SAP Analytics Cloud vs. Tableau Desktop

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
SAP Analytics Cloud
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
The SAP Analytics Cloud solution brings together analytics and planning with integration to SAP applications and access to heterogenous data sources. As the analytics and planning solution within SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud supports trusted insights and integrated planning processes enterprise-wide to help make decisions without doubt.
$36
per month per user
Tableau Desktop
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Tableau Desktop is a data visualization product from Tableau. It connects to a variety of data sources for combining disparate data sources without coding. It provides tools for discovering patterns and insights, data calculations, forecasts, and statistical summaries and visual storytelling.
$75
per month
Pricing
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
Editions & Modules
SAP Analytics Cloud for Business Intelligence
$36.00
per month per user
SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning
Price upon request
per month per user
Tableau
$75
per month per user
Tableau Enterprise
$115
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA 30-day trial with SAP Analytics Cloud is available, supporting analytics enterprise-wide. A trial can be extended up to 90 days on request.All pricing plans are billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
Considered Both Products
SAP Analytics Cloud
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAC is a full-featured analytics platform, it offers AP, CPM and PA unlike Tableau which doesn’t encompass corporate performance management tools.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
In the past, I did a bit of exploring of tools such as Tableau and Microsoft Power BI. However, these platforms have very good visualization capabilities, and SAP Analytics Cloud's integration with other SAP products is tightly woven and gives a very seamless experience that …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
I would rate Tableau as number one choice due to intuitive, drag and drop and advanced visualizations. We can build highly customizable reports. Whereas SAP Analytics Cloud(SAC) got less customizable reports but excellent with SAP systems, strong in planning and budgeting tools.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Our org selected SAP Analytics Cloud due to its brilliant integration capability with SAP models.
HANA/BW/BO etc which save development efforts and resource costs.
SAP Analytics Cloud stands hand in hand with any other similar viz tool in the market and has capability to …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Anaplan is a tool for planning, but with very less reporting options. Integration of Anaplan with SAP source is always a problem and has very less connection possibilities. Even though Anaplan provides very powerful planning features, we have to use multiple tools in the …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Analytics Cloud has high compatibility with SAP Systems majorly S4 so the development time that is required is less compared to other tools.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
All three above examples are market leaders, being an sap consultant and as SAP Analytics Cloud is having tight integration with sap and offers fairly all the important features i use it.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
We chose SAP Analytics Cloud because, in our experience, SAP Analytics Cloud is Easy to simple report , End User Flexibility.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAC lacks some of the prominent features found in other tools. But a fully functional tool. The way live connections work with SAC and better integration with SAP back-end products makes SAC a preferred choice.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAC is an extension of our decision to use Datasphere as our Data Warehouse / Data Fabric Solution, which is really an extension of our decision to use SAP as our ERP.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Same functionality, better fit to overall system architecture
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
The main reason behind using SAP Analytics Cloud because our majorly data is managed in SAP which makes it easier to integrate as well as to use with live connection at any point of time.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Analytics Cloud stacks better with SAP ERP and this has improved its workability and accuracy.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
It was a corporate decision that will serve all hubs in the world to gain scalability. Once a gain, one fits all.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Analytics Cloud has the largest user base in the manufacturing field because of its service.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Single tool to have all built in capabilities of reporting, planning & prediction. Ease of usage to business users as no need to sign in on different tools for different kind of analytics. Easy integration with SAP Source systems for importing data. Natural Language Querying …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAC includes predictive analytics features, allowing users to perform advanced analytics and forecast future trends. This can be a valuable asset for organizations seeking predictive modeling capabilities.

It has an integration with the SAP landscape, seek a unified platform for …
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
More integrated to our landscape SAP based
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
I preferred SAC since it had a lot of tools unlike some alternatives which were missing some capabilities such as CPM on Ms Power BI.
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
Easy integration with the ERP
Chose SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Analytics Cloud has better visuals.
Tableau Desktop
Chose Tableau Desktop
Well, Tableau has a nicer UI compared to Spotfire. But the main reason why Tableau stacked against the other was the pricing.
Features
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.9
312 Ratings
4% below category average
Tableau Desktop
8.4
175 Ratings
3% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports7.6262 Ratings8.0145 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.3304 Ratings9.1174 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.8280 Ratings8.1151 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.8
318 Ratings
3% below category average
Tableau Desktop
8.3
172 Ratings
3% above category average
Drill-down analysis8.1309 Ratings8.5167 Ratings
Formatting capabilities7.6305 Ratings8.4170 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.2232 Ratings8.0126 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.4295 Ratings8.5165 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.7
299 Ratings
7% below category average
Tableau Desktop
8.3
166 Ratings
1% above category average
Publish to Web8.0256 Ratings8.0155 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.0286 Ratings8.0154 Ratings
Report Versioning7.9246 Ratings8.3120 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling7.7241 Ratings8.6128 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers7.134 Ratings8.778 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.8
306 Ratings
3% below category average
Tableau Desktop
8.3
164 Ratings
4% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.0292 Ratings8.5162 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.8281 Ratings8.5156 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.7281 Ratings8.6131 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.575 Ratings7.57 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
8.2
314 Ratings
4% below category average
Tableau Desktop
9.0
149 Ratings
6% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)8.3288 Ratings9.0145 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.1296 Ratings8.9125 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.0289 Ratings8.7136 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.3102 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.5294 Ratings9.283 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.5
265 Ratings
4% below category average
Tableau Desktop
7.9
141 Ratings
1% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access7.6254 Ratings8.7130 Ratings
Mobile Application7.1224 Ratings7.3101 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.2250 Ratings7.4122 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
SAP Analytics Cloud
7.3
43 Ratings
6% below category average
Tableau Desktop
7.8
67 Ratings
1% above category average
REST API7.338 Ratings8.259 Ratings
Javascript API7.135 Ratings7.853 Ratings
iFrames7.429 Ratings7.051 Ratings
Java API7.429 Ratings8.348 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.736 Ratings7.554 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)7.131 Ratings8.148 Ratings
Best Alternatives
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
Small Businesses
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.8 out of 10
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(325 ratings)
8.6
(204 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.6
(14 ratings)
7.5
(41 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(252 ratings)
8.2
(73 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(11 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(70 ratings)
1.0
(57 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.4
(4 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(5 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.9
(7 ratings)
8.0
(34 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Professional Services
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
SAP Analytics CloudTableau Desktop
Likelihood to Recommend
SAP
>> Using SAC predictive analytics capabilities for inventory management in a Production line setup has helped generate Purchase Requisitions and Purchase Orders for raw or semi-finished goods without much head-banging into Demand management rules. It does it beautifully with seamless integration with HANA core MM and PP modules, along with BI integration. It has resulted in 30% greater warehouse storage capacity, thereby saving revenue from piled-up inventory and associated manpower costs. >> SAC sometimes shows latency in working out a large data set, thus giving a poor user experience compared to its competition. Also, it may occasionally show misinterpretations when embedding data from 3rd-party systems into the HANA core dataset.
Read full review
Tableau
The best scenario is definitely to collect data from several sources and create dedicated dashboards for specific recipients. However, I miss the possibility of explaining these reports in more detail. Sometimes, we order a report, and after half a year, we don't remember the meaning of some data (I know it's our fault as an organization, but the tool could force better practices).
Read full review
Pros
SAP
  • It makes it easier yo analyse order and related records easily.
  • We can easily maintain and track the performance of employees in organisation.
  • Can easily track various aspects for the growth of an organisation thus allowing real time analysis and tracking of organisation's growth and performance.
Read full review
Tableau
  • An excellent tool for data visualization, it presents information in an appealing visual format—an exceptional platform for storing and analyzing data in any size organization.
  • Through interactive parameters, it enables real-time interaction with the user and is easy to learn and get support from the community.
Read full review
Cons
SAP
  • Complexity in Data Modeling
  • SAC supports various data sources, but improvements in the ease of connecting to and integrating with certain data repositories, especially non-SAP databases, would enhance the platform's versatility and integration capabilities.
  • An offline mode for SAC could be valuable for users who need to access and analyze data without an internet connection. Additionally, optimizing performance for large datasets and complex visualizations would contribute to a smoother user experience.
Read full review
Tableau
  • Pricing should be more user-friendly and usage-driven
  • Making edits to the production reports is fairly tough and has a vast scope of additional capabilities
  • Tableau Desktop should be able to differentiate itself from the Tableau server else there is no major meaning of two different products being offered
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
SAP
We are planning to review the licensing as we have issues with SAC dealing with huge datasets. Analytics area is good for import models but when we have live connections in place that's when we have issue with SAC dealing with huge datasets in live be it BW or be it HANA models in the backend.
Read full review
Tableau
Our use of Tableau Desktop is still fairly low, and will continue over time. The only real concern is around cost of the licenses, and I have mentioned this to Tableau and fully expect the development of more sensible models for our industry. This will remove any impediment to expansion of our use.
Read full review
Usability
SAP
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate 8 SAP Analytics Cloud's overall usability as a 7. SAC has a clean, modern user interface with drag-and-drop features. It is an integrated platform that combines reporting, planning, and predictive analytics in one tool. It has Real-time connectivity with SAP data sources like S/4HANA.


Self-service analytics capabilities allow non-technical users to build simple dashboards.
Read full review
Tableau
Tableau Desktop has proven to be a lifesaver in many situations. Once we've completed the initial setup, it's simple to use. It has all of the features we need to quickly and efficiently synthesize our data. Tableau Desktop has advanced capabilities to improve our company's data structure and enable self-service for our employees.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
SAP
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud an 8 out of 10 for scalability. It offers a flexible, cloud-based architecture that supports expansion across departments and geographies. The platform adapts well to growing data volumes and user needs, making it a strong choice for organizations looking to scale analytics capabilities efficiently.
