Google Sheets vs. Tableau Public

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Sheets
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Google Sheets is the spreadsheet app available on Google Workspace, or standalone, with a free plan for personal use and accessible via mobile apps for iOS and Android.N/A
Tableau Public
Score 8.9 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.
$0
per month
Pricing
Google SheetsTableau Public
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google SheetsTableau 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
Google SheetsTableau Public
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Google SheetsTableau Public
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Google Sheets
-
Ratings
Tableau Public
9.8
12 Ratings
15% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings9.710 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings10.012 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings9.712 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Google Sheets
-
Ratings
Tableau Public
9.7
12 Ratings
19% above category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings9.812 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings9.712 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings9.59 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings9.811 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Google Sheets
-
Ratings
Tableau Public
9.5
11 Ratings
13% above category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings10.011 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings9.89 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings9.59 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings8.17 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Google Sheets
-
Ratings
Tableau Public
9.7
11 Ratings
17% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings9.811 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings9.811 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings9.79 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google SheetsTableau Public
Small Businesses
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Score 8.9 out of 10
IBM SPSS Modeler
IBM SPSS Modeler
Score 7.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Score 8.9 out of 10
Mathematica
Mathematica
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Score 8.9 out of 10
IBM SPSS Modeler
IBM SPSS Modeler
Score 7.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google SheetsTableau Public
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(38 ratings)
8.5
(14 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(6 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google SheetsTableau Public
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Google Sheets is a great tool mostly for people in the finance department such as accountants who have to analyze hundreds of transactions. The software makes it easy to organize data and handle some analysis. Also, when it comes to data presentation, Google Sheets offers some of the best features. However, this is not to sat people outside the finance docket cannot benefit from this software. It is a great tool to have when handling data.
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Tableau
Tableau public is the best platform to build dashboards for your personal profile and share with recruiters. It's always good to keep ourselves updated on the latest features, create sample dashboards and save them to a personal profile. Tableau public is free and doesn't need any subscription. anyone can create an account and start building reports.
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Pros
Google
  • It is a cloud-based platform.
  • You can work in the same file simultaneously with your colleagues.
  • It allows you to share files much faster.
  • It allows you to access your Google Sheet files whenever you like and wherever you like if you have stable internet connection.
  • It has great integration with other Google software.
  • Google Sheets is very user-friendly and very intuitive to use.
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Tableau
  • Data visualization: lots of different options, including bar, scatter, pie, waterfall charts to explore relationships between variables, and to present findings/trends to different teams
  • Integrates readily with limited, though different data sources: TXT, CSV, TDE, Access
  • Exports reports for review of different dashboards: client-ready/team-ready, with a clean and tidy presentation in PDF format (or hardcopy)
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Cons
Google
  • Pivot tables are different but could be improved upon; sort, totals, filters
  • When entering negative numbers as the first in a formula you need to remember to "+-100+25" instead of "-100+25"
  • The power of the internet of course makes it easy to find solution, but the help function is not easily available
  • Color coding changes on the cell, but there is not an easy way to click on a cell and use the selected color; like excel
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Tableau
  • Tableau Public (both Desktop and Server) like their "for a fee" counterparts offer very easy to learn and use tools to transform data into pictures and gain insights into your data. Most organizations report a reduction in development time of 10x vs. other similar tools, due to the intuitive user interface. That said, with Tableau Public, published workbooks are "disconnected" from the underlying data sources and require periodic updates when the data changes. Users are limited to 1 Gb of storage space per user ID and password as well.
  • I would like to see better options for public sharing of visualizations and data from within the "for a fee" products as more and more organizations are moving in the direction of data sharing with partners and their communities.
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
It is easy to use, free of charge for basic functionality, and easy to share with people within or outside your team or company
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Tableau
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
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Usability
Google
No answers on this topic
Tableau
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.
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Support Rating
Google
No answers on this topic
Tableau
I have not yet required to contact support as the documentation and help i found online has always worked so far
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Online Training
Google
No answers on this topic
Tableau
I found it sufficient, and fast. I could easily "kick the tires" with Tableau on my data so I got up and running fast.
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Implementation Rating
Google
No answers on this topic
Tableau
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.
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Alternatives Considered
Google
The major reason I use Google Sheets over Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers is for its ability to allow multiple users to access and work on the same spreadsheet at once. This is incredibly more efficient and effective than updating and sending copies upon copies of the same Excel or Numbers spreadsheet back and forth as email attachments.
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Tableau
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.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • We've used it to prepare quick budgets, presentations for funds that have helped raise money
  • It has helped us quickly analyze raw data, collaboratively.
  • it has helped us work more efficiently by making it easier to work from one sheet and not lose track of versions by passing around attached documents
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Tableau
  • Tableau Public visualizations have helped drive traffic to our content and sites
  • The lack of cost means it's easy to demonstrate our experience to attract paying clients
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ScreenShots