Qlikview vs. Tableau: Which One is Right for Your Business?

Disclaimer: QlikView is no longer available for new clients. Instead, new users can purchase Qlik’s next-generation analytics solution, Qlik Sense.

Businesses today have to deal with a lot of data. Data can be a valuable tool that you can leverage into action. But when you have too much data and no way to keep it all organized, what should be a benefit quickly becomes a burden. 

That’s where a business intelligence (BI) solution comes into play. This software will let you connect all of your various data points, creating visualizations like graphs that are easily shareable throughout your organization. 

Two of the most popular business intelligence platforms are Tableau and QlikView. Both are quality solutions, but depending on the size of your business and your specific needs, one might be better for you than the other.

In this article, we’ll break down all of the most important aspects of both Tableau and QlikView, giving you a well-rounded look at each. Then, we’ll make recommendations about which one you should choose, depending on the size of your business.

Product Overviews

Tableau

What Does Tableau Offer?

Tableau includes robust BI tools that can enhance the visualization of data and improve discovery. 

It uses a drag-and-drop interface for simplicity, making it a very user-friendly platform. 

Using Tableau, you can analyze data, share insights, create visualizations and run reports with ease. This system gives you the ability to embed your dashboards into existing applications like SalesForce, Jive or SharePoint, so you’ll be able to use them in a more familiar atmosphere without having to switch from program to program. 

Hundreds of data connectors can be applied to Tableau, and it pulls data from a SQL database for analysis. 

What is Tableau’s Target Market?

Tableau is intended for businesses and organizations of all types.

Major corporations and banks, healthcare providers and educational institutions have made good use of it. Some of Tableau’s more well-known clients are companies like Honeywell, LinkedIn, Wells Fargo and other enterprise level businesses. 

How Much Does Tableau Cost?

Tableau is priced into three tiers: 

• Creator – The Creator tier costs $75 per user, per month. It grants you access to Tableau Desktop and prep with one Creator license to Tableau Server. 
• Explorer – The Explorer tier costs $42 per user, per month.
  
• Viewer – The Viewer tier costs $15 per user, per month. It includes one viewer license for Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud. This tier requires a minimum of 100 viewers. 

Click here to check out our comprehensive review on Tableau.

QlikView

What Does QlikView Offer?

QlikView’s main feature is a search engine that’s similar to Google. All of its searches will function in an associative manner, providing results for a query and other results related to the query.

The platform combines various data sources into one centralized area for ease of use, and it highlights important data and relationships through visuals. 

What is QlikView’s Target Market?

QlikView is intended for industries from startups and educational facilities to media outlets and government bodies. 

Some of the more famous users of QlikView include Global Retail Bank, Autodesk, Albany Times Union, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and more. 

How much does QlikView cost?

QlikView’s Personal edition is free to download. The cost of the Enterprise edition is personalized for each individual customer, so no pricing is released to the public. 

For more information on pricing, contact QlikView’s sales team.

Click here to check out our comprehensive review on QlikView.

Tableau vs. QlikView: 3 Essential Variables of Business Intelligence Software

We’ve covered the basics, but how do Tableau and QlikView perform at the most important tasks for a BI solution? We’ve compared the two tools on three key elements below. 

Implementation

Tableau on Implementation:

Tableau has a four-phase implementation. 

• Phase 1 is IT planning, architecture consulting, checkup preinstallation, server install and verification/security validation. 
• Phase 2 works with data migration, which includes data modeling, mining, extraction, sources and business workflow.
• Phase 3 includes a two-day classroom training session covering the fundamentals of Tableau, including hands-on coaching.
• Phase 4 implements the service across your business with workshops.

QlikView on Implementation:

QlikView uses a three-phase process to rollout for your business.

• In the Discovery phase, your team attends a workshop with a Qlik project manager. The project manager guides you in a needs analysis to determine your requirements for the system. 
• During the Execution phase, your team tests QlikView for quality control. 
• Finally, the solution is rolled out to end users in the Deployment phase. Training and documentations occur here. 

Data Sources

Tableau on Data Sources:

Tableau connects to hundreds of sources, both live and in-memory. It needs no programming. 

Tableau compiles all data sources into one centralized platform. They’re then easily shared using Tableau Server and Tableau Online. 

QlikView on Data Sources:

QlikView merges internal and external data sources using the Qlik DataMarket add on. 

It compiles multiple data sources into one central platform and highlights relationships through visuals.

Visualizations

Tableau on Visualizations:

Tableau can create robust visualizations using powerful BI tools. 

Using the metrics feature, users can create a metric from any visualization with one click. You can use Tableau Viewer to access already created visualizations at an added cost. The drag-and-drop interface can be used to add more data and insights into the visualizations and reports with ease. 

QlikView on Visualizations:

With QlikView, users can make various visualizations, such as charts, layouts and data models. 

These visualizations help users focus on specifics in data. Similar to Tableau, they’re relatively simple to create and customize.

Tableau vs QlikView: What Users Say

Tableau:

“Tableau has basically replaced all the data-gathering time and all the data-cleaning time with just insight. And it just creates this really fast cycle where we all can learn faster and get answers a lot faster. So Tableau’s really enabling us to have conversations that we never could have before.” –Lyndzi Ziegenhagen, VP Technology Aspire Public Schools 

QlikView:

“After exploring several BI platforms, it was clear QlikView best fit our needs. We were impressed by the user-friendly nature of the product and the intuitive ability to perform ‘wild card’ searches against large amounts of data in real time.” -Demian Barshay, Operations Manager for Cisco

Tableau vs QlikView: Which One is Right for Your Business?

Now it’s time for the real question: Which service should you choose for your business? 

Below, we’ve outlined our recommendations for small, medium-sized, and enterprise-level businesses.

Small Businesses and Startups:

If you’re a small business or startup organization, we recommend QlikView. 

That’s because it features a free option, and it doesn’t get much more affordable than that. 

Specifically, we’re recommending the Personal edition. Not only is it free, but the search functionality for QlikView is very user-friendly.

Medium-Sized Businesses:

If you’re a medium-sized business, we recommend Tableau. 

Its pricing fits perfectly into a mid-size budget, and the drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create visualizations. 

Using Tableau, you have access to easy sharing throughout your organization, as well as the ability to connect hundreds of data points. 

Enterprise-Level Businesses:

For enterprise level businesses, we also recommend Tableau.

It’s not only easy to use, but it has a great record with enterprise-level clients. 

You’ll also have access to a massive number of data connections while creating enhanced and easily shareable visualizations. 

If you’re looking for a complete rundown of business intelligence solutions or software to find the one that’s right for your business, check out our BI buyer’s guide.

Final Thoughts

The word “quality” can be used to describe both Tableau and QlikView. However, because every business is different and has different needs, it stands to reason that every business will have a preference. 

Both of these solutions approach data visualization in different ways. By reviewing the features, benefits and drawbacks of each BI tool, you should be able to make an informed decision about which one will work best for your company.