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SAP Analytics Cloud vs Tableau comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP Analytics Cloud
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
70
Ranking in other categories
Predictive Analytics (2nd)
Tableau
Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
302
Ranking in other categories
Reporting (2nd), Data Visualization (1st), Embedded BI (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of SAP Analytics Cloud is 4.4%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tableau is 17.5%, down from 19.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools
 

Featured Reviews

RamasamyTelungupalayam - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integration, collaborative features, and enhances data exploration
There are several areas for improvement in SAP Analytics Cloud. Firstly, features available in SAP Lumira are missing in SAP Analytics Cloud. Secondly, the predictive analytics functions, although promising, are currently only suitable for Proof of Concepts (POCs) and not for industrial-scale use. Lastly, the pricing model for the planning functionality is quite high and presents an entry barrier.
Nattawat Choosuwan - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time data connection enhances workflow and decision-making process
An area for improvement in Tableau is the Explorer license type. It is not as useful, and the product owner should enhance its benefits or clarify its role. Additionally, the frequent updates with many versions available for download can be confusing and could affect stability. They should avoid providing access to older versions on their website.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The ability to collaborate and plan together is great."
"The most valuable features are the visualization and user-friendliness."
"It is scalable."
"The tool's most valuable features are the BI and planning functionalities. I value being able to integrate smart planning with BI for analysis. The solution is user-friendly."
"Technical support is helpful."
"We mainly use Analytics Cloud because it integrates with other SAP solutions. Our ERP is an SAP product, and our back-end is SAP Business Warehouse, so integration is an essential factor."
"Planning and integration are the most valuable features. It is useful for planning, and it is useful for integrating with on-prem or cloud SAP solutions."
"In the most recent release, the schedule publication was officially updated and it's been added on MS Office 365. I like how we had an EPM for B to C perspective; it's a great enhancement. Also, I believe the B to B connectivity has been improved. Android support for mobile is really good also. Power BI has always had android support in place, so manual support for SAP Analytics Cloud is also a very good feature."
"It is a complete solution allowing a lot of integrations, different graphics, multiple operations and analyzes our date and gives us meaning from it."
"The solution helps users create dashboards and analyze data without relying on IT or product teams."
"The solution deployment was straightforward."
"I have found Tableau easy to use and the features are superb."
"I like the visualization component."
"The solution has a lot of customization when comparing to Microsoft BI."
"The maps and colors and interface are all fantastic."
"The most important feature in Tableau is visual analytics."
 

Cons

"The product could improve by enhancing connectivity issues and speeding up response times for support queries."
"Improvements are coming quarterly whereas previously it was on a monthly basis."
"Statistical analysis should be a bit more profound than it is."
"Connection and integration with other applications have a lot of restrictions at the moment."
"What should be improved in SAP Analytics Cloud is the speed of importing information and data, e.g. from SAP S/4HANA. Gathering the data from the main database takes a bit of time."
"AI doesn't work as well with SAP live connections."
"Figuring out how to navigate all of the products around Data Warehouse Cloud and SAP Analytics Cloud and BW for HANA is quite difficult."
"Could be more user-friendly; somewhat complicated to use."
"An area for improvement in Tableau is the Explorer license type. It is not as useful, and the product owner should enhance its benefits or clarify its role. Additionally, the frequent updates with many versions available for download can be confusing and could affect stability."
"It needs more ETL capabilities, to be able to address the end-to-end BI need."
"Tableau's data blending feature could use some improvement. Previously, I used other tools, such as Alteryx, for data blending because Tableau had limitations."
"To be the best in the market, Tableau has to improve its user interface and also look into developing implementing the best machine learning algorithms."
"With Tableau, when you're dealing with very large datasets, it can be slow so the performance is an area that can be improved."
"Tableau is difficult to scale because of the cost, which makes it difficult to scale."
"There's no mature ETL tool in Tableau, which is quite a negative for them."
"From a downside perspective, some of the more advanced modeling techniques are actually fairly difficult to do. In addition, I just fundamentally disagree with the way you have to implement them because you can get incorrect answers in some cases."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is pricey."
"The premium option is very expensive at five thousand dollars. I use the nine hundred and ninety-nine dollar option."
"SAP Analytics Cloud is a bit higher [in price]. Because, if Microsoft can afford a better product and lower cost, SAP can afford at least the same, or even lower."
"SAP Analytics Cloud is expensive. The price is a big issue if you compare it with other solutions from different vendors."
"SAP Analytics Cloud can be quite expensive."
"Compute and storage features should be sold separately."
"The pricing of this product is reasonable."
"It's not that costly as such for the time being."
"The price is definitely a point because smaller firms don't use Tableau as it's an expensive tool."
"Pricing could be better. I believe they should offer better pricing for deployment in small to mid-sized companies."
"Pricing is not bad. It's competitive."
"The initial cost that is set according to CPU cores is expensive."
"It is a bit overpriced."
"The price of Tableau could improve. The license is too expensive."
"Tableau is an expensive solution compared to Power BI."
"Its price is reasonable. Everything is included in the license."
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Comparison Review

it_user6330 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 2, 2013
MicroStrategy vs. Tableau
After a recent presentation, several attendees asked me about the applications of Visual Insights and Tableau. Many companies are investing in both tools and are trying to figure out the right tool for specific applications Tableau has found its sweet-spot as an agile discovery tool that analysts…
 

Answers from the Community

ME
Sep 27, 2023
Sep 27, 2023
In case you are working for a small accounting firm, Tableau or Power Bi may cover all your needs. It is important, what kind of ERP system do you use. Are you running SAP S4/Hana, stay in SAP word. If you run other product look to other options. Does not make sense to use SAP AC only, far too expensive and will be hard to utilize fully. Solutions like Tableau or Power Bi are easy to use and wi...
See 2 answers
Kapil Rampal - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 27, 2023
Tableau is a fantastic product. It works really well and is remarkably easy to use. SAP Analytics Cloud is also a good product. Both are quite inexpensive. Personally, I prefer Tableau for its ease of use and quick results. 
Milan Orendac - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 27, 2023
In case you are working for a small accounting firm, Tableau or Power Bi may cover all your needs. It is important, what kind of ERP system do you use. Are you running SAP S4/Hana, stay in SAP word. If you run other product look to other options. Does not make sense to use SAP AC only, far too expensive and will be hard to utilize fully. Solutions like Tableau or Power Bi are easy to use and will give you great result. On the other side it is not so much about the system, but about data quality, this is the key. 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Educational Organization
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
43%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - Tableau or SAP Analytics Cloud?
Tableau is easy to set up and maintain. In about a day it is possible for the entire platform to be deployed for use. This relatively short amount of time can make all the difference for companies ...
What do you like most about SAP Analytics Cloud?
In the data warehouse, you're free to make changes. You can make everything text, meaning it's always a string. Even numbers appear as text, giving you the flexibility to work with all columns.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Analytics Cloud?
The pricing model for SAP Analytics Cloud is quite competitive, but the cost for the planning functionality is high and can be a barrier to entry. The overall cost can be managed with better billin...
Seeking lightweight open source BI software
It depends on the Data architecture and the complexity of your requirement. Some great tools in the market are Qlik Sense, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, etc. I have recently started using Cognos Enter...
Tableau vs. Business Objects - Which is a better solution for visualization and analysis?
Both tools have their positives and negatives. First, I should mention that I am relatively new to Tableau. I have been working on and off Tableau for about a year, but getting to work on it consta...
What do you like most about Tableau?
Tableau is a fantastic tool that provides impressive dashboards and customized reports.
 

Also Known As

SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Online
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Live Oak Bank
Accenture, Adobe, Amazon.com, Bank of America, Charles Schwab Corp, Citigroup, Coca-Cola Company, Cornell University, Dell, Deloitte, Duke University, eBay, Exxon Mobil, Fannie Mae, Ferrari, French Red Cross, Goldman Sachs, Google, Government of Canada, HP, Intel, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Macy's, Merck, The New York Times, PayPal, Pfizer, US Army, US Air Force, Skype, and Walmart.
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Analytics Cloud vs. Tableau and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.