Domo vs Tableau: BI tool comparison

Tableau is one of the more popular business intelligence (BI) software products on the market today, but Domo is quickly making a name for itself. Today, we’re comparing these two data analysis software solutions in four key categories: user friendliness, data analysis, data visualizations and connectors and integrations.

What is Domo?

Domo is a business intelligence software platform that offers multiple data apps to help your business turn data into faster, smarter, more effective decisions. The low-code software is cloud-based. Domo also offers a mobile app so you can take it with you wherever you go for on-the-fly analysis.

What is Tableau?

Tableau is one of the biggest names in the BI software market and has a track record nearly two decades long. It is used by major companies all over the world, including Verizon, Charles Schwab, Lufthansa and Hello Fresh.

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Domo vs. Tableau: User friendliness

Both Domo and Tableau are in the middle in terms of user friendliness. They’re not as hard to navigate as some of the BI software offered by legacy enterprise software developers, but they’re also not as accessible as other options that are specifically geared to beginners.

They are both powerful data analysis tools, and with that functionality naturally comes a higher learning curve. Domo’s user interface is slightly more updated that Tableau’s, which can be a tad bit harder to navigate, but overall they are pretty close in this regard. Neither platform requires coding knowledge to manipulate the data, although they both offer this option if you want to take advantage of it – more on this in the next section.

Domo vs. Tableau: Data analysis capabilities

Domo and Tableau offer excellent data analysis capabilities, although getting the data in the system is another story. Due to its high number of out-of-the-box connectors, Domo makes it easier to get your data into the platform, cleaned up, matched and ready for action. Unfortunately, some users found this same extraction process to be really clunky and slow in Tableau, especially if they were pulling data from a nontraditional source.

Once the data is ready for analysis, however, the reason for Tableau’s popularity becomes apparent: The software makes it easy to manipulate the data. In fact, both Tableau and Domo offer point-and-click functionality, so you don’t have to know coding to sift through the data. They do offer the option to customize your outputs with SQL in case you have the know-how and want to dive in deep. In short, Domo makes data extraction easier, but the two software solutions are tied when it comes to data analysis.

Domo vs. Tableau: Data visualizations

Domo and Tableau receive high marks for their data visualizations, which users say are clear and easy to understand. Domo claims that it offers 150 chart types and more than 7,000 custom maps so that you can find the one that fits your needs. Tableau doesn’t specify exactly how many chart types it offers, but users say that its visualization options are extensive. The Tableau website also boasts lightning-fast mapping for more than 50 countries worldwide.

Tableau’s options can sometimes look a little bit less slick than Domo’s, but both still look great, whether you are using them internally or externally. Tableau does have a cool feature, called Tableau Public, that enables you to create data visualizations, publish them and embed them on your website for free. Domo offers similar embed functionality with Domo Everywhere, but it’s part of the overall paid package and not available for free as a standalone.

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Domo vs. Tableau: Integrations and connectors

For business intelligence software, being able to pull in data from your sources of choice is absolutely key. Tableau offers more than 100 native-built connectors through its own website, with a handful of additional connectors made available by partners on the Tableau Exchange portal. These integrations cover all the major players, including Microsoft Excel and SAP HANA.

While Tableau will likely offer the connector you need, its offerings pale in comparison to Domo, which offers more than 1,000 prebuilt connectors — nearly 10x that of Tableau — covering not only the major players but basically every connector your company might conceivably want. If you have a more niche software that you need to connect to your BI platform, the odds are much higher that Domo will have it versus Tableau.

Domo vs. Tableau: Which should you choose?

Both Domo and Tableau are worthy contenders when it comes to BI software. Tableau is popular for a reason, and it offers a lot of functionality and great visualizations. However, Domo makes it easier to extract data and offers exponentially more connectors, which your company might need depending on your individual situation.

As for the pricing, Domo does not disclose its pricing tiers publicly, and the website states that the price varies depending on data storage, volume of queries and more. However, user reviews indicate that Domo is on the more expensive end; from all reports, the pricing is really intended for enterprise companies, not small or midsize businesses. Meanwhile, Tableau starts at $70 per person per month for full functionality; view-only accounts cost much less.

Thankfully, both Domo and Tableau offer free trials, allowing you to determine whether the software is right for your company before you commit to a yearlong contract, so don’t hesitate to take advantage of those trial periods before making your final decision.

Additional BI tool comparisons

For more comparisons of BI solutions, check out these TechRepublic articles: Power BI vs. Tableau, Power BI vs. Zoho Analytics, SAP BusinessObjects vs. Oracle BI, Tableau vs. Databox, Domo BI vs. Dundas BI, Zoho Analytics vs. Qlik Sense, Looker vs Tableau and top Power BI alternatives.