What is Tableau?

Problem

What is Tableau? Can you explain the usage and cost, as well as the pros and cons of Tableau?

Solution

Many readers of MSSQLTips.com work in organizations with multiple Business Intelligence (BI) products available for use in daily workflows. Of course, one of the popular tools is Power BI, which is covered extensively on MSSQLTips; see all the numerous tips in the MSSQLTips.com Power BI Archives. However, beyond Power BI, an equally and potentially more popular tool is Tableau. In fact, according to Gartner, Microsoft Power BI vs Tableau 2025 | Gartner Peer Insights, the two are equally rated and fighting for leadership in the Analytics and BI Platform space.

What is Tableau?

Before diving too deeply into the full details of Tableau, it would be best to first define what it is. Tableau is not just a SQL report writing tool. It is a full BI and analytics report writing platform tool. Tableau’s roots stem from its wide array of visualizations, which initially encompassed a wow effect, but now are common among many BI tools.

Furthermore, using tools is likely a misnomer as Tableau is a full analytical platform that spans from backend extraction data sets to high-fidelity, advanced visualizations. What end users see is ultimately the high-end data visualizations that can be developed in Tableau. When compared to Power BI, Tableau has a very Apple iPhone/iPad look and feel both in the development space and its use by end users.

Lastly, from a general view standpoint, Tableau is truly a tool built for interactivity from the drag-and-drop nature during dashboard design to the resulting dashboards that beg users to interact with them.

Tableau Platforms

Users can utilize several platforms on Tableau. These different areas are broken out by feature, along with report designer usage.

Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server

First, the platform can be broken out by Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server.  In essence, Tableau Server is maintained by the organization making the purchase, whereas Tableau Cloud is a SaaS offering where the maintenance is handled by Tableau. If ultimate flexibility is needed, Tableau Server is the appropriate selection; however, if an organization wants to leave the maintenance and upkeep of the Tableau instance(s) to Tableau, then Tableau Cloud would be the better option. By the way, Tableau Cloud was formerly known as Tableau Online. Of course, there are pricing differences between the two, with Tableau Server generally being more expensive than Tableau Cloud.

Editions

Second, the editions are broken out by:

  • Tableau – The “base” package needed for Tableau.
  • Enterprise – This edition packages adds “advanced” analytic functionality.
  • Tableau+ – This edition adds AI, and is only available on Tableau Cloud.

Levels

Within the above edition, there are three levels:

  • Creator – Designed for users who create data and analytic workflows, including Tableau Desktop.
  • Explorer – Designed for advanced users of Tableau dashboards.
  • Viewer – Designed for basic users to view and interact with dashboards.

Again, each of these editions and user levels carry different price points. The price range starts at $35 and extends upward from that point.

In addition to the above-noted versions, editions, and user levels, another consideration mentioned is Tableau Desktop. While you can develop dashboards in Tableau Public, Tableau Desktop is the primary tool for developing modern dashboards to be published. Tableau Public has limited data sources available for use and limits data source support. Tableau Desktop is a paid edition which includes all features, data sources, and functionality available in Tableau.

Tableau Desktop

Additional information on differences between Tableau Public and Tableau Desktop can be found at Tableau Desktop and Tableau Desktop Public Edition Feature Comparison.

Tableau Data Sources

Tableau Desktop, and related Server and Cloud, can handle a large number of data sources including:

  • Snowflake
  • Databricks
  • Amazon Redshift
  • Oracle
  • SQL Server
  • JSON
  • Teradata
  • Basic Text files
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • SparkSQL
  • Various web-based sources

The full list is quite extensive and can be found at Data Sources. Furthermore, the Tableau Exchange Service provides additional direct connections to numerous applications, such as Amazon S3, SharePoint, and Amazon DocumentDB.

Setting up a data source requires specific credentials and specific key pieces of information to be obtained. For instance, on a SQL Server connection, the dashboard designer in Tableau Desktop will need the Server Name (fully qualified) and the port. Additionally, the database name is needed along with the sign in credentials.

New Connection.

Within most systems, you can create joins and ultimately blend your data in various ways (including across multiple data sources).

Available Tableau Visuals

Tableau includes a Public Visualization Gallery that shows some of the exceptional visuals created by dashboard designers and shared publicly.

Certainly, all the basic charts are available in Tableau. You can easily design the following:

  • Bar Chart
  • Column Chart
  • Map
  • Line Chart
  • Tabular Grid
  • Scatter Plot
  • Treemap

Furthermore, all these visualizations provide interactive features, allowing dashboard consumers to click on, highlight, filter, and adjust displays by clicking on various filters and even on the chart itself.

For example, the image below is a chart before it has been interacted with:

Interactive Chart Before

The following image shows a chart after it’s been interacted with:

After Interacting with Chart

Comparing Visualization Tools

Tableau and Power BI are some of the key and primary visualization tools used by many organizations. Pablo Echevernia and Daniel Calbimonte completed several significant comparisons between the two systems.  Check out the following articles: Power BI vs Tableau Reporting Comparison with SQL Server Data and Power BI vs Tableau for Analytics, Report and Dashboard Development.

Tableau Certifications

Tableau also offers a significant number of certifications for Tableau designers and users to become experts. The certifications include:

  • Tableau Certified Data Analyst
  • Tableau Desktop Specialist
  • Tableau Server Associate
  • Tableau Consultant
  • Tableau Architect

In addition to achieving these certifications, Tableau also maintains a list of individuals who have obtained these certifications.

This tip provides introductory information on what Tableau is, the available versions and editions and their costs, and what visualizations are available in Tableau. Further, we discussed the availability of certifications for Tableau.

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