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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Power BI

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.

    $168

    per year per user

    Tableau Cloud

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/ATableau 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 per user

    Pricing
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    Editions & Modules
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month (billed annually) per user
    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
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPower BI Desktop is the data exploration and report authoring experience for Power BI, and is available as a free download.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Tableau
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    110 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    103 Answers
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    112 Answers
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    25 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    69 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    14 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    73 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.1
    198 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Tableau Cloud
    7.6
    74 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports8.1169 Ratings7.656 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.6197 Ratings8.774 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.7180 Ratings6.663 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    196 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Tableau Cloud
    7.6
    74 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Drill-down analysis8.4193 Ratings8.574 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities7.7193 Ratings7.371 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.4143 Ratings6.147 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.2191 Ratings8.672 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Tableau Cloud
    7.8
    72 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Publish to Web8.1179 Ratings8.668 Ratings
    Publish to PDF7.7174 Ratings7.567 Ratings
    Report Versioning7.7145 Ratings7.655 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.3148 Ratings8.559 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers7.9111 Ratings6.738 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.7
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Tableau Cloud
    7.9
    70 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.3183 Ratings8.267 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.1168 Ratings8.366 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.2138 Ratings7.857 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.339 Ratings7.26 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.3
    180 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Tableau Cloud
    8.4
    69 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)8.6169 Ratings8.363 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model8.1148 Ratings7.756 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.1160 Ratings8.659 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.149 Ratings8.87 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.5141 Ratings8.754 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    162 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Tableau Cloud
    7.5
    59 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access7.6152 Ratings7.457 Ratings
    Mobile Application7.5133 Ratings7.744 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.8155 Ratings7.851 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Cloud
    Feature
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.6
    116 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Tableau Cloud
    7.0
    41 Ratings
    10% below category average
    REST API7.7104 Ratings8.136 Ratings
    Javascript API7.485 Ratings7.534 Ratings
    iFrames8.055 Ratings6.833 Ratings
    Java API6.769 Ratings5.729 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)7.391 Ratings6.735 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.444 Ratings7.232 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    Small Businesses
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Cyfe
    Score4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Qlik Cloud Analytics (Qlik Sense)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Sisense
    Score6.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (199 ratings)
    8.9
    (76 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (115 ratings)
    8.6
    (29 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (52 ratings)
    8.7
    (20 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.5
    (82 ratings)
    8.0
    (49 ratings)
    Data Sources
    9.0
    (81 ratings)
    8.3
    (49 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft Power BITableau Cloud
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
    • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
    • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
    • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
    • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
    • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • 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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Microsoft
    Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    Based on comments from our clients, I awarded it this grade. Non-technical customers frequently compliment us on the ease with which they can utilize Tableau Online. Usability is rarely a source of contention amongst our customers. Few complaints have come from me as a user of our internal products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    I have not had any issues that require customer support from Tableau at this time, which speaks well to Tableau. I have taken an online course with Tableau and it was very professional and well done, so based on that I would assume a similar level of quality for their customer service.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    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 other hand, provided us everything we needed in terms of visualizing our data and analytics. The second factor is cost. Well neither solution would be considered cheap, Tableau was the more cost effective solution for our needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
    • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
    • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Tableau
    • When we release new products, we are now able to quickly see data and toggle between current periods and previous to see performance
    • Generating new reports requires less IT time to build
    • Data can be shared across many different device types
    • We now have integration where our customers can extract data from our software more easily-this was a big ask from our customers
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

    Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow