Updated March 22, 2023
Difference Between Tableau vs Power BI vs QlikView
In the article Tableau vs Power BI vs QlikView, a BI tool acts as a ready-to-use option to facilitate quick insight generation for effective decision making. With multiple BI and Analytics tools available in the market, the choice of a tool is governed by various factors such as the preference of organization, level of technical expertise of employees, budget, etc. At surface level, all tools may seem to be providing similar functionalities but studying them closely allows us to know that there exist fine distinctions that form their core competencies. The tools are updated continuously to overcome identified shortcomings or limitations and to incorporate new features.
Head to Head Comparison between Tableau vs Power BI vs QlikView (Infographics)
Below are the top 13 Comparisons between Tableau and Power BI and QlikView:
Key Differences between Tableau vs Power BI vs QlikView
Let’s discuss the top comparison between Tableau and Power BI and QlikView:
- The use of Tableau doesn’t require any prior technical knowledge. The simple drag-and-drop interface makes this possible. As against this, Power BI, for effective use, requires knowledge of Excel and DAX (Data Analysis and Expression). QlikView is difficult to work upon as scripting knowledge and familiarity with data modeling is a must.
- Tableau is a pure visualization tool. If the sole purpose is to generate visualizations for analysis, then Tableau best serves the purpose. Power BI is not just a visualization tool, as it also offers excellent predictive modeling and BI capabilities. QlikView’s unique characteristic is its drill-down functionality that let’s incorporate insights from data discovery in visual analytics.
- Tableau offers certain in-built features for advanced analytics, like time series modeling. It also supports integration with an external tool. However, when it comes to advanced analytics, Power BI surpasses the remaining BI tools. QlikView, on the other hand, fails to match the two tools on this parameter.
- In terms of performance, the simple user-interface of Tableau enables fast development. Power BI, though being comparatively new, offers seamless options to generate a variety of advanced analytics and so in terms of performance as a BI tool has quickly established itself as the most preferred tool. QlikView, in terms of BI, ranks above Tableau but below Power BI, and reverse in the context of visualizations.
- In the context of data connectivity and extraction, Tableau employs the cubing technique and has its data warehouse. Power BI requires no additional model thus establishing a direct connection with data. QlikView works on the principle of in-memory technique to work with data.
- Tableau offers various options based on user requirements. It has a tremendous user base and so this has led it to come up with a variety of options. Pricing differs based on edition, and the pricing structure is complex. Power BI offers only two options viz. Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium. The pricing is comparatively low for Power BI. QlikView is comparatively an old tool and it mainly offers two options for small businesses and large enterprises. The pricing is fixed for certain editions while for others it is variable as decided by the sales.
- Tableau effectively integrates with external statistical packages like R, and the visualizations could be used incorporated in the tool. Power BI, however, is the best tool for integration and leaves behind Tableau too. It integrates with numerous external sources like MS Excel, XML, JSON, SQL, Google Analytics, Marketo, Facebook, Hadoop, R, Spark, Python, etc. QlikView is weak in terms of integration as compared to Tableau and Power BI.
- Tableau is best suitable for users who need a BI tool in their domain work, e.g. researchers. Power BI is excellent for dashboard development as it incorporates several features of advanced statistical and visual analytics capabilities. QlikView allows sharing of analysis, and its data discovery functionality best suits internal teams of large enterprises.
- Speaking about each tool’s advantage, Tableau offers superb visual capabilities than any other BI tool. Power BI along with offering various features is available at a comparatively low price. QlikView has a well-developed community that has resulted in its high rating.
Comparison Table of Tableau vs Power BI vs QlikView
The table below summarizes the comparisons between Tableau and Power BI and QlikView:
| Criteria | Tableau | Power BI | QlikView |
| Ease of Use | It offers a simple to use drag and drop interface. | Knowledge of Microsoft Excel and DAX is required for effective use. | Difficult to use without knowledge of Scripting and data models |
| BI Strength | It offers excellent visualization capability. | It allows data manipulation prior importing data. | The drill-down functionality that facilitates data discovery |
| Advanced Analytics Capabilities | Comes with certain features for advanced analytics and supports external integration | Predictive modeling and analytics are core competencies and integrates with R and Python. | It doesn’t offer any advanced analytics features and the scope of integrating it with external tools is quite limited. |
| Performance | Offers easy-to-use mechanism and user-friendly layout. | It allows users to generate advanced analytics along with visualizations. | In terms of BI, it is above Tableau but below Power BI and reverse in case of visualizations. |
| Connectivity with Data | Tableau has its warehouse and employs cubing technique. | It requires no additional model and interacts with data directly. | It does not require a data warehouse and uses the in-memory technique. |
| Options | Tableau offers multiple options, including Tableau Creator and Tableau Desktop. | Power BI offers just two options viz. Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium. | QlikView offers two options viz. Qlik Sense Business and Qlik Sense Enterprise along with more options in Integration and Developer. |
| Pricing | Multiple options in Tableau make pricing quiet complex. | As compared to Tableau and QlikView, for Power BI, the pricing is low. | Pricing for some products is fixed while for others, it is variable. |
| Free Edition | Tableau Desktop is available only as a 14 days free trial. | Power BI Desktop is available as a free application. | QlikView Personal Edition is free but comes with some restrictions. |
| Integration | It effectively integrates with external tools but not to the extent with which Power BI does. | Power BI is superior in terms of integration. It integrates with different data sources of various types. | It doesn’t offer any strong functionality to integrate with an external tool. |
| Storage Limits | Cloud storage of 100 GB limit is provided workbooks and extracts. | A maximum cloud storage of 10 GB is allowed for all users. | The total cloud storage offered is 500 GB. The maximum app size is 250 MB. |
| Suitability | It is best suitable for business users, researchers, academics. | It is the best tool for dashboard development. | QlikView is excellent for in house analytics teams. |
| Implementation | Tableau facilitates easy and fast implementation with flexible options as compared to Power BI. | Power BI though offering an easy and quick implementation mechanism is available only as a SaaS model. | Implementation in the context of QlikView is quite slow as compared to Tableau and Power BI. |
| Positive Aspect | Tableau has a very high ranking in visualizations. | Power BI comparatively has a low price and offers scalability. | Being a relatively old BI tool, it has a well-developed community. |
Conclusion
Tableau, Power BI and QlikView are all-powerful BI tools. Each of them excels at certain parameters. The tools are constantly updated based on competitor tool assessment and user requirements. Each of the tools has a unique selling proposition that keeps attached a user baser base and attracts similar users.
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