Power BI vs Tableau vs Qlikview

Last Updated :

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Blog Author :

Jeevan A Y

Edited by :

Ashish Kumar Srivastav

Reviewed by :

Dheeraj Vaidya, CFA, FRM

Table Of Contents

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Difference Between Power BI, Tableau and Qlikview

All three tools, Power BI, Tableau, and QlikView, are business analytics tools used in the business representation of data for the concerned stakeholders. However, all three tools have some advantages over one another. For example, Power BI is more efficient in making cost-making decisions. In addition, Tableau is better at data visualization, and QlikView has robust analytics.

Table of contents

If you are evaluating Power BI vs. Tableau vs. Qlikview, then do have a look at these top 6 differences between the three:

Power-BI-vs-Tableau-vs-Qlikview
  • Power BI:  Power BI is a product of Microsoft, launched in 2013. It is one of the top data visualization tools in the market, even though it has been introduced in recent years. It gives a detailed visualization of the data through reports and dashboards.
  • Tableau: This product was launched in 2003, 10 years earlier than Power BI. As of now, the number one visualization tool. This tool also helps us to convert the raw data into meaningful insights and provide beautiful dashboards for our data.
  • QlikView: This is a much older product than Power BI because it had launched way back in 1993, even before it exposed the world to data-driven decision makings. This product also aims at providing data insights from large data sets.

Key Differences Between Power BI, Tableau, and QlikView

The key differences between them are as follows:

  1. Ease of Operating: Power BI leads the race in this category because of its MS Excel background; the other two are not often used by customers, so they may find it difficult to operate.
  2. Cost-Effectiveness: Power BI is less expensive than the other two, so not a bad idea to go with the product.

Comparative Table

All three tools are well-known brands in the market. However, there are a lot of similarities and differences between these three products, so in this comparative table, we will see those similarities and differences.

ItemPower BITableauQlikview
Basic VersionsThe desktop version of Power BI is free, and users need not pay anything. They can download the software and start using it.A basic version of Tableau is also free but has very limited features to get a start.QlikView’s basic version is free. But, like Tableau, it has very limited features to work with.
Advanced VersionsPower BI comes with two advanced versions, i.e., Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium. These packages cost $10 per user per month and seem less expensive than Tableau and QlikView.Tableau’s advanced version costs $100 per user, which seems expensive for middle-scale industries.$30 per month per user is the cost to acquire an advanced version of QlikView. It stands in the middle between these three in terms of cost.
Analytics and InterpretationPower BI have many advanced features to work with, so it is very good for analytics and interpretation of the data.Tableau is the winner of these three here. Because of many drill-down and filtering options, it leads the race by miles.QlikView lacks proven analytics, so it needs to work on these aspects.
Data Capturing and WarehousingPower BI is capable of fetching data from anywhere at any time. It has various data sources like web, cloud SQL, Azure, etc.Tableau is capable of good data source connections, probably on par with Power BI.Data transformation is the key element of Qlikview. This tool, too, can fetch data from anywhere.
Ease of LearningPower BI seems like an advanced version of Excel, so people find it easy to work with this tool because of the similarity in Excel interface, formulas, and other features.Tableau is not a household product that all common people can use. Only those who are at the data science level are well-known about the features of this product.QlikView too requires a Data Science background because of the programming skills required to work with this tool.
Customer CommunitySince Power BI comes with an Office 365 package, a customer who buys other Microsoft products may also get exposed to this tool.Tableau has a history on its own, so it has a huge customer community.Only programming knowledge people can use QlikView, so not many people are from programming backgrounds in the customer community.

Conclusion

Unless you are from a technical background, your choice is always Power BI. We cannot say the other two are bad. On the contrary, all these three have their own set of unique qualities. In terms of cost also, Power BI leads the race because of its less expensive membership fees.