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Tableau vs ggplot2: What are the differences?

Key Differences Between Tableau and ggplot2

Tableau and ggplot2 are both popular data visualization tools used for analyzing and presenting data. However, they differ in several ways. Here are the key differences between Tableau and ggplot2:

  1. User Interface: Tableau provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that allows users to create visualizations without any coding. On the other hand, ggplot2 is a package in R that requires users to write code to create visualizations. This makes Tableau more accessible for non-programmers and beginners.

  2. Flexibility: ggplot2 offers more flexibility and customization options compared to Tableau. Users can leverage the full power of R programming to manipulate and transform data before creating visualizations. Tableau, on the other hand, has built-in data manipulation capabilities, but they are more limited compared to R.

  3. Integration: Tableau is a standalone software that provides a complete solution for data visualization and analytics. It allows users to connect to multiple data sources, perform complex calculations, and create interactive dashboards. ggplot2, on the other hand, is just a package in R and requires users to manually import and manipulate data using R functions before visualizing it.

  4. Learning Curve: Tableau has a relatively shorter learning curve compared to ggplot2. With its intuitive interface, beginners can quickly start creating visualizations without much prior knowledge. ggplot2, on the other hand, requires users to have a strong understanding of R programming and data manipulation concepts before they can effectively use it for visualization.

  5. Community Support: ggplot2 benefits from a large and active community of R users and developers. This means there are extensive online resources, tutorials, and forums available for users to seek help, learn new techniques, and troubleshoot issues. Tableau also has a strong community, but it may not be as extensive and specific to data visualization as the ggplot2 community.

  6. Cost: Tableau is a commercial software that comes with a cost. It offers different pricing tiers based on the features and capabilities required. ggplot2, on the other hand, is an open-source package in R, which means it is free to use for anyone with R installed. This makes ggplot2 a more cost-effective option for those on a tight budget or working with limited resources.

In summary, Tableau offers a user-friendly interface, while ggplot2 provides more flexibility and customization options. Tableau is a standalone software with built-in data manipulation capabilities, while ggplot2 is a package in R that requires users to write code for data manipulation. Tableau has a shorter learning curve but comes with a cost, whereas ggplot2 is free and benefits from a large community support.

Decisions about ggplot2 and Tableau

Very easy-to-use UI. Good way to make data available inside the company for analysis.

Has some built-in visualizations and can be easily integrated with other JS visualization libraries such as D3.

Can be embedded into product to provide reporting functions.

Support team are helpful.

The only complain I have is lack of API support. Hard to track changes as codes and automate report deployment.

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Vojtech Kopal
Head of Data at Mews Systems · | 3 upvotes · 318.8K views

Power BI is really easy to start with. If you have just several Excel sheets or CSV files, or you build your first automated pipeline, it is actually quite intuitive to build your first reports.

And as we have kept growing, all the additional features and tools were just there within the Azure platform and/or Office 365.

Since we started building Mews, we have already passed several milestones in becoming start up, later also a scale up company and now getting ready to grow even further, and during all these phases Power BI was just the right tool for us.

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Pros of ggplot2
Pros of Tableau
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    • 6
      Capable of visualising billions of rows
    • 1
      Intuitive and easy to learn
    • 1
      Responsive

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    Cons of ggplot2
    Cons of Tableau
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      • 3
        Very expensive for small companies

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      - No public GitHub repository available -

      What is ggplot2?

      It is a general scheme for data visualization which breaks up graphs into semantic components such as scales and layers.

      What is Tableau?

      Tableau can help anyone see and understand their data. Connect to almost any database, drag and drop to create visualizations, and share with a click.

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      What companies use ggplot2?
      What companies use Tableau?
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      What tools integrate with ggplot2?
      What tools integrate with Tableau?

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      What are some alternatives to ggplot2 and Tableau?
      Matplotlib
      It is a Python 2D plotting library which produces publication quality figures in a variety of hardcopy formats and interactive environments across platforms. It can be used in Python scripts, the Python and IPython shells, the Jupyter notebook, web application servers, and four graphical user interface toolkits.
      Base
      The Intelligent Sales Productivity Platform - leveraging Big Data, mobility and real-time computing to give sales teams the tools they need to be successful.
      ApexCharts
      A modern JavaScript charting library to build interactive charts and visualizations with simple API.
      Plotly.js
      It is a standalone Javascript data visualization library, and it also powers the Python and R modules named plotly in those respective ecosystems (referred to as Plotly.py and Plotly.R). It can be used to produce dozens of chart types and visualizations, including statistical charts, 3D graphs, scientific charts, SVG and tile maps, financial charts and more.
      D3.js
      It is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. Emphasises on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework.
      See all alternatives