Skip to main content

Power BI or Tableau

This job aid should be used to determine if Microsoft Power BI or Tableau will best suit your reporting needs. Both tools are offered to university employees. 

Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Desktop are interactive, data visualization platforms that help people and organizations derive insights from data. 

 

Helpful Note:

For more information, visit the Microsoft Power BI Instructional Guides. 

Access: Permissions - Tableau Recommended
  • Tableau offers customizable permission levels down to the action (ex. export data) based at multiple levels. Power BI’s permissions are canned and unable to be customized unless asset by asset (resulting in mass technical debt, inconsistency, and the chance of data being exposed).
AI: Write Calculations - Power BI Recommended
  • Microsoft Copilot creates calculations that can be added to the data source.
Analytics: Python - Tableau Recommended
  • Users must follow all guidelines for Tableau use. For Power BI, a personal gateway is required on developer’s machine. 
Analytics: R - Tableau Recommended
  • Users must follow all guidelines for Tableau use. For Power BI, a personal gateway id is required on a developer’s machine.
Data Source: Jira - Tableau Recommended
  • Power BI does not support Jira as a data source. 
Data Source: One Drive/Share Point - Power BI Recommended
  • Users may connect to OneDrive/SharePoint via Tableau Desktop, but it is not possible to refresh data in Tableau Server due to configurations not aligning with the university’s Microsoft tenant. Instructions on how to connect PBI and OneDrive are available. 
Data Source: RAE - Tableau Recommended

 

Data Source: ServiceNow - Tableau Recommended
Data: Complex calculations - Tableau Recommended
  • If complex logic must be written into the tool and not occur at the data source layers, it is easier to create within Tableau; writing calculations in Tableau is easier to understand than DAX. To write logic at the data layer would require widespread SQL knowledge.
Design: Ease of Use - Tableau Recommended
  • There is more flexibility in dashboard development, specifically with vizzes such as hex maps, spatial mapping, and containers. PBI offers more out of the box vizzes, but those cannot be customized.
Design: Print friendly/PDF - Power BI Recommended
  • Use paginated reports and PBI Report Builder.
Design: Use greater than 8 colors - Tableau Recommended

 

Design: Visuals - Power BI Recommended
  • Power BI offers one-click advanced visuals, analyzing the data and factors behind segments. 
Sharing: Embedded in Microsoft Teams - Power BI Recommended
  • Per the 2024 Tableau Conference, sharing via Teams in Tableau will be a feature in the next 12 months. 
Support - Tableau Recommended
  • Unable to offer full support of Power BI service in current state. Full support includes trainings, doctor sessions, and tickets. 
UX: Data in Excel - Power BI Recommended
  • Use Analyze in Excel option as it will update as the data source updates. Exporting data from Tableau results in static data.
 

Critical Note:

A Tableau Creator license costs $464 per user per year and is intended for developers who need access to Desktop and Prep. Costs could be reduced by switching some developers to Web Author licenses, which are free, allowing them to still build and publish content directly in the browser.

For Power BI, the Gateway for the production cluster ranges from $3,840 to $4,608 per year. A Gateway is needed to connect to data sources for live connections and scheduled refreshes when the owner is away.

Additional Considerations

  • For student employees requiring access to a data visualization tool, a cost is associated with both Power BI and Tableau. If a student does not require access to the university’s server environment, they may qualify for a renewable, free license from Tableau. If they do require access to the university’s server environment, a license may be reassigned or purchased.
  • Users familiar with Microsoft products (Excel, Access) may find Power BI easier to work with.
  • Workbook conversion from Tableau to Power BI (or vice versa) is not recommended if:
    • the data source falls into any of the criteria above.
    • more than 5 calculations exist in either workbook.
    • level of detail calculations is used in Tableau.
  • Default properties, such as setting FY start in July or sorting, are easier in Tableau than Power BI. Power BI requires additional tables in the data source to set default properties.
  • If someone leaves the university and has objects in a personal folder in the Power BI service, other users will not be able to access those items – including administrators. Thus, if Power BI is chosen, a proper off-boarding process is essential. 

Additional Resources

Tableau and Power BI: Terminology Differences

Important Information

These recommendations are based on a Spring 2024 pilot with users from across the university.

Information on this job aid is as of April 2025 and may change with future product releases.

Additional support for either tool may change in the future.