What is Tableau used for?

Tableau is a business intelligence and data visualization tool for exploring data and building interactive dashboards. It is a good fit for business reporting dashboards and exploratory data analysis.

Is Tableau open source?

No. Tableau is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Tableau include DataLens, Metabase and Redash.

Can I self-host Tableau?

Yes. Although Tableau is closed source, it can be self-hosted on your own servers, and the vendor also offers a hosted version.

What are some alternatives to Tableau?

Tableau competes with Qlik, Spotfire and ThoughtSpot. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Tableau alternatives.

Tableau: features, pricing and alternatives

About Tableau

Tableau is a commercial analytics product, now part of Salesforce, that lets people connect to data sources and build interactive charts and dashboards. Analysts use it to explore data visually and share results with colleagues without writing much code.

It is sold both as a cloud service and as server software that organizations can run themselves, alongside a desktop authoring app. The vendor's website blocked automated access when this entry was prepared, so current editions and pricing should be confirmed on the official site.

Key features

Interactive dashboards and charts
Connections to many data sources
Visual data exploration
Cloud and server deployment options

Good fit for

→Business reporting dashboards
→Exploratory data analysis

Tags: business-intelligence; data-visualization; dashboards; analytics; reporting; salesforce

Tableau: questions and answers

What is Tableau used for?: Tableau is a business intelligence and data visualization tool for exploring data and building interactive dashboards. It is a good fit for business reporting dashboards and exploratory data analysis.
Is Tableau open source?: No. Tableau is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Tableau include DataLens, Metabase and Redash.
Can I self-host Tableau?: Yes. Although Tableau is closed source, it can be self-hosted on your own servers, and the vendor also offers a hosted version.
What are some alternatives to Tableau?: Tableau competes with Qlik, Spotfire and ThoughtSpot. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Tableau alternatives.