Dashboards and questions on your own databases, run next to the data, with no per-viewer licence for the people who only read the numbers.
- Replacing
- Tableau, by Tableau Software, LLC, a Salesforce company
- With
- Metabase, Apache Superset, Grafana
- Runs on
- Your servers, or Pilae Cloud in Switzerland and the EU
- Migration
- Included in onboarding, at a fixed price
Why teams leave Tableau
Reports read your most sensitive data
Revenue, salaries, customer lists. Metabase queries the database where that data already lives, over the private network, instead of copying it into extracts in another cloud.
Everyone can read the numbers
The open-source edition of Metabase has no per-viewer licence. Opening a dashboard to the whole organisation is a question of permissions, not of seats.
Live data, not overnight extracts
Metabase and Grafana read the source when a dashboard opens. The figure on screen is the figure in the database.
Tableau vs Metabase operated by Pilae
| What is being compared | Tableau | Pilae |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Tableau Cloud, operated by Tableau, or Tableau Server on infrastructure you run yourself. | On your premises or on dedicated machines in any of 12 Pilae Cloud regions, six of them in Switzerland and the EU, operated by Pilae. |
| Analysis | Deep visual analytics with drag-and-drop exploration, a wide range of chart types, Tableau Prep for data preparation. | Metabase: a query builder for non-technical users, SQL for analysts, models and dashboards. Apache Superset for analysts who want more chart types and SQL exploration. Grafana for time series, metrics and logs. |
| Data access | Live connections or extracts refreshed on a schedule. | Live queries through dedicated read-only accounts on the private network. |
| Sign-on and permissions | SAML and OpenID Connect sign-on, row-level security. | Sign-on through LDAP or Google in Metabase, OpenID Connect or LDAP in Grafana. SAML sign-on in Metabase and row-level permissions are paid Metabase features, licensed in your name when needed. |
| Pricing model | Per user, by role: Creator, Explorer and Viewer. | On request, for the operated platform. No per-viewer charge in the open-source editions. |
| Operation | Tableau Cloud is run by Tableau; Tableau Server is run by your own team. | Daily encrypted backups with monthly restore tests, planned upgrades by the Pilae Agent, 60-second probes. |
Self-hosted business intelligence
Tableau is a strong analytics tool, and analysts who know it well will miss parts of it. Many of the people with a licence only read dashboards, though, and each of them is still a seat on the invoice.
Metabase covers the dashboards and questions most organisations actually use, reading your databases live. Apache Superset suits analysts who miss Tableau’s range of charts and want to explore in SQL. Grafana covers the operational side: metrics, logs and anything over time. Pilae deploys them on your premises or on dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU, with read-only connections over the private network.
Moving off Tableau
We start from what is opened, not from what exists. The dashboards in use are rebuilt as Metabase models and questions, checked against Tableau figures through one reporting cycle, and the rest goes with the licence renewal. The move is part of our fixed-price migration, with sign-on set up through identity.
After the switch, the Pilae Agent plans each upgrade, waits for your approval and applies it in your window. Pricing is on request. Tell us what your teams report on and we come back with a plan.
Moving from Tableau to Metabase
Rank the workbooks by use
View counts for the last ninety days decide what is rebuilt first and what is retired with the licence.
Rebuild the logic as models
Calculated fields and extract filters become Metabase models and SQL questions, checked against the figures in Tableau.
Put operational views in Grafana
Dashboards over time series, monitoring data or logs go to Grafana, which is built for them.
Run both for one cycle, then switch
Owners compare the numbers in both tools through one reporting period. The old workbooks stay readable until month-end closes on the new ones.
The apps that replace Tableau
Metabase
Dashboards and questions on your own databases, run next to the data in Switzerland, the EU or your datacentre, with no per-viewer licence for the open-source edition.
Replaces Tableau, Looker
Apache Superset
Business intelligence from the Apache Software Foundation for data teams that write SQL, run next to your warehouse in Switzerland, the EU or your own datacentre.
Replaces Tableau, Power BI
Grafana
Dashboards and alerts over your metrics, logs and traces, run in Switzerland, the EU or your own datacentre so the telemetry stays with you.
Replaces Datadog dashboards, New Relic