Tableau Software Reviews

“Great visuals for research work”

Pros

Tableau produces some of the strongest infographic-ready visualizations I have seen. I recently used it to build summary charts from my hurricane damage survey for a research poster at an academic conference and it also helped me create word clouds from hurricane-related tweets. The poster ended up taking first place which says a lot about how effective the visuals were.

Cons

One thing I struggled with was adjusting font sizes for headings and axes. It could have been user error but it still took some effort to figure out.

“Find insights in large datasets”

Pros

Compared with working in Excel every day, Tableau gives me much more control and depth when I am dealing with large datasets. Excel can feel confusing and limited but this tool helps me sort through data in a far more effective and powerful way so I spend less time wrestling with files and more time actually uncovering useful insights.

Cons

Dashboard creation definitely comes with a learning curve. Importing data is usually pretty simple but getting everything structured well enough for broader use takes a lot of planning, effort and the right people involved to make it work properly.

“Fast insights at lightning speed”

Pros

Tableau is incredibly user friendly when it comes to quickly uncovering insights, building dashboards and giving users and stakeholders the ability to spot trends and answers fast.

Cons

There's a small learning curve when it comes to building more advanced visualizations.

“Good visuals for analysis work”

Pros

As a self-service platform Tableau delivers a really strong experience. You can work with data you already know, upload it without much hassle and then fully benefit from its professional visualizations and graphics for analysis.

Cons

Where I still run into trouble is with data transformation and combining different sources. Once it starts feeling more like an ETL process, things can get complicated and you may end up needing support from someone with deeper experience. It's definitely not impossible, just more difficult than it first seems.

“Strong dashboards with data connections”

Pros

One of the best things about Tableau is how powerful it is. Being able to work with T-SQL tables oracle tables, Google Sheets, Excel files and more all in the same workbook is fantastic. You can build really impressive dashboards that are especially useful for management and it's flexible enough for more unexpected uses too, like planning wedding table layouts.

Cons

Getting started with it isn't very easy and it definitely takes persistence to learn. It can also be quite frustrating if you click the wrong join by mistake and end up overwhelming your servers while trying to stop it.

“clean data visualizations”

Pros

Creating visualizations from data is very simple and it makes the whole process quick and simple.

Cons

One limitation is that I cannot enter data directly into the software itself.

“Easy dashboards”

Pros

Tableau is a great tool. The setup process is user friendly and exploring data for insights is simple. Publishing, sharing and socializing dashboards also works well.

Cons

At times creating the exact chart you have in mind takes a bit of a workaround or even moving the data into another program since it can be pretty strict about only building charts from data arranged in certain formats.

“Great dashboards with excellent support”

Pros

After nearing the end of our Tableau trial we're already talking about keeping it long term. The visualizations you can build with it are excellent and the dashboards come out looking professional without taking much time to put together. We've also connected several data sources with very little effort which has been a big plus. On top of that the customer support has been fantastic and we've received a lot of help throughout the process.

Cons

At times, larger datasets have taken a while to load which has caused some issues. That said, the team has reviewed the data we're working with and we're starting to see improvements now.

“Nice visuals for your data”

Pros

Just by importing data from Excel and similar sources, you can start building all kinds of charts and visualizations with this software. It offers so many ways to present information and that really helps when large spreadsheets start to feel overwhelming. Tableau turns complex data into clear visuals that make it much simpler to understand and interpret.

Cons

The installation process was a bit challenging for me.

“Strong analytics with fast processing”

Pros

It's a very powerful platform with strong data processing capabilities and advanced analytics features.

Cons

There's definitely a learning curve so some training is needed to use it effectively.

“Clear insights for KPI reporting”

Pros

One of the best things about Tableau is the amount of raw data it gives us access to. It provides a wide range of useful reports and detailed data that our company and managers can use to track KPIs effectively. We're also able to pull metrics we normally wouldn't have access to which really helps us perform better in our client success roles.

Cons

I honestly don't have any real complaints about it. It's been a really strong reporting tool overall. I did hear it was acquired by Salesforce so I am interested to see whether it ends up being integrated further.

“Great visuals for geographic data”

Pros

The geographic visualizations are a standout and compared with pivot tables, it feels far more capable than anything else I'd consider in the competition.

Cons

Its reputation can sometimes make developers act a bit snobbish.

“A powerhouse for interactive analytics”

Pros

Using Tableau is not a problem and the interactive interface makes working with data much more engaging. It lets me slice and dice information in different ways to answer just about any question that comes up from the data. The learning curve is also manageable because they provide plenty of detailed training videos. It handles complex datasets very well and the support team is impressively quick whenever help is needed.

Cons

The biggest downside is the cost since it can be expensive to use. It also crashes from time to time while working and the updates come quite often.

“simple setup”

Pros

It is a simple tool and one thing I really like is having ready-made templates available to use right away.

Cons

At times, it feels like the right template for a specific visualization just isn't available.

“Rich charts with strong dashboards”

Pros

Tableau comes packed with features that a lot of users would like such as it integrates to almost every database, supports a wide range of chart types like Sankey, doughnut and maps and includes both data blending and data extraction. The dashboards also work well across different devices such as tablets, mobiles and laptops. On top of that it feels very fast when drilling down into data or applying filters on a dashboard.

Cons

The pricing is a little higher than some other data visualization tools but it still feels worth the cost for what it offers.

“Connect data without hassle”

Pros

Connecting to data is pretty easy and once you get familiar with the tool, also it is user friendly to work with.

Cons

One thing that could be better is the suggestion feature as it would help if the recommendations were more user friendly and pointed users toward stronger visualization choices.

“useful insights”

Pros

Tableau has quickly become a go-to tool for many companies, even though it hasn't been around as long as some other platforms. It's an impressive application with strong visualization and data summarization capabilities and it really stands out as a powerful tool for presenting insights clearly.

Cons

Getting it ready for everyday use across a company takes a lot of effort and customization especially if you want it to work well for a wider group of users. That said a similar level of setup is often needed with other software too. The pricing can also be a challenge for small to mid-sized businesses trying to afford it and maintain the level of service they need.

“Strong analytics with good visuals”

Pros

It is a full-featured platform for data analysis and it's also excellent when it comes to creating visualizations.

Cons

Getting started with it can be pretty challenging but after using it for a few months, you can really learn to handle the software well.

“Responsive support”

Pros

One of the strongest parts of Tableau is its customer support. The submit a case option works really well and the helpdesk person assigned to the issue is always quick to respond. On top of that the huge amount of online forums and community help available makes it even more useful when you need answers.

Cons

Custom formatting is definitely not where it shines. If I want a view that only highlights a specific cell or section, I usually have to build a calculation to make it happen. It can also feel a bit hard trying to arrange different views so they fit properly on dashboards.

“Flexible database connections”

Pros

Connecting and importing databases from different languages and servers is very convenient which makes the tool quite versatile.

Cons

The individual licensing policy and the high price make the software less appealing overall.