Tableau Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Consultant with 501-1,000 employees

Sep 23, 2014

Tableau is an excellent data discovery and visualisation tool, enabling intuitive data analysis without formal training.

What is most valuable?

Easy setup and intuitive drag and drop functionality. Easy connection to a range of different data sources. Range of visualisation models, constantly extending with new releases. Dashboards and story-telling.

How has it helped my organization?

It has allowed a shift from IT-centric enterprise reporting to business-centered development of ad-hoc and enterprise reporting, in partnership with IT. This brings significant extra agility to the organisation and a model of greater co-operation between business units and IT department.

What needs improvement?

As with all products there are many areas that can be improved. Tableau actively encourages suggestions from its user community, allowing for voting on what features to include it future releases. http://community.tableausoftware.com/community/idea

For how long have I used the solution?

3 years, starting with Tableau 6.0.

Buyer's Guide

Tableau

January 2025

Free Report: Tableau Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No significant deployment issues. With a sufficiently resourced infrastructure (CPU/RAM/Storage) the product is easily deployed. Tableau helps with the necessary specifications.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a mature and very stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is very good, especially with release of Tableau 8 which brought 64-bit and multi-threading. Extends to hundreds of users on a single server in my organisation without any issues and has capability to include clusters of servers for larger organisations.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service: Very good. Very little need to deal with them on an ongoing basis due to the robustness of the product but on the occasional time we need some help they are very responsive.Technical Support: Initially very good with strong technical support easily reached. As the Tableau user-base has grown quickly there are more formalities to reaching support now but still top-quartile. Again little need to lean on them due to the stability of the product and strong online documentation and forum support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Oracle Discoverer. Switched because we needed to move to a partnership model between IT and Business units. While Discoverer allowed for power users in the business to author reports its metadata layer and underlying database technology required more intensive IT support. Tableau enables the business user while giving more agility to work together to deliver ranges of enterprise solutions.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward. Get a good server and provision it according to Tableau’s technical advice, install, and you’re away.

What about the implementation team?

Mainly in-house, some support from Tableau themselves and also a local Tableau partner. Expertise of partners not great at the time in Europe but has matured considerably over the last few years.

What was our ROI?

Commercially sensitive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Commercially sensitive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Sas Microsoft SSRS Qliktech Oracle OBIEE Microstrategy

What other advice do I have?

Assess your own strengths and create a preferred architecture. Then see if Tableau fits some of your needs. For anything significant in scale you will need a robust underlying data architecture, it won’t do all of your ETL. While it is possible to create and deploy artifacts very quickly without formal training, it is worth sourcing some to help you leverage the best features of the product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user7506

Consultant at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Jul 3, 2013

Qlikview vs Tableau? I have to choose and I’m not sure

Most users love Excel, non-users hate it. When it comes to data visualization, Excel is generally dispised, except by those that have to make dozens of charts every single day. I call this the Excel Stockolm Syndrome. These are the forsaken data visualization users that keep making 3D pies when they should know better by now. Tired and overwhelmed. Not in the mood the learn yet another tool just to make those elusive “effective charts”. If you link good visualization to a tool they have no access to, you can be sure that the whole message is lost.

Becoming a Data Visualization Anarchist

I think things can be changed from the inside, improving the way people use Excel. I write for Excel users because I’m one of them. That’s not going to change soon. But I love data visualization, not the tools that make it happen. I specially like interaction, multiple charts and making them available on the web. And I need to manage more data (not big data, just more data). Some things can’t be done in Excel or require too much effort.

The Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa has a funny short story called The Anarchist Banker. The idea is that only a banker can be a true anarchist, because only a banker can be free from “social fictions”, specially money… In data visualization, this means getting the tools out of the way, by learning them or avoiding them.

I chose the learning path and I’m learning R now. I always wanted to make those scatterplot matrices. And I want to play with the ggplot2 package. A programming language is covered but R is not going to pay the bills.

Enter Tableau and Qlikview

I will not complicate matters by discussing how I chose Tableau and Qlikview and not Spotfire, for example. I just want to choose one. Qlikview vs Tableau. Comparison articles like this and this are very helpful, but a man is a man with his circumstances. Each starting point is different from everyone else. Let me tell you what I think I know about these tools in this early stage.

Tableau

I like Tableau, I have to admit it. I like the fact that you don’t have to fight stupid defaults in design and formatting, because I share the same data visualization principles.

I like its enthusiastic and knowledgeable community. Let me give you two simple examples. I spent a lot of time making this horizon chart in Excel, and Joe Mako quickly came up with a better version in Tableau.

Then I tried to be creative with the bamboo charts and Joe Mako strikes again, with a better implementation. I’m starting to get nervous… (kidding)

I know and respect many Tableau users, not because of Tableau but because I share the same views regarding data visualization.

Apparently, maps in Tableau are good enough, so that’s a good point.

And as a blogger, I want to make my work available to the web, and Tableau Public is a nice option (my population pyramid).

The Guardian often publishes Tableau visualizations. I’d like to try that with the local newspapers here.

On the other hand, we know how stubborn some datavis experts are. Is Tableau that stubborn? Can clear vision and the right principles become a straitjacket? I really hate straitjackets (“the idea of”, never actually tried one…)

In my country, Tableau is virtually unknown and I am not sure if I want to sell shoes in Africa.

Qlikview

I know even less about Qlikview. The first chart I see in its video is the pie chart above. Not exactly a shiny example of good data visualization principles.

Apparently there is a very active Qlikview community on Linkedin but not so much on Twitter. Probably this is meaningful.

I keep reading that Qlikview is better than Tableau when it comes to making dashboards, while you should explore the data with Tableau. It’s a good point in favor of Qlikview (that’s what I need now). Extensions and the market seem to be interesting too.

Qlikview has several business partners here. Actually, I was invited to work in some Qlikview projects in 2013 (obviously I have to learn the basics until then). They can pay a lot of bills.

Its not always about features

Not everything is black and white, not everything can be decided based on feature-by-feature comparison. Not everything is heart, not everything is reason. If I choose Tableau, my data visualization skills will improve a lot. Qlikview is harder to predict. I’m sure there are many users that dislike the pie above. If not, Qlikview can be more, hummm, challenging.

What I’m going to do

I mentioned those Qlikview projects, but I’ll try to remove them from the equation, at least for now.

I have a simple dashboard in Excel and I’d like to create Tableau and Qlikview versions. That’s probably one best ways to evaluate a tool, using my own work.

So, can you help me?

I’d love to learn from you. Can you answer questions like:

How do they compare regarding maps? Is it simple to add your own maps?
Is it true that it’s easier to make a a centrally designed dashboard in Qlikview, while Tableau has a more exploratory nature?
How can I share a Qlikview chart in my blog?

And please don’t tell me I have to learn both…

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user256266Senior Insights Analyst at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees

Report as inappropriate

Jun 16, 2015

Thanks Jorge!

Free Report: Tableau Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.

reviewer843948

Subject Matter Expert, IT Operations Management, CS Professor at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees

Oct 6, 2021

Download

Good data visualization features like heat maps and story boards

Pros and Cons

"I like Tableau's heat maps and the storyboard. You can create data stories and tons of visuals with it, and it goes together really well. Tableau lets you manipulate the data in various ways."

"The price of Tableau is too high."

What is our primary use case?

I'm a computer science professor and I teach analytics. We use Tableau to teach students how to develop visualizations of data sets.

What is most valuable?

I like Tableau's heat maps and the storyboard. You can create data stories and tons of visuals with it, and it goes together really well. Tableau lets you manipulate the data in various ways. But since we are teaching, we have to accommodate the needs of the students. Often, we have to go back to basic stuff like Excel because that is what the students will be working with at whatever jobs they get. So we try to use the type of tools that their workplace will offer. We know Excel is widely used and Tableau is not.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Tableau for about half a year or so.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's an individual solution so it works on as many desktops as you can download it to.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using Azure, but we're trying to get away from that because Microsoft is very expensive. We're trying to keep our expenses down while trying to find some decent products.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Tableau is straightforward. You just can download it and set it up on your system in five minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of Tableau is too high.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Tableau eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

NanthaKumar

Delivery Lead at UST

Jun 7, 2021

Download

Mature, easy to use, and connecting to OBIEE works well

Pros and Cons

"It's intuitive and highly mature"

"The customization in the front end is a bit difficult."

What is our primary use case?

I am a developer and I provide solutions to end-users using Tableau.

What is most valuable?

It's intuitive and highly mature.

I use OBIEE, which is in Tableau. It is much easier than in other tools and it is easier to bring up the data insights.

What needs improvement?

The customization in the front end is a bit difficult. If they provide any utility or UI feature, where a user can do their own customization it would be great.

I would like to see an option to customize your own reports. Not being able to customize is a pain point for the developers.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Tableau for six years.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good, but they could use some improvement. I would rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

There can be some delays in resolving issues because of the difference in time zones. The need to come with a way to match the time zones.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others but it would depend on their use cases.

I would rate Tableau a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

it_user845916

MEA Sales Director at DR at ComNavy

Apr 16, 2018

Download

Makes the reporting stage simple to use

Pros and Cons

"The most important feature is the tool is very easy to use. This makes it simple to introduce it to CxOs. After a rapid demo, they are usual impressed by the results shown, because it has such a rare simplicity."
"It has made the reporting stage simple and enabled us to focus mainly on the ETL part"

"It needs more ETL capabilities, to be able to address the end-to-end BI need."
"The ability to use it on MAC machines. As far as I know, this is not possible."

What is our primary use case?

As a BI system integrator. we design performance solutions for different industries. We do use different tools in our solutions, and Tableau software is one of the our partners. One of the solutions we developed for a telecom client was a performance management tool. The solution used reporting dashboards based on network performance KPIs.

