Tableau Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and negotiation tips
Tableau pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $15 to $75 per user/month in 2026. Your actual cost depends on the tier you choose, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
- Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
- Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training
Tableau offers 3 pricing tiers: Viewer, Explorer, Creator. Standard paid plans include Viewer at $15/user/month, Explorer at $42/user/month, Creator at $75/user/month. The Explorer plan is power users.
Compared to other business intelligence software, Tableau is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
Tableau is the industry-leading BI platform owned by Salesforce, serving over 100,000 organizations with powerful data visualization.
All Tableau Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewer | $15 /user/month | $15 /user/month | Viewers |
| Explorer | $42 /user/month | $42 /user/month | Power users |
| Creator | $75 /user/month | $75 /user/month | Analysts |
View all features by plan
Viewer
- View dashboards
Explorer
- Edit dashboards
Creator
- Full authoring
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Frequently Asked Questions
01 How much does Tableau cost per user?
Tableau pricing is role-based: Viewer licenses cost $15/user/month for viewing dashboards, Explorer costs $42/user/month for editing dashboards, and Creator costs $75/user/month for full authoring and data connection capabilities. All licenses require annual billing.
02 What's the difference between Tableau Creator, Explorer, and Viewer?
Creator ($75/user/month) includes Tableau Desktop for building dashboards and connecting to any data source. Explorer ($42/user/month) allows web-based editing of existing dashboards but can't create new data connections. Viewer ($15/user/month) can only view and interact with published dashboards.
03 Do I need a Creator license for everyone?
No, most organizations only need 1-5 Creator licenses for BI developers and data analysts who build dashboards. Business users consuming insights can use cheaper Explorer ($42) or Viewer ($15) licenses, dramatically reducing total cost for large teams.
04 Does Tableau offer a free version?
Tableau Public is completely free but requires all visualizations to be published publicly online - not suitable for company data. Tableau Desktop offers a 14-day free trial. For internal use, you must purchase licenses.
05 How does Tableau pricing compare to Power BI?
Tableau is significantly more expensive. Power BI Pro costs $10/user/month vs Tableau Explorer at $42/user/month. However, Tableau offers superior visualization capabilities and better performance with large datasets. The choice depends on whether you prioritize cost (Power BI) or advanced analytics (Tableau).
06 Can I buy Tableau Desktop without cloud licenses?
No, Tableau Desktop is now only included with Creator licenses ($75/user/month) on Tableau Cloud or Server. The standalone perpetual license model was discontinued. You must subscribe to Tableau Cloud or Server to use Desktop.
07 What's included in Tableau Cloud vs Tableau Server?
Tableau Cloud is fully managed SaaS ($15-75/user/month based on role). Tableau Server is self-hosted requiring your own infrastructure (one-time license + 20% annual maintenance + hosting costs). Cloud is simpler; Server offers more control for compliance needs.
08 Does Tableau charge for data refresh or queries?
No, Tableau pricing is purely user-based with unlimited data refreshes and queries. However, you may incur costs from underlying data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery) that charge for compute and storage separately.