Read full review
Tableau
When used as a stand-alone tool, Tableau Desktop has unlimited uptime, which is always nice. When used in conjunction with Tableau Server, this tool has as much uptime as your server admins are willing to give it. All in all, I've never had an issue with Tableau's availability.
Read full review
Performance
SAP
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud’s performance an 8 out of 10. Pages generally load quickly, and reports run within a reasonable time frame, even with complex datasets. Integration with other systems is smooth and doesn’t noticeably affect performance. Overall, it’s a responsive and efficient tool for business analytics. But
Read full review
Tableau
Tableau Desktop's performance is solid. You can really dig into a large dataset in the form of a spreadsheet, and it exhibits similarly good performance when accessing a moderately sized Oracle database. I noticed that with Tableau Desktop 9.3, the performance using a spreadsheet started to slow around 75K rows by about 60 columns. This was easily remedied by creating an extract and pushing it to Tableau Server, where performance went to lightning fast
Read full review
Support Rating
SAP
Since the implementation stage, the support team has been very helpful and assisting. Even in the later stages, the tech team had quite a rapid response. In general, SAP has provided us with great customer support, let it be for a specific product of SAP or for integration of different modules.
Read full review
Tableau
Tableau support has been extremely responsive and willing to help with all of our requests. They have assisted with creating advanced analysis and many different types of custom icons, data formatting, formulas, and actions embedded into graphs. Tableau offers a weekly presentation of features and assists with internal company projects.
Read full review
In-Person Training
SAP
Good videos and reference material available in SAP Portal.
Read full review
Tableau
It is admittedly hard to train a group of people with disparate levels of ability coming in, but the software is so easy to use that this is not a huge problem; anyone who can follow simple instructions can catch up pretty quickly.
Read full review
Online Training
SAP
it's ok
Read full review
Tableau
I think the training was good overall, but it was maybe stating the obvious things that a tech savvy young engineer would be able to pick up themselves too. However, the example work books were good and Tableau web community has helped me with many problems
Read full review
Implementation Rating
SAP
SAC is a simple solution ad it works fine when connecting it to other SAP tools. On the other hand, connecting it to third party solutions brings difficulties when there's no previous design and the objetives are not clear. It is really important to integrate Business users from the start to provide with valuable business insights
Read full review
Tableau
Again, training is the key and the company provides a lot of example videos that will help users discover use cases that will greatly assist their creation of original visualizations. As with any new software tool, productivity will decline for a period. In the case of Tableau, the decline period is short and the later gains are well worth it.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
SAP
SAP Analytics Cloud and Power BI are both tools that help businesses understand their data, but they have some differences. SAC, made by SAP, works well if your company already uses other SAP products. It's in the cloud, easy to use, and has features for analyzing data, getting insights, and planning for the future. Power BI, made by Microsoft, can be used in the cloud or on your own computers. It fits well with Microsoft tools, is easy to use, and can do advanced data analysis. SAC has built-in planning tools, while Power BI needs extra tools for detailed planning
Read full review
Tableau
I have used Power BI as well, the pricing is better, and also training costs or certifications are not that high. Since there is python integration in Power BI where I can use data cleaning and visualizing libraries and also some machine learning models. I can import my python scripts and create a visualization on processed data.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
SAP
unit pricing
Read full review
Tableau
No answers on this topic
Scalability
SAP
I would rate SAP Analytics Cloud an 8 out of 10 for scalability. It offers a flexible, cloud-based architecture that supports expansion across departments and geographies. The platform adapts well to growing data volumes and user needs, making it a strong choice for organizations looking to scale analytics capabilities efficiently.
Read full review
Tableau
Tableau Desktop's scaleability is really limited to the scale of your back-end data systems. If you want to pull down an extract and work quickly in-memory, in my application it scaled to a few tens of millions of rows using the in-memory engine. But it's really only limited by your back-end data store if you have or are willing to invest in an optimized SQL store or purpose-built query engine like Veritca or Netezza or something similar.
Read full review
Professional Services
SAP
very simple
Read full review
Tableau
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
SAP
  • Many manual data manipulations and exports in Excel have been replaced by the tool, providing management with improved insight into the amount of time spent at each stage of an invoice's lifetime, allowing bottlenecks to be discovered.
  • We now have more insight into the data, and people with little technical experience can easily build stories.
Read full review
Tableau
  • Tableau was acquired years ago, and has provided good value with the content created.
  • Ongoing maintenance costs for the platform, both to maintain desktop and server licensing has made the continuing value questionable when compared to other offerings in the marketplace.
  • Users have largely been satisfied with the content, but not with the overall performance. This is due to a combination of factors including the performance of the Tableau engines as well as development deficiencies.
Read full review
ScreenShots