Tableau Cloud vs. Tableau Public

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Tableau Cloud
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Tableau Cloud (formerly Tableau Online) is a self-service analytics platform that is fully hosted in the cloud. Tableau Cloud enables users to publish dashboards and invite colleagues to explore hidden opportunities with interactive visualizations and accurate data, from any browser or mobile device.
$15
per month billed annually per user
Tableau Public
Score 9.6 out of 10
N/A
Tableau Public is a free edition of the Desktop product. With this edition, data can only be published to the Tableau public website and does not allow work to be saved or exported locally.N/A
Pricing
Tableau CloudTableau Public
Editions & Modules
Tableau Viewer
$15
per month billed annually per user
Enterprise Viewer
$35
per month billed annually per user
Tableau Explorer
$42
per month billed annually per user
Enterprise Explorer
$70
per month billed annually per user
Tableau Creator
$75
per month billed annually per user
Enterprise Creator
$115
per month billed annually per user
Tableau+
Contact Sales
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Tableau CloudTableau Public
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Tableau CloudTableau Public
Considered Both Products
Tableau Cloud
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau CLoud is much more user friendly and easy to use.
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau Cloud is ery powerful and user friendly with minimal cost when compared with other BI tools.Its robust features like switching toggles, supporting SQL queries for buiding charts and all stands out as the best.It reduces time in creating difficult and complex dashbords …
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau Cloud offers easier ways to make the content browsable by users. It also offers more flexible ways to set up self-service governance. Standard filtering functionalities are easier to use.
Chose Tableau Cloud
It seems more robust then the other platforms. There is a lot you can do from merging many different data sets together by joining them at like points, to creating visualizations of the data, or by showcasing some important data to any number of people within your organization. …
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau has a way easier Intuitive UI compare to Power BI or Amplitude. AMplitude is great since anyone could create their own dashboard, but building it it's a different thing.
Chose Tableau Cloud
When weighing the pros and cons of Tableau Online vs. SAP ERP, two key considerations emerged as clear winners. SAP ERP is a powerful data purification tool, but it doesn't measure up to the competition in terms of data presentation. When it came to data visualization and …
Chose Tableau Cloud
In my opinion, while Microsoft Power BI is a bit easier to build reports and dashboards with in part to its shared traits and connectivity with other Microsoft products, Tableau Online allows for a greater depth of customization, data sourcing, and most of all the sharing of …
Chose Tableau Cloud
Google Analytics is better for ad-hoc reporting but it's easier to create a uniform, standardized portfolio of reports in Tableau Online. We still use Google Analytics from time to time for quicker data requests.
Chose Tableau Cloud
In determining whether to go with Tableau Online versus Alteryx, two important factors stood out in determining our go-to solution. First, while Alteryx is an impressive tool for data cleansing, it did not stack up in terms of data visualization capabilities. Tableau, on the …
Chose Tableau Cloud
Googles dashboard suite is very user-friendly and anyone can edit and make changes with very little knowledge or practice. But nothing I’ve worked with compares to the customization and multi streams of data in a user-friendly package like tableau does. It’s a really cool piece …
Chose Tableau Cloud
Prior to Tableau [Online], we were using complicated excel formulas and reports that were prone to break or were not easy to format. We used a few free tools before moving forward with Tableau. The free tools also had limitations but we found that the reports, ease of use …
Chose Tableau Cloud
We selected Tableau Online as it was more easy to integrate it with our SaaS platform and get going in no time. It is much more intuitive, easy, and quick to create dashboards using Tableau than other competitors. Also the pricing provided by Tableau to us was very competitive …
Chose Tableau Cloud
I do like to still use Google Analytics for certain things, because its faster to do it in Google Analytics rather than build the report I need in Tableau. While it's helpful, we just don't have the bandwidth as an organization to be able to create every report we would need on …
Chose Tableau Cloud
  • Breadth of services offered is good with Tableau Online
  • Tableau Online offers advanced analytics and visualisations with easy implementation
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau Online provides better data visualizations (especially when comparing out of the box visualizations that are available) than MS Power BI and historically we have connected more of our data sources to Tableau vs. other platforms like Google analytics.
Chose Tableau Cloud
Microsoft Dynamics is the only other product I have interacted with that is similar to Tableau Online. I receive reports from Microsoft Dynamics on a weekly basis. I receive really valuable statistics that help me realize how I am interacting through email. Dynamics send me …
Chose Tableau Cloud
[My selection was more determined] by the legacy files from the previous data scientists who build the dashboard with Tableau rather than I decided to choose Tableau from all other options.
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau provides more robust system to perform data analytics as compared to the alternatives like Power BI and Qlik. Moreover, Tableaus is super simple to use and is very reliable in terms of its connection with databases. The ability to manipulate data is another big reason …
Chose Tableau Cloud
We used to use an internal tracking platform, and it wasn't nearly as reliable or accurate as Tableau Online. Tableau Online has way more functionality and is able to report on so many more metrics that our old platform was unable to.
Chose Tableau Cloud
There are lots of excellent products are available in market for data analysis like SAP BusinessObjects, IBM Cognos, Microstrategy Analytics, Microsoft Power BI, etc. I found other products are specific to their tools like SAP BusinessObjects suits great with SAP Products …
Chose Tableau Cloud
I don't have direct experience with any of Tableau's competitors, such as Qlik, Domo, Looker or Zoomdata. With that said, I can't imagine any of the aforementioned entities having an offering that is far superior to Tableau. The intuitiveness and overall performance speak for …
Chose Tableau Cloud
Tableau has a capacity to connect to a number of data providers, and it is very easy to get connected to data sources and use all the objects that create dashboards. Customized visualizations are very easy to create. Tableau, generally speaking, has calculations and other types …
Chose Tableau Cloud
We have really enjoyed Tableau for our company. The pricing is a bit higher but the functionality is a lot better for our needs.
Tableau Public
Chose Tableau Public
The determining factor in us deciding to go with Tableau Public over Power BI Free was the ease of Tablueau's ability to easily process larger datasets in comparison to Power BI Free's limitations.
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau public is Free and no subscription is required whereas Tableau Desktop is a paid subscription. if there is no private or confidential data it's easy to tableau public and share reports with people. Tableau public has same features and options same as desktop. its easy …
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau Public's primary advantage is its lack of cost. That's really what it excels at; otherwise, it's functionally just another Tableau Server.
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau Public provides a variety of visualization and point-and-click functionality, with little or no scripting, gives Tableau the advantage. Also, being lightweight, Tableau Public finds the ease of use from our PSU bank-clients that use low-end hardware and devices. Tableau …
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau Public allows users to upload their work to a designated place online, where others can view and download it. This feature does not available in OriginLab, which is also a useful and popular program to do data analysis.
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau Public is most similar to Google Data Studio in terms of being freely available for public use. However, its capabilities and sophisticated visualizations are far and beyond anything offered by Data Studio: Tableau is ideal for creating professional caliber workbooks …
Chose Tableau Public
Google charts/Drive is sufficient for simpler data sets, but it does not integrate with other web platforms and the visualization does not look as professional. I'm not aware of any other competitors that offer the same package as Microsoft.
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau's core competency is to create a singular analytics platform and while Google and Microsoft provide viable alternatives, they don't quite match up. Tableau delves deeper into categories than Google and thus doesn't supply deep enough information. Microsoft on the other …
Chose Tableau Public
Salesforce can be a black box when it comes to CRM and even though Tableau isnt a CRM program our organization started using it for customer relations.
Chose Tableau Public
Tableau Public lacks data connectors to Oracle/SQL Server or just about any. No ability to share non-public data nor to package into Tableau Reader. No ability to connect to Tableau Server or Tableau Online to secure your information. However, if you want basic visualization …
Chose Tableau Public
We evaluated about 15 products when we selected Tableau 7 years ago, and periodically review products from other vendors (e.g. Microsoft, QlikView, Tibco Spotfire, Birst, Pentaho, etc.). To date, Tableau offers the widest variety of options and functionality at a reasonable …
Features
Tableau CloudTableau Public
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
7.0
Ratings
15% below category average
Tableau Public
9.8
Ratings
15% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports7.00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates6.00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
6.9
Ratings
15% below category average
Tableau Public
9.7
Ratings
20% above category average
Drill-down analysis8.00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Formatting capabilities6.00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages6.00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration7.50 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
7.1
Ratings
16% below category average
Tableau Public
9.5
Ratings
12% above category average
Publish to Web7.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Publish to PDF7.50 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Report Versioning7.00 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.00 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers6.00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
6.8
Ratings
16% below category average
Tableau Public
9.8
Ratings
19% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)7.50 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization6.50 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Predictive Analytics6.50 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
7.0
Ratings
19% below category average
Tableau Public
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
6.4
Ratings
21% below category average
Tableau Public
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access5.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Cloud
6.4
Ratings
20% below category average
Tableau Public
-
Ratings
REST API6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Tableau CloudTableau Public
Small Businesses
BrightGauge
BrightGauge
Score 9.1 out of 10
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Kyvos Semantic Intelligence Layer
Score 9.9 out of 10
Dataiku
Dataiku
Score 7.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Tableau CloudTableau Public
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.7
(0 ratings)
9.6
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Tableau CloudTableau Public
Likelihood to Recommend
If you're using Tableau as the primary BI tool, then Tableau Cloud is well suited to publish and share the results with a wide(r) audience. It is well suited for various degrees of self-service proficiency, from pure consumers of analytical work to more advanced users who can use web editing for smaller or larger adjustments, and even for desktop power users who will publish their work to Tableau Cloud. It has many good ways to organize the content and make it easily accessible via search, favorites, folders, collections ("playlists for your data"), or history ("recents"). It might not be ideally suited if there are many on-prem sources to be used (even though there are options to connect them) or if you have very special requirements regarding custom server setup, which is limited in a shared cloud environment like Tableau Cloud.
Read full review
Tableau Public is great, especially if you're new to the platform or considering implementing it within an organization. The Public version has most of the capabilities of the full version, with extensive community documentation to troubleshoot issues you may run into. Additionally, there are many resources to check out Public workbooks from other users and communities: a GREAT learning resource to figure out new, innovative ways to visualize and present data. It is perfect for evaluating public datasets, for doing exploratory data analysis, or contributing to cross-organizational or extracurricular projects that may benefit from more sophisticated data analysis and exploration. Tableau Public, because it stores to the cloud and has limitations on connectivity (ie, cannot connect to SQL servers) is not suited for confidential, financial, PII, etc., data, and care should be taken to avoid including sensitive data in any of the Tableau Public workbooks used by an individual or organization.
Read full review
Pros
  • Tableau Online is completely cloud based and that's why the reports and dashboards are accessible even on the go. One doesn't always need to access the office laptop to access the reports.
  • The visualizations are interactive and one can quickly change the level at which they want to view the information. For example, one person might be more interested in looking at the country level performances rather than client level. This is intuitive and one doesn't need to create multiple reports for the same.
  • The feature to ask questions in plain vanilla English language is great and helpful. For quick adhoc fact checks one can simply type what they are looking for and the Natural Language Programming algorithms under the hood parse the query, interpret it and then fetch the results accordingly in a visual form.
Read full review
  • Tableau Public can work with data that are differently formatted, such as MS Excel, .txt file, Google Sheets, not sure about MS Access.
  • GUI interface of Tableau Public is not that hard to start working on; Also, it can generate codes for the operations and so it is relatively easy to visualize and correct mistakes.
  • Lots of Tableau Public users upload their work to the online community, users can easily find very good figures/graphs that are similar to their problems and so they can use these figures/graphs as templates to modify and make their own ones.
Read full review
Cons
  • Can be a steep learning curve for new users
  • Modeling and building algorithms aren't always intuitive and take some testing/retesting to ensure it's working as it should
  • Inability to integrate easily with our HRIS platform. Reports are pulled from HRIS at various intervals and uploaded into Tableau
Read full review
  • The biggest drawback to the Public version of Tableau is that any data used in the program is 'public' and therefore not secure: workbooks are saved to the cloud, rather than locally
  • Tableau Public limits data ingestion to 10 million rows per source
  • Limited connections - can't connect to SQL databases to ingest data (must be through CSV, Access, TDE, or text files)
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
The tool's capacity to handle complex data sources.
Read full review
It's free, right? I'll keep using the free version. So the real question to ask is this? Will I pay $999 for the Personal version or $1,999 for the Professional? Yikes! That is a big stretch. I'm not sure about that. The product comparison chart is at: http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/comparison
Read full review
Usability
From an end user perspective Tableau Online is overall very easy to navigate once you get used to it, my only complaint is that when expanding or contracting a graph, the "plus" and "minus" on the bottom left is sometimes hidden, and should always be visible. From a builder perspective, it can take some getting used to but the sheer depth of customization makes it all worthwhile.
Read full review
Tableau public is a great training tool to understand the basics of Tableau before buying it. A great tool to extend Excel's visualization and to publish data for others. Not useful for anything you need secure. No ability to access databases. Static information only.
Read full review
Support Rating
I have no had a lot of experience with the support team, but I know that it’s hardly necessary for the end-user to contact. Usually, the main questions I get are on how to read a certain dashboard or how to navigate to a certain place. Overall, the simplicity of the software is what helps out with less need for support.
Read full review
I have not yet required to contact support as the documentation and help i found online has always worked so far
Read full review
Online Training
No answers on this topic
I found it sufficient, and fast. I could easily "kick the tires" with Tableau on my data so I got up and running fast.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
I wasn't part of the implementation team
Read full review
Start at the end and work backward. Identify the business case / issue and questions the end users have, then identify the data needed, and where to get it.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
When weighing the pros and cons of Tableau Online vs. SAP ERP, two key considerations emerged as clear winners. SAP ERP is a powerful data purification tool, but it doesn't measure up to the competition in terms of data presentation. When it came to data visualization and analytics, Tableau was our go-to tool. The price is the second consideration. Tableau, on the other hand, was the more cost-effective option for our requirements.
Read full review
Tableau public is Free and no subscription is required whereas Tableau Desktop is a paid subscription. if there is no private or confidential data it's easy to Tableau public and share reports with people. Tableau public has same features and options same as desktop. its easy for students or beginners to signup and start learning/build reports.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • No need to hire a team of developers to deliver our product, a huge cost savings for a start up company.
  • The ability to work off data extracts allows us to "set in and forget it" so to speak, which allows our customers to use the system during business hours with almost no cost in terms of database usage.
  • It has been a great internal tool for dashboarding company metrics and helping us track goals and implement solutions to meet those goals through efficient data analysis.
Read full review
  • We have saved costs on Dashboarding tools thanks to the free tools within Tableau Public
  • Streamlined reporting
  • Time saved with easier data preparation features
  • Professional looking dashboards and visualisations
Read full review
ScreenShots