Compare Microsoft Power BI and Tableau 
At a Glance
Market Segments
Enterprise (43.4% of reviews)
Enterprise (44.5% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
Free 1 User
$70.00 1 User Per Month
Microsoft Power BI
Star Rating
(1,239)4.5 out of 5
Market Segments
Enterprise (43.4% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
Free 1 User
Browse all 3 pricing plansTableau
Star Rating
(2,340)4.4 out of 5
Market Segments
Enterprise (44.5% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
$70.00 1 User Per Month
Free Trial is available
Browse all 3 pricing plansSummary
AI Generated Summary
AI-generated. Powered by real user reviews.
- Users report that Tableau excels in cartography with a Map Design score of 9.5, allowing for highly detailed and customizable maps, while Microsoft Power BI also performs well but does not quite match Tableau's capabilities in this area.
- Reviewers mention that Tableau's data visualization features, particularly in Graphs and Charts, receive a high score of 9.2, which users appreciate for its aesthetic appeal and functionality, whereas Power BI's score of 9.1 is slightly lower, indicating a minor difference in user satisfaction.
- G2 users highlight that Tableau's cloud functionality is rated at 9.1, providing robust options for online collaboration, while Power BI's cloud features are also strong but slightly less favored, reflecting a score of 9.0.
- Users on G2 report that Tableau's ease of setup is rated at 8.3, which some find less intuitive compared to Power BI's higher score of 8.7, suggesting that Power BI may offer a more user-friendly onboarding experience.
- Reviewers mention that Tableau's predictive analysis capabilities score 9.4, which is highly regarded for its advanced analytics features, while Power BI's predictive analytics score of 8.3 indicates a gap in this specific functionality.
- Users say that Tableau's data governance features are rated at 8.6, which some find comprehensive, while Power BI's score of 8.8 suggests it may offer slightly better tools for managing data integrity and compliance.
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Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
Microsoft Power BI
Power BI in Microsoft Fabric
Free
1 User
Power BI in Microsoft Fabric
- Sign Up for A Fabric Account
Tableau
Creator
$70.00
1 User Per Month
- Includes Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep Builder, and one Creator license on Tableau Cloud (SaaS) or Tableau Server (self-hosted).
Free Trial
Microsoft Power BI
Free Trial is available
Tableau
Free Trial is available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
8.9
977
8.7
1,882
Ease of Use
8.4
995
8.3
1,902
Ease of Setup
8.7
441
8.3
769
Ease of Admin
8.4
333
8.1
587
Quality of Support
8.4
855
8.3
1,579
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
8.8
314
8.5
566
Product Direction (% positive)
9.2
949
8.8
1,860
Features by Category
Reports
8.9
834
|
Verified
8.7
1399
|
Verified
8.4
776
|
Verified
8.3
1276
|
Verified
9.1
837
|
Verified
9.1
1439
|
Verified
8.9
492
8.6
1067
9.1
822
|
Verified
9.1
1424
|
Verified
Self Service
8.6
696
8.5
1373
|
Verified
8.9
704
8.7
1402
|
Verified
8.6
785
|
Verified
8.5
1320
|
Verified
8.4
672
8.2
1133
8.4
760
|
Verified
8.2
1210
|
Verified
8.2
698
|
Verified
7.8
1045
|
Verified
Advanced Analytics
8.3
557
|
Verified
7.8
993
9.2
823
|
Verified
9.2
1408
|
Verified
8.4
557
|
Verified
8.1
1002
Building Reports
8.8
495
|
Verified
8.3
765
|
Verified
8.8
485
|
Verified
8.1
737
|
Verified
8.5
420
|
Verified
8.3
619
|
Verified
8.5
416
|
Verified
8.0
626
|
Verified
Platform
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Reports
8.9
834
|
Verified
8.7
1399
|
Verified
8.4
776
|
Verified
8.3
1276
|
Verified
9.1
837
|
Verified
9.1
1439
|
Verified
8.9
492
8.6
1067
9.1
822
|
Verified
9.1
1424
|
Verified
Data Preparation
8.9
460
|
Verified
8.7
635
|
Verified
8.8
452
|
Verified
8.5
626
|
Verified
Data Modeling and Blending
8.9
474
|
Verified
8.5
663
|
Verified
9.1
486
|
Verified
8.9
683
|
Verified
8.7
470
|
Verified
8.6
657
|
Verified
Generative AI
Feature Not Available
7.3
237
Feature Not Available
7.4
264
Self Service
8.6
696
8.5
1373
|
Verified
8.9
704
8.7
1402
|
Verified
8.6
785
|
Verified
8.5
1320
|
Verified
8.4
672
8.2
1133
8.4
760
|
Verified
8.2
1210
|
Verified
8.2
698
|
Verified
7.8
1045
|
Verified
Advanced Analytics
8.3
557
|
Verified
7.8
993
9.2
823
|
Verified
9.2
1408
|
Verified
8.4
557
|
Verified
8.1
1002
Building Reports
8.8
495
|
Verified
8.3
765
|
Verified
8.8
485
|
Verified
8.1
737
|
Verified
8.5
420
|
Verified
8.3
619
|
Verified
8.5
416
|
Verified
8.0
626
|
Verified
Reports
8.9
834
|
Verified
8.7
1399
|
Verified
8.4
776
|
Verified
8.3
1276
|
Verified
9.1
837
|
Verified
9.1
1439
|
Verified
8.9
492
8.6
1067
9.1
822
|
Verified
9.1
1424
|
Verified
Self Service
8.6
696
8.5
1373
|
Verified
8.9
704
8.7
1402
|
Verified
8.6
785
|
Verified
8.5
1320
|
Verified
8.4
672
8.2
1133
8.4
760
|
Verified
8.2
1210
|
Verified
8.2
698
|
Verified
7.8
1045
|
Verified
Building Reports
8.8
495
|
Verified
8.3
765
|
Verified
8.8
485
|
Verified
8.1
737
|
Verified
8.5
420
|
Verified
8.3
619
|
Verified
8.5
416
|
Verified
8.0
626
|
Verified
Cartography
Not enough data
