Tableau vs Power BI vs QlikView

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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:

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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