Overview
Tableau offers various products for data visualization, with Tableau Desktop and Tableau Public being two of the most prominent. Each serves different user needs and comes with distinct features, capabilities, and limitations.
Key Differences
1. Cost and Accessibility
Tableau Public is a free version of the software, making it accessible to anyone interested in creating visualizations without financial investment.
Tableau Desktop, on the other hand, is a paid product that provides more robust features suitable for professional use, including local storage of workbooks and access to a wider array of data sources.
2. Data Storage and Privacy
In Tableau Public, visualizations are stored publicly on the Tableau Public server, meaning they can be accessed by anyone once published. Note with the release of Tableau Desktop Public Edition 2024.1.2, you can now save your work locally in your computer.
Tableau Desktop allows users to save their work locally or on a private server, ensuring that sensitive data remains confidential.
3. Data Sources
Tableau Public supports a limited set of data sources, including Google Sheets, Excel files, and some text formats. It cannot connect to cloud-based databases or other complex data sources.
In contrast, Tableau Desktop supports a wide range of data connections, including SQL databases and cloud applications like Salesforce and Google Analytics, allowing for comprehensive data analysis.
4. Data Limitations
Users of Tableau Public are restricted to handling up to 15 million rows of data. This limit can hinder analysis for larger datasets.
Tableau Desktop has no such limitations on the number of rows it can process, making it suitable for extensive datasets typical in business environments.
5. Features and Capabilities
Both versions allow users to create visualizations and dashboards; however, Tableau Desktop offers advanced analytical features such as calculated fields, custom SQL queries, and more sophisticated visualization options that are not available in Tableau Public.
Tableau Public is designed primarily for sharing visualizations publicly, which is beneficial for journalists or educators looking to disseminate information widely.
Conclusion
Choosing between Tableau Desktop and Tableau Public depends largely on your specific needs. If you require advanced features and extensive data connectivity for professional purposes, Tableau Desktop is the appropriate choice. Conversely, if you are looking to create visualizations for public sharing without any cost considerations, Tableau Public may suffice.
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