"Why Embedded Peaka Beats CData for Embedded Analytics
Customer expectations have evolved over the years to the point that customers now want their data embedded into the products they use in real-time. But delivering this kind of data experience, one that is complete with connectors, query logic, and UI, is no small feat.
If you’re evaluating solutions like CData and Embedded Peaka, it’s critical to understand what each platform offers and what each one leaves up to your team to build.
Spoiler: Only one gives you everything you need to ship a full embedded data experience.
1. CData connects data, Embedded Peaka delivers it
CData specializes in connectivity infrastructure. Their solution helps teams move data from external sources into local systems or data warehouses. That’s useful for backend analytics, but it falls short of creating the immersive customer-facing analytics experience SaaS platforms seek.
Embedded Peaka is a full-stack embedded data delivery platform. It combines connector infrastructure with fully customizable embeddable UI components and white-labeling capability so SaaS teams can deliver in-product analytics seamlessly.
| Feature | Embedded Peaka | CData |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment Mode | ✅ Purpose-built for embedding | ❌ Drivers for internal use |
| UI Components | ✅ Dialogs, query editor, autocomplete | ❌ None |
| Branding & Theming | ✅ Full white-labeling | ❌ None |
What this means for you
If your goal is to deliver analytics inside your product, not just connect data, Embedded Peaka is the platform that does it all.
2. Query-ready, without replication headaches
CData’s model relies on pulling data into your environment, whether that’s a database, local system, or third-party warehouse. This process involves data replication and movement, introducing latency, data duplication, and governance challenges.
Peaka enables live querying without data replication. And when performance demands it, Peaka adds Iceberg-compatible smart caching, optimizing speed while minimizing API calls.
| Feature | Embedded Peaka | CData |
|---|---|---|
| Data Access Model | ✅ Live querying (no replication) | ❌ Data moved into local systems |
| Query Engine | ✅ Built-in (Trino-based) | ❌ No query engine |
| Caching & Rate Limit Handling | ✅ Rate limit-aware caching built-in | ❌ No caching or retry logic |
What this means for you
For SaaS products needing real-time dashboards, campaign performance views, or AI-powered copilots, Peaka delivers governed access without the overhead.
3. Built-in UI and governance features = Faster time-to-market
With CData, your dev team is on the hook for building an OAuth logic, multi-tenant isolation, and maintenance and updates over the life of the connectors.
Peaka handles all of this out of the box:
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Hosted or BYO OAuth with tenant awareness
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Role-, column-, and row-level access control
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Embeddable UI components for queries and connectors
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Full audit logging and data lineage
| Feature | Embedded Peaka | CData |
|---|---|---|
| OAuth | ✅ Hosted, tenant-aware | ❌ Manual setup per tenant |
| Multitenant Support | ✅ Native project/catalog isolation | ❌ To be built by the user |
| Connector Maintenance | ✅ Peaka-managed | ❌ To be handled by the user |
What this means for you
For product managers, this means fewer bottlenecks, fewer edge cases, and an accelerated product roadmap.
4. Developer-friendly SDKs and APIs
CData’s conventional data integration approach leverages drivers and legacy integration points to unify data, which translates into significant engineering overhead for SaaS companies looking to stay nimble.
Embedded Peaka, on the other hand, gives your engineers the tools to plug into any workflow or architecture:
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Connectors for 300+ SaaS tools (Stripe, HubSpot, Zendesk, etc.)
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Modern SDKs for JavaScript, Python, and Java
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Access via SQL, REST APIs, or drivers
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Flexible deployment options (as a headless backend or UI+backend packaged together)
What this means for you
Embedded Peaka empowers you to build scalable embedded analytics solutions without overstretching your engineering resources.
Key takeaways
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CData provides data connectivity only. It does not include a query engine, UI components, or access controls for embedded analytics.
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Embedded Peaka is an all-in-one platform. It includes connectors, a SQL query engine, UI modules, multitenant governance, and smart caching.
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Peaka enables live data access. It eliminates the need for data replication or a separate warehouse.
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SaaS teams can launch faster with Peaka. It removes the need to build infrastructure, reducing development time and effort.
Final verdict: Peaka replaces the stack that CData requires you to build
While CData helps you connect to data, Peaka helps you deliver value from that data inside your product, in a secure and scalable way.
CData gives you drivers. Peaka gives you dashboards.
If your roadmap includes in-product analytics, real-time customer insights, or embedded AI copilots powered by user data, Peaka provides everything you need in one embeddable platform.
Explore Embedded Peaka or book a demo to see how we can help you launch faster.
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