Tableau Desktop vs. ThoughtSpot

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Tableau Desktop
Score 8.3 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.
$70
per month
ThoughtSpot
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
ThoughtSpot is an AI-Powered Analytics company, that aims to create a more fact-driven world with an easy to use analytics platform. ThoughtSpot enables users to leverage natural language search powered by large language models to ask and answer data questions. Users within an organization can limitlessly engage with live data in any popular cloud data platform to create and interact with granular, hyper…
$95
per month
Pricing
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Editions & Modules
Tableau Creator
$70.00
Per User / Per Month
ThoughtSpot Analytics Team
$95
per month flat subscription
ThoughtSpot Analytics Pro
starts at $30,000
per year consumption-based pricing, pay for what you use
ThoughtSpot Analytics Enterprise
contact for pricing
per year consumption-based pricing, pay for what you use
ThoughtSpot Everywhere Pro
contact for pricing
per year consumption-based pricing, pay for what you use
ThoughtSpot Everywhere Enterprise
contact for pricing
per year consumption-based pricing, pay for what you use
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
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 …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.5
167 Ratings
4% above category average
ThoughtSpot
6.7
79 Ratings
20% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports8.5139 Ratings6.021 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.8166 Ratings6.579 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.2145 Ratings7.725 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.8
164 Ratings
8% above category average
ThoughtSpot
6.8
80 Ratings
18% below category average
Drill-down analysis9.0159 Ratings7.580 Ratings
Formatting capabilities9.0162 Ratings5.679 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.1122 Ratings6.345 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.3157 Ratings7.778 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.6
158 Ratings
3% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.8
74 Ratings
7% below category average
Publish to Web8.7149 Ratings7.648 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.3149 Ratings8.169 Ratings
Report Versioning8.6116 Ratings7.918 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling9.1123 Ratings8.557 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.473 Ratings6.830 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.6
156 Ratings
6% above category average
ThoughtSpot
6.6
76 Ratings
20% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.0154 Ratings7.175 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.7149 Ratings7.071 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.7126 Ratings6.058 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.02 Ratings6.27 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.8
142 Ratings
2% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.4
75 Ratings
15% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)8.8139 Ratings7.773 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.3119 Ratings6.966 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.7129 Ratings7.170 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control9.03 Ratings7.78 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.977 Ratings7.762 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.4
135 Ratings
5% above category average
ThoughtSpot
7.6
46 Ratings
5% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access8.5124 Ratings7.644 Ratings
Mobile Application8.197 Ratings7.427 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.8117 Ratings6.939 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Tableau Desktop
8.7
64 Ratings
9% above category average
ThoughtSpot
6.9
44 Ratings
14% below category average
REST API8.756 Ratings6.535 Ratings
Javascript API8.551 Ratings6.429 Ratings
iFrames8.949 Ratings7.227 Ratings
Java API9.246 Ratings7.013 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.453 Ratings7.328 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)8.646 Ratings7.115 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Small Businesses
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Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
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Score 9.9 out of 10
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Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 9.7 out of 10
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Score 9.7 out of 10
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User Ratings
Tableau DesktopThoughtSpot
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(194 ratings)
8.1
(80 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(39 ratings)
9.7
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(63 ratings)
8.0
(75 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(10 ratings)
8.7
(3 ratings)
Performance
6.1
(9 ratings)
7.7
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
6.9
(56 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.4
(4 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(4 ratings)
4.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(34 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
8.1
(2 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(3 ratings)
7.7
(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
Tableau Desktop is one the finest tool available in the market with such a wide range of capabilities in its suite that makes it easy to generate insights. Further, if optimally designed, then its reports are fairly simple to understand, yet capable enough to make changes at the required levels. One can create a variety of visualizations as required by the business or the clients. The data pipelines in the backend are very robust. The tableau desktop also provides options to develop the reports in developer mode, which is one of the finest features to embed and execute even the most complex possible logic. It's easier to operate, simple to navigate, and fluent to understand by the users.
Read full review
ThoughtSpot
Well suited for my clients for a Macro view of business insights, credit risk, ESG insights, etc. However, I think ThoughtSpot needs to make exploring underlying data easier, adding a feature where you can click on charts and filters will help users and especially business users to easily understand the granularities as well.
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
  • Formatting the data to work correctly in graphical presentations can be time consuming
  • Daily data extracts can run slowly depending on how much data is required and the source of the data
  • The desktop version is required for advanced functionality, editing on [the] Tableau server allows only limited features
Read full review
ThoughtSpot
  • Ability to build a single dashboard tile containing the main value, a sparkline, and a percent change over time
  • Easy way to build a user experience that allows for selecting different metrics to trend from a drop-down on a multi-axis graph
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 tool is easy to use if you know what you are doing and looking for. I know as they work towards improvements and simple language it will become even easier, but as of now they are doing a great job but there is room for improvement.
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
I have never really used support much, to be honest. I think the support is not as user-friendly to search and use it. I did have an encounter with them once and it required a bit of going back and forth for licensing before reaching a resolution. They did solve my issue though
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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
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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
The training for new users are quite good because it covers topic wise training and the best part was that it also had video tutorials which are very helpful
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
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Alternatives Considered
Tableau
If we do not have legacy tools which have already been set up, I would switch the visualization method to open source software via PyCharm, Atom, and Visual Studio IDE. These IDEs cannot directly help you to visualize the data but you can use many python packages to do so through these IDEs.
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
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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
  • Positive ROI immediately seen for first POC.
  • Saved an immense amount of time for a sole analyst on a team by enabling the end-users to ask their own questions instead of always turning to her, allowing her to focus on other priorities.
  • Immediate answer to question on second POC that led to personnel changes.
Read full review
ScreenShots

ThoughtSpot Screenshots

Screenshot of ThoughtSpot home screenScreenshot of A Liveboard for drill downScreenshot of Live query, to connect to cloud data platformsScreenshot of Search to analyze and visualize dataScreenshot of A look at queries runScreenshot of Consuming insights on iOS app