Sigma vs Tableau comparison

Sigma Computing and Salesforce are both solutions in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category. Sigma Computing is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.0, while Salesforce is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Sigma Computing holds a 1.3% mindshare in BIT, compared to Salesforce’s 17.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Sigma Computing users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

Sigma

Read 6 Sigma reviews

1,348 Views
647 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Tableau

Read 303 Tableau reviews

17,456 Views
14,743 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Sigma

Tableau

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Tableau and Sigma compete in the analytics and business intelligence market. Sigma often has the upper hand in features and ease of deployment, making it a compelling choice for many users.

Features: Tableau offers powerful data visualization capabilities, extensive third-party integrations, and a comprehensive dashboard experience. Sigma provides an intuitive spreadsheet-like interface for data exploration, real-time collaboration features, and seamless cloud integration. Key differences include Tableau's advanced visualization tools versus Sigma's flexibility and ease of collaboration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Tableau follows a traditional deployment model with comprehensive customer support known for responsiveness. Sigma's cloud-based approach simplifies deployment and provides proactive service with quick responses, offering a cloud-first solution for faster updates and deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Tableau typically involves higher initial costs due to licensing fees and setup, leading to a more gradual ROI driven by its extensive features. Sigma offers lower upfront costs with a cloud subscription model, resulting in quicker ROI, especially concerning ongoing operational efficiencies. The contrast lies in the immediate value and lower initial investment that Sigma offers compared to Tableau's feature-rich but costlier solution.

To learn more, read our detailed Sigma vs. Tableau Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Sigma vs. Tableau

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 849,686 peers since 2012

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

Sigma

Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

17th

Ranking in Data Visualization

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Tableau

Ranking in BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

2nd

Ranking in Data Visualization

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

303

Ranking in other categories

Reporting (2nd), Embedded BI (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the BI (Business Intelligence) Tools category, the mindshare of Sigma is 1.3%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tableau is 17.1%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

Russell Rothstein

Founder and CEO at PeerSpot

Modern dashboards and reports enhance decision-making and presentations

I would love to be able to create my own reports in Sigma, as I can do in Salesforce. Either we are not using it properly, or the software is too complicated. It would be great if there was a way for me to create reports without relying on a data analyst. I'm interested in the upcoming AI co-pilot to enable natural language generation of visualizations and reports. Also, the marketing materials did not match what I feel we've received. Regarding pricing, Sigma's pricing doesn't allow more people to have the ability to create their own reports. We have very few admin or report creator licenses, while everyone else is on a view-only mode.

Read full review

Nattawat Choosuwan

Senior Data Consultant at a government with 11-50 employees

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Sigma is the detailed reports."

"The tool's interface is easy to use. The functions listed as a part of the menu items are easy to use."

"Sigma is a great software for non-technical business users. If someone's familiar with pivot tables or Excel or Google Sheets, they should be able to pick up Sigma pretty quickly. There is a very low bar for onboarding."

"Sigma serves as the visualization and reporting front end."

"The most valuable aspect for me is having real-time data."

"The most valuable feature of Sigma is the detailed reports."

"I find the collaborative features, such as commenting, to be very valuable."

"The solution is being delivered to our customer, who appreciates the insights generated from the reports. It is easy for them to drill into the details and use interactive charts."

"It is easy to use, and it can handle a large amount of data."

"I work for clients. That is my business model. Business people really like to see Tableau. They love Tableau because it is very user-friendly. The platform provides an easy to use interface, which is what most people like about it."

"Provides a very good sound analysis quotient."

"A valuable feature of Tableau is that it is a useful tool for small setups. I shuffle between Tableau and MicroStrategy, so I use Tableau for personal purposes more than enterprise. I like the light version of Tableau for personal usage and doing some use cases on my own. When it comes to something small, I use Tableau for setups, rather than any other tool."

"Tableau's initial setup was straightforward."

"It's very user-friendly. It's not like Power BI, Tableau is very user-friendly. Anybody can use Tableau. It's very easy to adopt things. I can visualize the stats."

"This solution has transformed us from an Excel reporting environment to one of visual exploration."

More Tableau pros

Cons

"Sigma lacks a versioning feature to track changes. There is a need for better structuring, like a folder system, to organize diagrams efficiently."

"Either we are not using it properly, or the software is too complicated. It would be great if there was a way for me to create reports without relying on a data analyst."

"The product's roadmap regarding introducing new features in the solution or new versions of the tool can be made better in the future."

"Sigma could have better reports."

"The only minor area for improvement lies in handling highly complex visualizations."

"I would like to see better visualization options. That would allow me to build out more visually pleasing dashboarding in Sigma."

"Sigma could have better reports."

"Overall, the only major frustration that I have had so far is with Tableau Public. I first used Tableau Public when I was building capacity, and when there was a later release to download and you wanted to upgrade, all your work would have to be manually re-entered."

"There's no mature ETL tool in Tableau, which is quite a negative for them."

"The process of embedding the dashboards on external portals and websites could be improved."

"The setup was easy but we are having some problems with the configuration that is taking a long time. We have done some initial tests and some of the delays could be from bandwidth issues. However, the whole installation process should be simplified."