How has it helped my organization?

Using Tableau, it has made the reporting stage simple and enabled us to focus mainly on the ETL part.

What is most valuable?

The most important feature is the tool is very easy to use. This makes it simple to introduce it to CxOs. After a rapid demo, they are usual impressed by the results shown, because it has such a rare simplicity.

What needs improvement?

Needs more ETL capabilities, to be able to address the end-to-end BI need.
The ability to use it on MAC machines. As far as I know, this is not possible.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are a BI system integrator. Tableau Software is one of our partners.

it_user120990

Manager - CRO at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees

Aug 31, 2016

Download

The way it incorporates user-level data with geographic mapping really helps in building strategy at the top-most level. For huge data sets, it takes a lot of time to load the data.

What is most valuable?

The ability to connect to different sources of data like SQL, Excel, etc. makes Tableau a very smart tool for data visualization.
The way it incorporates user-level data with geographic mapping really helps in building strategy at the top-most level.
Sharing dashboards among the team is extremely hassle free and also the data being up to date makes management extremely happy.

How has it helped my organization?

All-important, high-level metrics are at the fingertips of top management, which makes decision making less painful and more data oriented.

All employees have access to real-time data, which makes customer management a nuanced affair, because of which there is stark reduction in errors.

What needs improvement?

Better dashboard creation
Ease of making reports

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used it for two years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Once the reports are created, there are no issues at all. The only problem is the speed of loading data. For huge data sets, it takes a lot of time to load data. With Google' Data Studio coming out, they might want to improve this aspect of the tool.

How are customer service and technical support?

Service is excellent and their support staff are very quick to answer any queries.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not evaluate any other solutions. We only worked with Tableau, as it was industry ready.

How was the initial setup?

It is a pretty straightforward setup, as described on their website. If you follow those instructions correctly, there wouldn't be any problem.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house, as it helped us streamline things and rolling out required dashboards faster and more accurately.
A team of two with basic tech background is more than enough to start off with.
The learning curve is very flat, so within a month, resources can be ready to roll out reports.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Their price is as per industry standard and any company in analytics business will be comfortable with the pricing plans.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user10302

Business Applications Architect at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Sep 23, 2013

Tableau has enabled us to make some important business decisions about market potential and product development.

Pros:
- Tableau can be used to retrieve data from multidimensional relational databases, spreadsheets and from cloud databases.
- Simple to develop worksheets and dashboards.

Cons:
- Didn't come across any yet, but yet we are still trying out many features.

Deployment:
Deployment was very easy and went through the installation videos and documentation prior to installation.

The training documents that are available online are very detailed and interactive. The instructors were very clear and concise in their presentations and demos and it was very easy to understand.

Business Metrics:
We have implemented dashboards for web analytics and were able to analyze the international market potential for our future product line, and reorganized the key team players to implement the product, reducing costs by resource allocation and targeting key countries for launching the products.

We have also implemented financial metrics dashboards, and were able to restructure resources, discontinued under-performing products, and shifted focus towards potential future products to be developed and implemented. We saved resource and project costs from discontinuing some products and cutting operating costs to become more profitable.

Alternate Vendors:
We did consider Oracle OBIEE, but the cost and functionality we need for our business is adequate with Tableau.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer938061

Sr. Solution Architect at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Nov 19, 2021

Download

Other tools are priced more competitively but this provides all the functionality our clients need

Pros and Cons

"Since Tableau is on the cloud, we haven't faced any challenges around scalability."

"Other tools are more competitively priced."

What is our primary use case?

Tableau can be helpful for BI reports and data dashboards. For example, say you are getting data from a few systems, and you want to see a consolidated report, like a management report or a transactional report. We use Tableau to build a dashboard using the data that we get.

For how long have I used the solution?

I'm in a pre-sales role, so I don't have a lot of practical hands-on experience with Tableau, but there are experts in my company, and we've been using the solution for more than five years.
We're consultants. If a customer wants to build a dashboard or run some custom reports using Tableau, we do the engineering part.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Performance-wise, Tableau is good but it could always be better.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Since Tableau is on the cloud, we haven't faced any challenges around scalability. Since I'm not an engineer, I don't know if that scalability comes from the cloud infrastructure or Tableau itself. I can't rate it properly on that front.

How was the initial setup?

The complexity of deploying Tableau generally depends on the size of the project. As far as I know, it takes two or three Tableau engineers for the bigger projects where we're using utilizing them to build a database.

To clarify, I'm talking about the engineers building the custom solutions for our clients, not consuming them. To construct the Tableau reports or the database we use to generate the reports, we need two or three Tableau engineers and around the same number of database engineers to generate the data or write the scripts required for generating the reports.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Tableau seven out of 10. Other tools are more competitively priced, but I wouldn't give it a low rating because Tableau still provides the functionality our clients need. I would recommend it.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner