Tableau Software Reviews

“Tools for telling data stories”

Pros

Connecting to a variety of disconnected data sources was easy and it helped me create charts and share business insights in a clear way.

Cons

Since I come from a strong raw SQL background some parts felt complex at first. I ended up relying quite a bit on building views that the tool could work with more easily. Although it can create calculated values, doing that involves a lot of clicking through menus and writing code in its own query language.

“Rich visuals with strong dashboards”

Pros

From building dashboards to rolling them out across teams, Tableau really feels like one of the benchmark tools for analytics. The interface is well known and user friendly which makes it practical for analysts to pull in data, blend different sources and turn everything into visualizations that lead to useful insights. It also offers a wide range of capabilities, including user management, project separation and plenty of charting and visualization options so it can handle just about any data visualization requirement an organization may have.

Cons

Getting it up and running can be a real headache especially when the setup is being done in your own cloud environment or on-premises. Troubleshooting server administration problems is not always easy either and those issues can take time to diagnose and fix. That said, the support team has been consistently helpful whenever problems come up. The licensing cost is also fairly high which is another downside.

“Strong reporting with good visualizations”

Pros

Having the integration and server capabilities in this software has been a huge advantage for our business. All of the data stored on the server drives our reporting and we're able to build strong visualizations for clients that help improve their business processes.

Cons

Well it can be challenging when someone is completely new to it since there's a pretty steep learning curve at first. That said, there are plenty of training resources and classes available that help make the software easier to learn.

“Helpful dashboards for tracking adoption”

Pros

With a BI team building the dashboards, Tableau is really useful for sharing insights across the team. I rely on it regularly to check our success metrics and quickly see how adoption is trending over time at a glance.

Cons

When the data isn't set up in the format you need, pulling out values to copy, paste and total them can be frustrating. It's also difficult to make charts bigger later on if they weren't originally designed that way.

“Clean visuals with quick sorting”

Pros

Sorting through data is really easy and it makes it simple to organize everything into a polished, attractive presentation.

Cons

Honestly I don't have any real complaints. If anything, it's maybe a bit expensive.

“Dashboards that tell good stories”

Pros

Tableau's biggest advantage for me is its point-and-click style which makes building reports feel very natural. At the same time, it also supports a more analytical approach when needed so it works well for different types of users. The interactive dashboards and story features are especially useful and they make putting together presentation-ready insights much more convenient.

Cons

One downside is that the public version makes dashboards visible to anyone on the internet which can be a concern. It also doesn't let you save dashboards to your local machine so there are some clear limitations with that version.

“Regular upgrades with useful insights”

Pros

It is easy to use, the online training is really helpful and the regular upgrades keep making the software better.

Cons

This is a very minor complaint but I'd still love to see more options for color schemes.

“Clear dashboards for making decisions”

Pros

Using it has not been a hassle and the reports and dashboards are simple to read. It really helps me make business decisions for my team.

Cons

Because we don't have individual user logins, I am unable to subscribe to reports and get them delivered by email. I also don't have the ability to customize reports or create my own.

“Useful insights for generating demand”

Pros

Even though we're just getting started with this tool, it's already giving our demand gen team really useful insight into where we should focus our efforts and which areas are better to stay away from.

Cons

Getting everything up and running took a bit longer than expected and there was some trial and error involved in making sure the data was as accurate as possible. That part can definitely be frustrating especially when sales needs correct information and their trust in the data matters going forward.

“Clean dashboards with quick insights”

Pros

I only jump into this software now and then mainly to see how I am tracking against target and to compare year on year numbers. The part I like most is how user friendly it is and how little effort it takes to use. I can sign in and get the information I need in under three minutes. The interface is clean, simple and not cluttered which makes it pleasant to work with. I am definitely not a power user and I am sure there are other features in it that I'd probably find useful but I just haven't taken the time to explore it properly yet.

Cons

This isn't really a criticism of the software especially since I am not an advanced user and it may be designed this way intentionally. That said, I haven't been able to find a BI feature that will generate graphs directly from the data stored in the system.

“easy to use dashboards”

Pros

Compared with other tools in this space, Tableau Desktop creates some of the cleanest and most user friendly reports out there. Getting started with the basic features doesn't take long and there are plenty of online resources available when you want to dig deeper.

Cons

Report distribution in Tableau Desktop feels confusing and connecting it to SharePoint or similar distribution platforms is harder than it should be without help from IT. Tableau Prep also still feels like it's in the early stages and some Flows take far too long for operations that really shouldn't be that difficult.

“Quick visuals for live discussions”

Pros

Tableau lets me turn data into visuals almost instantly which is incredibly helpful when I need to build charts on the spot during meetings or team discussions.

Cons

It does take time to learn because the interface isn't very user friendly. There's also a risk of importing time-based data twice if you're not paying close attention and the software doesn't really warn you when that happens.

“Versatile connections that are quick to learn”

Pros

Getting started with Tableau felt very natural and that is still one of my favorite things about it. New users can pick up the basics quickly, then build on that knowledge over time by learning more advanced tricks as they go. It also integrates well with just about everything we need across the organization including Excel, SharePoint, APIs, Google Sheets, text/CSV files and databases like SQL and Oracle. Another big plus has been Tableau Prep which I use to clean data while keeping a record of every step, making the whole process much more reproducible. On top of that the Tableau online community has been incredibly useful for solving problems and finding inspiration from other people's work.

Cons

A weak spot is that some API integrations, such as SafetyCulture, do not work as well as they do in Microsoft Power BI.

“Great looking dashboards for large audiences”

Pros

It makes it simple to build and publish attractive data visualizations while also letting you analyze the data right away. It's an excellent option when you need to share insights with a large audience.

Cons

It can feel a little slow when working with graphical data and some features that seem pretty basic like conditional formatting are not always easy. It also handles numerical data better than inventory-related data.

“Interactive dashboards that actually deliver”

Pros

Tableau feels approachable to use and comes with plenty of ways to build engaging, interactive visualizations. It has really simplified and sped up my business reporting.

Cons

Arranging images and other objects on dashboards can feel a bit confusing and time-consuming at first although I have learned how to work with it over time.

“Clean dashboards for weekly metrics”

Pros

Every week, we rely on Tableau to review healthcare metrics and being able to check our stats quickly has been a big plus. The interface feels clean and the software works efficiently for what we need.

Cons

From time to time we run into issues where it won't load our metrics which ends up delaying our analysis.

“Good visual analysis for targeting”

Pros

When it comes to working with data, Tableau really gives you the tools you need to understand both past and present business performance so you can make better decisions for the future. The standout feature for me is the visual analysis of clients and identifying where to focus your targeting efforts.

Cons

Data can already be difficult to absorb and at times it becomes overwhelming. Because of that even though it does an excellent job of breaking everything down in detail, the sheer amount of data and analysis it offers can sometimes become distracting and pull attention away from other business areas that also need focus.

“Interesting visuals with extra details”

Pros

Getting started with Tableau does take some time because the learning curve is pretty steep but there are plenty of YouTube videos and online classes that make it much easier to pick up. Most visualizations can be built using Tableau's recommended guides which helps a lot along the way. Once someone becomes really proficient with the tool, it's possible to create very complex visualizations. I was especially excited when the table relationship feature called noodles came out in 2020. It nearly removes the need for level of detail calculations and makes building and maintaining reports much simpler.

Cons

How large a data file it can handle really depends on the laptop or desktop you're using. A lot of machines can manage files with over 1 million rows but once you get into 5 million or more, performance can become a problem. Another downside is that the data usually needs to be cleaned first in a separate tool like Prep, Alteryx or something similar before bringing it into Tableau.

“Visuals that grab your attention”

Pros

Honestly the visualizations Tableau delivers are what make it so popular. They really help capture the audience's attention and On top of that the software is pretty quick to learn.

Cons

At the beginning, getting around the software felt a little confusing since I was so used to dragging things around in Excel. After spending some time with it though, everything started to feel fine.

“Stunning visuals with good flexibility”

Pros

Tableau does a really nice job of letting you create visually striking dashboards and reports.

Cons

One thing that would improve it is having the option to use more coding directly within the software.