The most valuable feature is the ease of use.
Director of Professional Services, Analytics at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Easy to set up, stable, and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the ease of use."
- "With Tableau, there is a gap in its ability to handle very large-scale data."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
With Tableau, there is a gap in its ability to handle very large-scale data. I would like it to be similar to the rest of the solutions, which can handle terabytes of data.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have used Tableau within the past year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good.
Buyer's Guide
Tableau
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Tableau is not as scalable from an enterprise perspective as some of the other tools out there.
How are customer service and support?
I've had no problems so I have not been in contact with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In addition to Tableau, we're a licensed Cognos user and we also use Microsoft BI.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed it myself.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Product Manager at Rabita Software
Enables us to visualize our raw data
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "In the next release, I would like to be able to have the option to see more raw data that I'm converting on the dashboard."
What is our primary use case?
Tableau is an analytics tool so we use it to feed the data. I get the raw data. We use it for business problems. If I want to see what is happening in the market I have Tableau's raw data. I'll make sure that I take all that data and feed it into Tableau.
What is most valuable?
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.
It's one of the fastest-growing data visualization and data analytics tools. It aims to help people see the data. You can simplify and convert raw data into a very understandable format. That's the good thing about Tableau.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Tableau for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. It's easy to use. It's user-friendly.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is quite flexible. It designed to give a more flexible scaling experience. It's quite easy to add users. The Tableau server can support 200 users.
How are customer service and technical support?
I get good support from the Tableau team. If I have any issues, they're able to solve my issue within 24 to 48 hours. If I create an issue, they resolve it between 24 to 48 hours. If I have an issue, I'll just send in a form in the Tableau portal.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy. My IT team took care of setting up the licensing part.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also evaluated Power BI and Qlikview. I'm more comfortable with Tableau, it's user-friendly.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Tableau a nine out of ten.
It's a good thing that I'm able to visualize my raw data. In the next release, I would like to be able to have the option to see more raw data that I'm converting on the dashboard.
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.
Buyer's Guide
Tableau
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about Tableau. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Technical Architect - Sr. Manager at Axtria - Ingenious Insights
Robust visualization, a functional UI, and it integrates well
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the richness of its visualization and from a self-service standpoint, the ease of use."
- "The data processing in Tableau is pathetic compared to Qlik."
What is our primary use case?
There are many and various use cases. Some use it internally for inter-department analytics, sales analytics, campaign management, and sentiment analysis.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the richness of its visualization and from a self-service standpoint, the ease of use.
The interface is fine. The functionality in the UI front is good as well.
It integrates easily.
From a UI visualization standpoint, I think it's pretty robust.
What needs improvement?
The data processing in Tableau is pathetic compared to Qlik.
In Qlik, I can replace my ELD layer for an application. This can't be done in Tableau.
The initial processing of data in Tableau takes a lot of effort.
If there could be a feature that a particular visual can be exported or just the data behind the particular visual can be exported in one single click, just one button on a visual and it exports the relevant data out to Excel or a CSV output, that would be good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tableau since 2014, maybe even before that.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's pretty stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's decently scalable. I have been able to scale it pretty easily.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is good. On a scale of five, I would say four.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is neither straightforward nor complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing is not bad. It's competitive.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a BI Architect.
My recommendation for this solution would depend on the use cases.
I would rate Tableau and eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Performance and Business Intelligence Specialist at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Good visualization features and reasonably-priced, but the ETL process is time-consuming
Pros and Cons
- "Compared to other products, visualization features are really good."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
We use Tableau for working with data.
What is most valuable?
Compared to other products, visualization features are really good. When it comes to data availability and visualization, some tools like PowerBI give 20% to the visualization and 80% to the data. With Tableau, it gives 80% to the visualization and 20% to the data.
What needs improvement?
All of the BI tools have graphical interfaces but when it comes to the learning environment, not every tool has everything. 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.
Including data storage capabilities would be helpful.
During the data crunching phase, it takes time for Tableau to connect, integrate, and download the data. In general, it takes a lot of time for the ETL process.
Increasing the trial period to six months would allow people to better learn and assess the tool to determine whether it suits their needs.
