Domo vs Tableau: Compare Core BI Capabilities and More

Domo and Tableau are two business intelligence (BI) solutions that empower businesses to make better decisions. In this post, we’ll compare the two solutions on several factors.

What is the Difference Between Domo and Tableau?

• Domo prefers to give prospects a personalized quote based on different factors, but prospects can see Tableau’s pricing plans on its site.
• Domo’s data prep features target all users, while Tableau’s Prep Builder module is mainly intended for data analysts.
• Both software solutions are intended for most industries and job roles. However, Domo offers solutions for professional services and hospitality, while Tableau has specialized software for federal and state government.

Product Overviews

Below are excerpts from our comprehensive reviews on Domo and Tableau.

Domo

Domo provides the “world’s first business management platform” where users can access and perform analytics and report from one platform. It’s designed to be available for all business users, regardless of technical expertise, to help them make better business decisions.

Domo’s Business Cloud brings together the data, the people and the insights business users need to find answers to critical business questions and make faster, better-informed decisions to improve business performance.

Domo provides customized solutions aimed at roles (CEO, Finance, IT, Marketing, Sales, etc.), industry, and data connectors (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Sheets, Zendesk, Salesforce and Excel).

Tableau

Tableau provides all types of users with intuitive business intelligence (BI) tools to enhance data discovery and understanding. With simple drag-and-drop features, a user is able to easily access and analyze key data, create innovative reports and visualizations, and share critical insights across the company.

Tableau has three main products for robust data discovery:

1. Tableau Desktop – Tableau Desktop is used to connect and analyze disparate data, and create highly innovative reports in just a few clicks.
2. Tableau Server – Tableau Server allows users to securely collaborate and share critical insights and information through comprehensive dashboards created in Tableau Desktop or directly in Tableau Server.
3. Tableau Cloud – Tableau Cloud is a cloud-hosted version of Tableau Server. It not only saves time and money by skipping hardware setup, Tableau Cloud also supports mobile access.

Tableau serves a variety of industries, including major corporations and banks, educational institutions and healthcare providers.

Features Comparisons

Data Preparation

Domo

Domo has over 1,000 prebuilt cloud connectors (e.g., Facebook, Salesforce, Amazon Redshift, Google Analytics) that users can set up quickly. In addition, it connects with on-premise data sources (e.g.,ODBC, SAP, XML) via its Domo Workbench feature that has the ability to connect to large amounts of data. Users can also upload spreadsheets, FTP or other files of any size, and they can connect with their company’s proprietary system, too.

Users can store data from all connected sources in one place. Domo’s query engine allows them to find answers fast, so there’s no need for aggregate data modeling. It also integrates to a company’s existing data warehouse.

For end users, Domo has a Magic ETL functionality that cleans, transforms and combines data via a drag-and-drop interface that doesn’t require user SQL or ETL knowledge. In addition, there are advanced data prep features for data analysts, such as the ability to set up SQL dataflows or processing datasets in R or Python languages.

Tableau

The Tableau Data Prep software allows users to prepare data for analysis, and it’s broken down into two modules: Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Prep Conductor. With Tableau Prep Builder, users can connect their data from any source, and they can perform data-cleaning functions (e.g., changing the data value) via a visual interface. Tableau Prep also has smart features that automate typical data prep changes, such as grouping data.

The Tableau Prep Conductor module allows users to schedule and monitor their data flows in their Tableau Server environment. Once they set up a schedule, the software continuously monitors the data flow and sends alerts if it spots any discrepancies. Note that Tableau Prep Builder is part of the Tableau Creator subscription, while Tableau Prep Conductor is part of the Tableau Data Management add-on product.

Bottom Line

Both solutions have similar data prep features. However, Domo’s Magic ETL feature targets both data analysts and end users, while Tableau Data Prep Builder is part of the Creator subscription, which is mainly intended for analysts.

Data Visualizations and Dashboards

Domo

With the Analyzer feature, users can set up interactive dashboards and visualizations by choosing from over 150 chart types (e.g., bar, tables, Trellis) or over 7,000 custom maps. They can sort or filter data by predefined or custom filters. There’s also the Stories feature that lets users organize visualizations into a story form by combining cards, texts and images within a dashboard. Users can customize the dashboard layout by arranging specific cards and adding background colors. Note that Stories and other visualizations are compatible with any device.

Users can schedule the dashboard’s or report’s delivery with the Report Scheduler, and users can collaborate on a particular virtualization via Domo’s chat tool called Buzz. Finally, other advanced features include Color Rules (setting conditional colors based on data), Beast Mode (calculating new calculations in a dataset without changing the value of existing data), annotations and multiperiod projects.

Tableau

Users can create a dashboard in a few clicks, including combining data sources and adding filters, and they can also share their dashboard with their colleagues.

Tableau has advanced dashboarding features, such as the Story Points (users arrange their data in a narrative style) and the Device Designer (dashboards are optimized for phones or tablets). In addition, Tableau Cloud’s Dashboard Starters feature allows users to develop dashboards by pulling in data from specific software (e.g., Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Oracle Eloqua, Marketo and ServiceNow) directly within Tableau. After a dashboard is created, users can set up thresholds in the data that trigger alerts, and they can specify who the alerts are sent to, as well as the type of notification (e.g., email notification).

Bottom Line

Although both software solutions have robust and flexible visualization functionality, they each have its own unique features: Domo for its Buzz chat tool and Color Rules and Tableau for its Dashboard Starters feature.

Mobile Functionality

Domo

With Domo’s dedicated mobile app, users can access their data in real time, including drilling into the details for further insights. They can receive notifications, follow a dashboard’s story with the Stories feature and send a chart or graph via iMessaging. Users can also get custom alerts when there are changes in the data, so they can take action directly from their device.

Tableau

The Tableau Mobile app lets users access any dashboards or reports that are published on Tableau Server or in Tableau Cloud. Each dashboard is mobile optimized, so users can search, filter or drill down into their data. They can also track their personalized key performance indicators (KPIs) with the Metrics feature. Tableau Mobile supports offline functionality, as well as a variety of authentication methods (e.g., SAML, OpenID Connect).

Bottom Line

Domo lets users edit their dashboards, while Tableau doesn’t allow this.

Pricing

Domo

Prospects can test Domo for free or demo the software with a sales rep. Domo offers pricing based on a client’s usage of the platform, such as the number of users and data refresh rates. Domo doesn’t display its prices, so contact the vendor directly for a quote.

Tableau

Instead of basing the prices on its products, Tableau’s subscription strategy focuses on individual users and their data needs. Each subscription includes maintenance, product upgrades and support at one cost, so there are no surprise fees. Note that the pricing is based on annual billing.

• Tableau Creator – Tableau Creator is designed for individual analysts and power users, and costs $75 per user, per month. It includes access to Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep, and companies can purchase a single Creator license for either Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud. Note that Tableau offers the same price for Tableau Creator whether the software is deployed in the cloud or on premise.
• Tableau Explorer – Tableau Explorer is designed for users that prefer governed self-service analytics instead of relying on data from others. It costs $42 per user, per month, whether it’s deployed on-premise or in the cloud. The price includes one license to Tableau Server (on-premise) and one license to Tableau Cloud (cloud).
• Tableau Viewer – Tableau Viewer is designed for users that just want to access dashboards and visualizations. It costs $15 per user, per month for both on-premise and cloud deployments. The price includes one Viewer license of Tableau Server (on-premise) and one Viewer license of Tableau Cloud. Note that Tableau requires a minimum of 100 Viewers for this plan.

Companies can also purchase add-on features, such as Tableau Data Management and Einstein Discovery. Tableau has a 14-day free trial.

Bottom Line

Domo prefers to provide a personalized quote for each prospect, while Tableau offers pricing up front.

Customer Support

Domo

Domo provides a variety of support options for its users, including phone, email and live chat, during regular business hours. Multi-language support is available.

Users can also access the support portal to browse articles, submit a ticket or join the online community, referred to as Dojo, where they can network with other users.

Domo also offers premium support options that include customized service and faster response time.

Tableau

Tableau offers complimentary online access to all users that includes:

• A knowledge base
• On-demand training videos
• Live online training
• Product documentation
• Tableau Community forums

In addition, it has a Technical Support Program with three tiers:

Standard – Standard support is included in the subscription purchase. Coverage is during Tableau’s regular business hours (6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST Mondays to Fridays). In addition to the online access, the Standard tier has:

• Priority 1 (Critical) issue response time within eight hours
• Priority 2 (High) issue response time within 24 hours
• Three named contacts

Extended – The Extended Support tier includes all of the features of the Standard tier, plus:

• Phone support
• 24/7 coverage for Priority 1 issues
• Priority 1 (Critical) issue response time within one hour
• Priority 2 (High) issue response time within two hours
• Five named contacts

Premium – The Premium Support tier includes all of the features of the Extended tier, plus:

• 24/7 coverage for Priority 1 and Priority 2 issues
• Priority 1 (Critical) issue response time within 30 minutes
• Priority 2 (High) issue response time within two hours
• A technical account manager
• Key event management
• Service level agreement for Tableau Cloud users only
• Deployment reviews for Tableau Server users only
• Recurring status calls and service reports
• Online update guidance
• Upgrade assistance for Tableau Server users only
• Strategic planning
• Exclusive events
• Access to the Senior Support team
• Case escalation and oversight
• Onsite escalation management for Tableau Server users
• Product roadmap participation
• Prioritized feature request reviews
• Root cause analysis
• Sandbox site for Tableau Cloud users only

Bottom Line

Both vendors offer robust support, but Domo provides phone support for all of its users, whereas this service is only available in Tableau’s Premium Support tier.