"They need to improve the icons and the filters, because they look too old, resembling Excel from 1997."

"Its price is a concern. It is more expensive than Power BI. The other thing that I never liked about Tableau is its ability to handle large sets of data. To present the data in the dashboards, we have to stage it up exactly like it is going to come into the dashboard. We use another tool called Alteryx that does that for us. So, we manipulate the data, get it staged, and then push it into Tableau. Tableau is terrible at handling large data sets, and we knew right away that we couldn't use Tableau to do data manipulation."

"It is not so great when it comes to data exchange/integration, data mining, etc."

"Tableau could be improved by introducing a data manipulation layer within the tool itself. Currently, data manipulations require using additional tools like Alteryx. If Tableau included these capabilities, it would reduce the need for external dependencies. The tool gets slower when we feed huge amounts of data."

More Tableau cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The retail price is set at one thousand dollars per creator per year."

"I like the payment model. For the people who need to create, they buy their licenses. Everyone else can use the free Tableau Viewer. This is much better than some of the competitor products, which require full licences for everything."

"Its licensing cost should be improved."

"Be careful with the Tableau Viewer's licenses, and stay with the right number of users."

"The pricing of Tableau should be better to remain competitive in the market, especially when compared to alternatives."

"Tableau is an expensive solution compared to Power BI."

"The initial cost that is set according to CPU cores is expensive."

"For data extraction and analysis, Tableau is better than any other tool I have used with the same pricing model."

"There is a license for this solution and we pay on an annual basis."

More Tableau pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which BI (Business Intelligence) Tools solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user6330

Product Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

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…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

43%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Sigma?

The tool's interface is easy to use. The functions listed as a part of the menu items are easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sigma?

The pricing of Sigma is a concern, as it restricts our ability to provide more users with report-creating capabilities due to the high cost of admin or report creator licenses. Most users have view...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sigma?

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Hex vs Sigma

Compared 36% of the time

Apache Superset vs Sigma

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Sigma

Compared 8% of the time

Omni vs Sigma

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Sigma

Compared 8% of the time

More Sigma Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau

Compared 19% of the time

Domo vs Tableau

Compared 13% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Tableau

Compared 7% of the time

Databricks vs Tableau

Compared 6% of the time

SAP Analytics Cloud vs Tableau

Compared 4% of the time

More Tableau Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sigma

April 2025

Download Sigma product report

Buyer's Guide

Tableau

April 2025

Download Tableau product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Online

Overview

Sigma is the next-generation of analytics for cloud data warehouses with a familiar spreadsheet-like interface that gives business experts the power to ask any question of their data no matter the query.

Sigma Computing

Tableau is a tool for data visualization and business intelligence that allows businesses to report insights through easy-to-use, customizable visualizations and dashboards. Tableau makes it exceedingly simple for its customers to organize, manage, visualize, and comprehend data. It enables users to dig deep into the data so that they can see patterns and gain meaningful insights.

Make data-driven decisions with confidence thanks to Tableau’s assistance in providing faster answers to queries, solving harder problems more easily, and offering new insights more frequently. Tableau integrates directly to hundreds of data sources, both in the cloud and on premises, making it simpler to begin research. People of various skill levels can quickly find actionable information using Tableau’s natural language queries, interactive dashboards, and drag-and-drop capabilities. By quickly creating strong calculations, adding trend lines to examine statistical summaries, or clustering data to identify relationships, users can ask more in-depth inquiries.

Tableau has many valuable key features:

Tableau dashboards provide a complete view of your data through visualizations, visual objects, text, and more.
Tableau provides convenient, real-time options to collaborate with other users and instantly share data in the form of visualizations, sheets, and dashboards.
Tableau ensures connectivity to both live data sources and data extraction from external data sources as in-memory data. This gives users the flexibility to use data from more than one source without any restrictions.
Tableau gives many data source option, ranging from spreadsheets, big data, on-premise files, relational databases, non-relational databases, data warehouses, and big data, to on-cloud data.
Tableau has a lot of pre-installed information on maps, such as cities, postal codes, and administrative boundaries.
Tableau has a foolproof security system based on authentication and permission systems for data connections and user access. Tableau also gives you the freedom to integrate with other security protocols.

Tableau stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of these include its fast data access, easy creation of visualizations, and its stability. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

Romil S., Deputy General Manager of IT at Nayara Energy, notes, "Its visualizations are good, and its features make the development process a little less time-consuming. It has an in-memory extract feature that allows us to extract data and keep it on the server, and then our users can use it quickly.

Ariful M., Consulting Practice Partner of Data, Analytics & AI at FH, writes, “Tableau is very flexible and easy to learn. It has drag-and-drop function analytics, and its design is very good.”

Salesforce

Sample Customers

Snowflake, Fivetran ,Autodesk, Flowspace, Super League Gaming, Zumper, Clover, Volta, Olivela

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.

Buyer's Guide

Sigma vs. Tableau

April 2025

Free Report: Sigma vs. Tableau

Find out what your peers are saying about Sigma vs. Tableau and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Sigma vs. Tableau report.

See our list of best BI (Business Intelligence) Tools vendors and best Data Visualization vendors.

We monitor all BI (Business Intelligence) Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.