Given the price of BI tools, Tableau should consider giving a scholarship to people so that they can learn how to work with the tool. It would be helping some of the people who lost their jobs during this pandemic. If the users learn and become certified on Tableau, it would help to get more people interested in the tool.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Tableau for approximately five years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Tableau is reasonable compared to other products. One thing to keep in mind is that price is not the only thing to consider. The first time that you want to test any BI tool, you have to give the user some time to work with it and learn it. This means that the trial period should be as long as possible.
Many startups can't afford most of the BI tools, so they are looking for open-source platforms.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are currently focused on building a data lake. Whether it is ultimately a data lake, data warehouse, or other data storage, we will require tools. There are several that we are looking into now. It is a collective effort with the data and the tools that we have, and what BI tools are necessary and required. Some of the solutions we are looking at are Alteryx, Azure, and Qlik Sense, in addition to Tableau.
With Qlik Sense, there is an ETL component and there is also a data storage option.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy for creating visualizations and dashboards, but a bit slow in handling huge enterprise-level data
Pros and Cons
- "Its dashboarding is the most valuable. It is easy to create visualizations and dashboards and import Excel sheets and ESP files in Tableau as compared to other tools."
- "I am a BI consultant. I have worked on different reporting tools, such as Power BI and MicroStrategy. As compared to other tools, Tableau lags behind in handling huge enterprise-level data in terms of robust security and the single integrated metadata concept. When we connect to large or very big databases, then performance-wise, I sometimes found Tableau a little bit slow. It can have the single metadata concept like other tools for the reusability of the objects in multiple reports."
What is most valuable?
Its dashboarding is the most valuable. It is easy to create visualizations and dashboards and import Excel sheets and ESP files in Tableau as compared to other tools.
What needs improvement?
I am a BI consultant. I have worked on different reporting tools, such as Power BI and MicroStrategy. As compared to other tools, Tableau lags behind in handling huge enterprise-level data in terms of robust security and the single integrated metadata concept. When we connect to large or very big databases, then performance-wise, I sometimes found Tableau a little bit slow.
It can have the single metadata concept like other tools for the reusability of the objects in multiple reports.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have around three years of experience in using Tableau.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is fine. However, in my experience, I haven't seen large-scale projects in Tableau. For such projects, tools like Cognos and MicroStrategy were used. It may be because I didn't get a chance to work on very large projects. I have seen it being used only for small-scale to medium-scale projects, not for large-scale projects.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. We can configure the server and do all the setup in half a day.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is reasonable and cheap as compared to other major tools. It has a good price, and people go for it because of its pricing.
What other advice do I have?
For small-scale to medium-scale projects, I would recommend Tableau or Power BI. For large-scale projects, I would recommend MicroStrategy.
I would rate Tableau a seven out of ten. Most of the things are good in this solution.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Team Lead at Peristent Systems
Very interactive with great dashboards and good virtualization
Pros and Cons
- "The action feature which Tableau has is very useful for us. If we click on one visualization, it will pass the value to another visualization. That interactivity within different visualizations is the most valuable feature of Tableau."
- "The pricing is a bit higher than the competition. They'll need to lower it to stay competitive."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for HR and energy dashboards. We have made and a few other dashboards for opportunities and accounts.
What is most valuable?
Tableau has really good and interactive visualization and interactivity.
The action feature which Tableau has is very useful for us. If we click on one visualization, it will pass the value to another visualization. That interactivity within different visualizations is the most valuable feature of Tableau.
What needs improvement?
Tableau would be really good if we could have predefined templates. I was doing a POC another newer tool, Einstein Analytics. They have predefined templates already set up. These predefined templates do the heavy lifting for the initial dashboards. We don't have to build them from scratch. Our dashboards look really good and 20 to 30% of the look and feel of the dashboard completes with the predefined templates. If Tableau works on the predefined templates, that would be so helpful to a lot of companies. It would save time for the developers.
The pricing is a bit higher than the competition. They'll need to lower it to stay competitive.
They need to move more into machine learning AI. Right now, in a POC that I'm doing with Einstein Analytics, they are more into machine learning and AI. Tableau is lagging as of now. If they want to have a long run in the market, they need to integrate machine learning and AI. It has to be very robust.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two years now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I can say that this solution is quite scalable. I'd rate it eight out of ten. It integrates with many solutions. I haven't used our code in everything, however, I have used it for our HR integration and I find the code is quite scalable.
