data Analysis and Exploration Ranking -14:18 Data Visualization and Dashboard Ranking -16:44 Collaboration and Sharing -19:28 Trying to Generate a Chart with the Surprise Me Button -19:36 Performance and Scalability Ranking -22:00 Checking Documentation -22:48 Surprise Me Fail -24:10 Community and Support Ranking -28:50 Trying Ollama -29:20 Cost and Licensing Ranking -32:50 Can Data Formulator Generate Good SQL Queries? -40:16 Another Graph Prompt Fail -44:10 Should You Use This Tool? -44:45 Review Scoring for All Sections -48:30 Final Thoughts and Score -49:00 Our Next Tool to Explore and Evaluate - Apache Superset -49:30 Like and Subscribe #dataanalysis #ai #aiagents #python #economics #businessanalytics #datapresentation #datavisualization #businessintelligence #datascience #data #dataanalytics #datasense #microsoft #microsoftutorial