9.4
20
Not enough data
9.4
20
Not enough data
9.5
21
Not enough data
9.6
21
Analysis
Not enough data
9.4
21
Not enough data
9.5
21
Not enough data
9.4
21
Not enough data
9.4
21
Reporting
Not enough data
9.4
21
Not enough data
9.3
20
Not enough data
9.5
20
Data Source Access
Not enough data
8.6
158
Not enough data
8.7
157
Not enough data
8.2
157
Data Interaction
Not enough data
8.1
157
Not enough data
8.1
159
Not enough data
8.2
156
Not enough data
8.4
158
Not enough data
8.2
157
Not enough data
8.3
156
Not enough data
8.3
158
Not enough data
8.2
155
Data Exporting
Not enough data
8.5
153
Not enough data
8.4
152
Not enough data
8.4
153
Generative AI
Not enough data
7.4
152
Additional Functionality
Not enough data
8.9
52
Not enough data
9.4
53
Basics
Not enough data
9.3
53
Content
Not enough data
9.0
50
Data
Not enough data
9.4
52
Interoperability
Not enough data
9.0
50
Performance
Not enough data
9.3
53
Statistical Tool
Not enough data
8.4
175
Not enough data
8.3
176
Not enough data
8.4
168
Data Analysis
Not enough data
9.0
193
Not enough data
8.9
190
Decision Making
Not enough data
8.6
184
Not enough data
9.4
192
Not enough data
9.1
191
Not enough data
8.7
185
Generative AI
Not enough data
7.9
104
Not enough data
7.8
104
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
Microsoft Power BI and Tableau are categorized as Analytics Platforms
Unique Categories
Microsoft Power BI has no unique categories
Tableau is categorized as Insurance Analytics, Location Intelligence, Embedded Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics, and Data Preparation
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
Microsoft Power BI
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Tableau
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Small-Business
(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market
(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise
(> 1000 emp.)
Reviewers' Industry
Information Technology and Services
16.8%
Computer Software
6.6%
Financial Services
4.9%
Hospital & Health Care
3.4%
Marketing and Advertising
3.0%
Other
65.3%
Information Technology and Services
10.8%
Computer Software
6.7%
Financial Services
5.7%
Marketing and Advertising
5.0%
Higher Education
4.9%
Other
66.9%
Most Helpful Reviews
Microsoft Power BI
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Verified User in Marketing and Advertising
Visualizations. They're absolutely fantastic. Importing data is incredibly easy and it's much more powerful than excel or many SQL based visualization tools.
Most Helpful Critical Review
Verified User in Computer Software
It isn't something you can easily pick up right away. You definitely would need to have some formal training in it to use it correctly.
Tableau
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Jeff B.
Verified User in Retail
Tableau enables users the ability build data visualizations in the matter of minutes without requiring technical report development knowledge. In my opinion, the top 5 best qualities: 1. Drag and drop functionality is easy for any user to...
Most Helpful Critical Review
Verified User in Capital Markets
requires a desktop application for editing reports, data needs to be in a certain format (cube), ugly looking UI, not very slick at all.
Verified User in Marketing and Advertising
Visualizations. They're absolutely fantastic. Importing data is incredibly easy and it's much more powerful than excel or many SQL based visualization tools.
Jeff B.
Verified User in Retail
Tableau enables users the ability build data visualizations in the matter of minutes without requiring technical report development knowledge. In my opinion, the top 5 best qualities: 1. Drag and drop functionality is easy for any user to...
Verified User in Computer Software
It isn't something you can easily pick up right away. You definitely would need to have some formal training in it to use it correctly.
Verified User in Capital Markets
requires a desktop application for editing reports, data needs to be in a certain format (cube), ugly looking UI, not very slick at all.
Discussions
What is Microsoft Power BI Desktop used for?
3 comments
DM
PowerBI desktop is the desktop version of PowerBI unlike the web version which you open in a web browser like Google Chrome or EDGE. The desktop version has...Read more
How I can have the free version of this application?
2 comments
DZ
Here: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/Read more
Support Multiple Data Types
2 comments
LS
I'd recommend putting requests like that on ideas.powerbi.com.Read more
why did saleforce by tableau? IS SFDC reporting going to change now?
2 comments
TR
Perfect answer by Derrick. I totally agree.Read more
What does Tableau Desktop do?
2 comments
NA
Tableau Desktop help create interactive Dashboards offline and publish it to the wider audience through Tableau public. Tableau Desktop is one of the version...Read more
Do I need Tableau Desktop if I have Tableau Server?
2 comments
LT
Anyway, whether you need Tableau Desktop depends on your specific use case and requirements. If you're unsure, you can consider the following
Evaluate...Read more
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