Tableau Desktop vs. ThoughtSpot

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
ThoughtSpot
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
ThoughtSpot is an Agentic Analytics Platform for enterprises where users ask data questions using natural language and get answers with AI. Code-first for data teams and code-free for business users, ThoughtSpot can handle large, complex cloud data at scale.
$1,500
per year (5 users)
Pricing
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Editions & Modules
Tableau
$75
per month per user
Tableau Enterprise
$115
per month per user
Thoughtspot Analytics - Pro
$50
per month (billed annually) per user (25-1000 users)
Thoughtspot Analytics - Enterprise
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsAll pricing plans are billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Considered Both Products
Tableau Desktop

No answer on this topic

ThoughtSpot
Chose ThoughtSpot
Tableau is indeed better than ThoughtSpot (as of now), but the license for Tableau is expensive. ThoughtSpot integrates BI with AI, which kind of looks like the future.
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot can similarly generate tables, visuals, and dashboards in Tableau, but in a faster and easier way.
Chose ThoughtSpot
We have been using Tableau as the enterprise reporting tool and felt sending data to external people had few restrictions hence we tried with ThoughtSpot.
Chose ThoughtSpot
Thoughtspot is a fairly new tool when compared to Tableau. I'll just list the benefits of each one of threse below -
Tableau -
1. Much more customizable the Thoughtspot
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot was much easier from an end-user perspective. Looker and Tableau allowed for more customization and detailed dashboards.
Chose ThoughtSpot
It is more cost effective when compared to Tableau and more easy to use. ThoughtSpot integrates well with modern cloud data platforms like Snowflake, Google, and Bigquery, making it easy to analyze large datasets in real time. Sync insights into cloud tools. Users can sync …
Chose ThoughtSpot
Great ease of use for business users and self-service capabilites
Chose ThoughtSpot
It stacks up well against these modern BI tools. These are the most popular tools and its ability to perform well with live connections gives it an advantage. However, having more control over formatting/customization would allow it to go further. Plus, developing a stronger …
Chose ThoughtSpot
They’re for different use cases. When I want a dynamic way to quickly obtain the data I need, I’d go with ThoughtSpot.
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot's user friendly interface, faster and accurate results, low-code support for building insights and vast availability of native charts, AI powered dashboards helps in faster decision making and helps in driving better business results. The mobile APP that ThoughtSpot …
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot can handle large datasets A LOT better.
Chose ThoughtSpot
I liked thought spot because of the ad-hoc capabilities and their search functionality.
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot is the leader in embedded analytics and is much easier to work with massive volumes of data. None of the other tools listed had both of those functionalities, which were most important to us. There are other features that they have such as easier drill down, …
Chose ThoughtSpot
Compare to Kibana, which was we used previously, ThoughtSpot is definitely better in terms of UI, visualizations, usability, and the SpotIQ/ML components. The only disadvantage for ThoughtSpot is the lack of drill-down function/click-on filters.
Chose ThoughtSpot
The main reason for selecting Thoughtspot was to share reporting with other external vendors and ease of doing business.
Chose ThoughtSpot
We selected ThoughtSpot with the promise that it would evolve into a Google search for business insights. To date, it has not gotten close in my opinion.
Chose ThoughtSpot
I have used other BI tools, but I do not have enough experience with them to give a true rating.
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot is far cheaper and easier to deploy than several of the larger players in the industry. I'd have no concerns in recommending ThoughtSpot to anyone considering a similar solution.
Chose ThoughtSpot
While Thoughtspot runs on "keyword search" technology, it needs the users to import data and build the data model in thoughtspot which creates a duplicate copy of your data mart. Answer Rocket uses "NLP (Natural Language Processing)" to work on your existing database and while …
Chose ThoughtSpot
In ad-hoc reporting...ThoughtSpot is superior in speed-to-results. The other products are capable, however, they require SQL coding and setup that ThoughtSpot only requires on initial load of data. Both PowerBI and ThoughtSpot use a text-based "natural language" query engine, …
Chose ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot is just as good at creating the initial graphic for the end user, it might even be better because the user really does not need much technical knowledge in order to create a basic graphic. Currently, ThoughtSpot cannot yet compete with the other tools when it comes …
Features
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.4
175 Ratings
3% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.3
89 Ratings
12% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.0145 Ratings6.021 Ratings
Customizable dashboards9.1174 Ratings8.289 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.1151 Ratings7.725 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.3
172 Ratings
3% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.5
91 Ratings
7% below category average
Drill-down analysis8.5167 Ratings8.490 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.4170 Ratings7.290 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.0126 Ratings5.749 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.5165 Ratings8.688 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.3
166 Ratings
1% above category average
ThoughtSpot
8.3
84 Ratings
1% above category average
Publish to Web8.0155 Ratings8.255 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.0154 Ratings8.678 Ratings
Report Versioning8.3120 Ratings7.918 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.6128 Ratings8.564 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.778 Ratings8.135 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.3
164 Ratings
4% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.4
86 Ratings
8% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.5162 Ratings7.585 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.5156 Ratings7.679 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.6131 Ratings7.565 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.57 Ratings6.913 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
9.0
149 Ratings
6% above category average
ThoughtSpot
8.1
86 Ratings
5% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.0145 Ratings8.282 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.9125 Ratings7.974 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.7136 Ratings7.778 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control9.010 Ratings7.916 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)9.283 Ratings8.572 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
7.9
141 Ratings
1% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.6
53 Ratings
3% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access8.7130 Ratings7.351 Ratings
Mobile Application7.3101 Ratings7.234 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.4122 Ratings7.146 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
7.8
67 Ratings
1% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.1
51 Ratings
9% below category average
REST API8.259 Ratings6.942 Ratings
Javascript API7.853 Ratings6.535 Ratings
iFrames7.051 Ratings8.134 Ratings
Java API8.348 Ratings7.013 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.554 Ratings7.335 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.148 Ratings7.115 Ratings
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User Ratings
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(204 ratings)
8.6
(91 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.5
(41 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(73 ratings)
8.3
(85 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(11 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(10 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(57 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.4
(4 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(5 ratings)
4.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(34 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
7.0
(3 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(4 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Likelihood to Recommend
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
ThoughtSpot
It is well suited when the same data is consumed by many different people with different analytics and visualization requirements because, if you have the data available in ThoughtSpot, every user can prepare different views. Also, it is a good reporting tool, you can get rid of slides if you have a good dashboard prepared, gaining flexibility and agility.
Read full review
Pros
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
ThoughtSpot
  • Beautiful visualizations. The visuals are distinct, clean, and easy to discern from one another.
  • Intelligent querying functionality. When looking to manipulate the data, the search function makes it easy to manipulate the features in the data, along with aggregating them in the way you'd like.
  • Embedding! It has been a smooth process thus far for our product & technical teams to work with ThoughtSpot and bring it into our product.
Read full review
Cons
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
ThoughtSpot
  • It would be great if ThoughtSpot can add the feature to filter by clicking on visualizations. i.e if I click on a particular data point in the chart if the full dashboard can filter just for that particular data point.
  • Color coding the heatmap with different colors like green to orange to red.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
ThoughtSpot
I give it just waiting because passport is brilliant and it has helped our organisation In advancing to the next stage in the age of AI. It has allowed or non-tech people to better service and clients in a cost-effective way. George port has allowed us to create new products for us and for our clients increasing our revenue streams and reducing clients churn
Read full review
Usability
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
ThoughtSpot
The rating is because of the ease of use of the interface as it has a no code interface that makes it easy to setup data pipelines without extensive programming. Cloud native integration: It integrates seamlessly with cloud based data warehouses. Automated data loading, Scalability, Cost Effective, Transformations, Data Governance and security.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
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
ThoughtSpot
it's available unless there is a server or system update etc. sometimes the timing of this is bad (for example during a month end close)
Read full review
Performance
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
ThoughtSpot
It does what it is supposed to. Would be nice to have a bit more insights
Read full review
Support Rating
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
ThoughtSpot
I give it this meeting because the team is not only help able to help us in the current solutions but also amazing and taking feedback and feeding it back to their development team which includes more products and features into ThoughtSpot
Read full review
In-Person Training
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
ThoughtSpot
inhouse in-person training. Took a bit to long to get the basics.
Read full review
Online Training
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
ThoughtSpot
poor instructions
Read full review
Implementation Rating
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
ThoughtSpot
Understand use case and model and design accordingly
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
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
ThoughtSpot
We also explored Tableau Ask Data. Tableau is our standard for BI in our organization. We want to use the smallest amount of tools in our company to have the best adaption. ThoughSpot will fill a few gaps that we have with our current set up and will also enhance out offering for our employees in the transition of being more data driven within in near future
Read full review
Scalability
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
ThoughtSpot
Because it is very reliable, inside the situation, we need strong internet connection to access a lot of data but easily never had any downtime except during the upgrades
Read full review
Return on Investment
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
ThoughtSpot
  • Time to market ROI is massive vs hiring the full-time dedicated team to build and maintain a frontend multi-tenant SaaS data viz product.
  • It will be interesting to see over time how the advanced features play out in terms of usability and end value, such as Natural Search, which we are very excited about, and the machine learning tools.
Read full review
ScreenShots

ThoughtSpot Screenshots

Screenshot of the ThoughtSpot home screenScreenshot of SpotIQ, which offers AI-driven insightsScreenshot of the Spotter AI agent that surfaces insights through natural language queriesScreenshot of AI Assist producing SQL in real timeScreenshot of SpotIQ, which offers AI-driven insightsScreenshot of the integration with dbt models and metrics