In the last project I managed, there were 110 regular users of the solution with about 20 suer-users that were able to edit reports and dashboards and tasks of that nature.
How are customer service and technical support?
I'd give technical support a nine out of ten. There were time zone differences. However, I got a timely reply and call from them, so it was very good. The support is very good. It's both responsive and helpful. I'm quite satisfied with them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've used BusinessObjects and MicroStrategy as well. I used to use Power BI for a few months.
The main competitor to this product is Power BI, which I also use. This license is a bit costly compared to Power BI. Not more, but a bit costly from what I've seen.
There's not much of a difference between Power BI and Tableau. They have the same kind of interface and the features. The main difference between the BusinessObjects and the others is that its an enterprise tool. The licensing cost of the BusinessObjects is very, very expensive. The visualizations and objects etc., all have separate licensing for dashboarding. On top of that, the chart's not that interactive. If you click on one chart, it will automatically change the data of the several other charts related to that. That is not very interactive compared to Tableau or Power BI.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not exactly straightforward. It was complex, or, to be fair, had a medium amount of complexity to it. The use cases were complex also and few of them had medium complexity to begin with.
Deployment was basically in the development environment and then we deployed it in the UAT for the users. They had a look at our reports in UAT first and then we deployed it into production. I was also working as a Tableau administrator also and then I learned Tableau administration in order to handle that aspect. I handled Tableau administration with the user and deployed the reports, etc.
The company has different verticals basically. I worked on HR and energy verticals. They also had finance and accounts. I have to maintain that administration part for all of them; not just my dashboards. From a deployment perspective, it was tough for me to maintain all the users and all the rules for the accounts department and for finance, and to be in the group for them, and to assign permissions for them. I did have issues in the servers in terms of gateways. I resolved them myself in the end with the help of Tableau support.
What about the implementation team?
I handled the implementation myself. I didn't need the assistance of a reseller or consultant.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The company chose to purchase a creator license for me, which was $70. With that license, you can also be an administrator. We also have 20-25 extra licenses and they cost around $20-$35 each. Those are for normal users who will be viewing the dashboards. Those are monthly charges.
There aren't any other costs over and above that.
Apart from that we had database licensing. So because we used Snowflake as a cloud database.
What other advice do I have?
Our company has a partnership with Tableau.
I've used both on-premises and cloud, depending on the requirements.
This particular solution is quite an easy to use product. It's very robust. Even a layman who has previously was not worked with any other BI tools would love to work on this. They will find many things easier to implement. There are a few other tools that are in the market. However, from an implementation point of view, it's very robust.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
A user-friendly and intuitive interface with good community support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the interface, which is user-friendly and intuitive."
- "The charts in Tableau are quite limited."
What is our primary use case?
We use Tableau for BI reporting.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the interface, which is user-friendly and intuitive. Even for somebody new, who has no idea of how a BI tool is supposed to function from a technical standpoint, it is very intuitive. You simply import the data and then use the drag-and-drop capabilities.
What needs improvement?
Data cleansing and data transformation functionality need to be improved. Tableau is not a full-stack BI tool, like Sisense. Including this type of functionality would add flavor to the tool.
The main point is that Tableau requires the data to be in a certain format for the end-user, in order for them to create charts. If it's not in a certain format, or in a certain structure, then the user will have to manipulate it.
The charts in Tableau are quite limited.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tableau for a few years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Tableau caters to a lot of databases and flat files, which means that you can connect to multiple data sources. In this regard, I would say that it is quite scalable.
We have between 40 and 50 users in the company.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are quite satisfied with community support. It is always there if you need any help and I am pretty happy with it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked with other BI tools including Spotfire and Power BI. There are not as visually appealing as Tableau and I would stay that purely from the UI perspective, Tableau definitely has the upper hand.
Conversely, Power BI has some capabilities that are missing in Tableau. Examples of this are charts and graphs. If you want to create something that's customizable, it's a very difficult and tedious task in Tableau. This is unlike Power BI or Sisense.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy. Once you download it, it is a typical setup with a series of screens where you just press the Next button. Anybody can install it in a few minutes.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am currently researching Sisense to get an idea of what the pros and cons of the different BI tools are. Sisense is a more complete tool that includes data cleaning, data transformation, and ETL capabilities right in the tool.
Tableau, on the other hand, is used for visualizations, dashboards, and storytelling. Their data has been cleaned or preprocessed in an SQL database beforehand.
What other advice do I have?
Tableau is a product that I recommend.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director of Development at Strat-Wise Consulting
Tableau provides very fast interactive visual analysis.
I do use both Tableau and QlikView. Although very different, I really like both solutions. They belong to the new BI generation known as Interactive Visual Analytics.
In my opinion, QlikView has a more intuitive interface for regular users or executives that are not technical experts but the development side is a little more complex. Up to version 12 QlikView did not provide drag & drop features.
If a user wanted to see something not included in the application the new object had to be created by a power user or developer because Qlikview's scripting has somewhat of a learning curve.
On the positive side, QlikView's scripting is a great asset as it functions as an ETL allowing the integration of hundreds of different data sources into the same visual app.
Another feature that’s extremely useful is Qlik’s proprietary Associative Model that allows the users to visualize data relationships that exist as well as those that do not.
Tableau on the other hand is a lot easier to use for developers, analysts or power users who need to connect, manipulate and visualize data rather quickly. While this makes Tableau a better fit for the more analytical crowd, it may not be as appealing or intuitive to the regular or casual business users as QlikView is.
Tableau has full pivot, drag & drop and drill down capabilities that are great for developers or power users. They can rotate measures and dimensions and graph them instantly using visualization best practices as suggested by the "show-me" feature.
Tableau’s provides a forecasting function and the capability to connect with the open source statistical program R to include predictive modeling.
Tableau includes a Data Interpreter that makes data cleansing, column splitting and crosstab pivoting very intuitive. Tableau’s latest versions allow joining tables from different data bases and have included the hyper data engine that provides 5 times faster query speeds.
The latest version includes "relationships" with an algorithm that makes
the necessary data connections automatically with no need to perform joins or add Level of Detail scripts (LOD) to eliminate duplicates. However one can still create joins to override relationships if for some reason it was necessary.
Also when opening older files containing joins they are kept under a
"migrated data base" or the migrated joins can be deleted to be replaced with simpler automatic relationships. Tableau releases updated versions once a quarter.
Both Tableau and Qlik continue to be excellent. They are positioned at the top of the leader's quadrant in Gartner's 2022 Magic Quadrant report for BI and Analytics platforms.
In my experience the choice depends on the fit with the company culture and the users' profile.
Qlik introduction of their new platform called “Qlik Sense” provides intuitive drag & drop functionality to create visualizations. At this point Qlik Sense Desktop is free for personal and small group of cloud business users that need to easily develop analytic applications on their own - with virtually no IT intervention.
Recently Tableau has moved to a subscription based model but still offers free products: Tableau Public and Tableau Reader to ease the user entry process.
It certainly seems like Qlik Sense is an attempt to regain some of the impressive growth Tableau has enjoyed during the last few years playing in the truly self-service visual BI segment.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tableau Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2025
Popular Comparisons
Microsoft Power BI
Informatica PowerCenter
Teradata
IBM Cognos
Amazon QuickSight
SAP Analytics Cloud
Qlik Sense
Domo
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform
Oracle OBIEE
MicroStrategy
SAS Visual Analytics
Oracle Analytics Cloud
Looker
Apache Superset
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tableau Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- QlikView or Tableau - Which is better?
- What's your experience or opinion about Spotfire vs. Tableau vs. Qlik?
- I currently use Panorama Necto as a viewer on SQL Analysis services cube--what other solutions are out there?
- Business users moving from Tableau to MS Report builder
- Tableau vs. Business Objects - Which is a better solution for visualization and analysis?
- Tableau vs. Spotfire - What do I need to know regarding pricing and usability?
- I'm looking for real info about licensing, ease of setup and other costs involved. Can you help?
- Tableau 10: Best New/Improved Features
- A journalist is writing a story about which Data Visualization software product to choose. Can you help him?
- Tableau vs. QlikView - functionality and pricing schemes
Thank you Mr.Guillermo (Bill) Cabiro You Had shared a Great knowledge about Tableau and Qlikview and I had learn More information in this post Thanks a lot...onlineitguru.com