Choosing a BI solution in 2025 can feel like an enormous task. All the data analytics tools offer similar key features, data visualization capabilities, and similar pricing points. So you decide to make it easy: you pick an established player such as Tableau and pit it against an underdog: Sisense.
Tableau is the better choice if you're looking for an established solution with powerful data visualization tools for internal reporting. If you need a more flexible, user friendly tool with great performance for internal reports, Sisense is the better option.
Neither is built for embedded analytics. They were designed for internal BI and later extended with embedding features that means they don’t always meet the needs of modern product and engineering teams.
Let's see how these business intelligence tools compare against each other on some of the main factors you’ll want to consider.
Sisense vs Tableau at a glance
Tableau is an established leader in the BI market, while Sisense is a newer tool primarily built for internal reporting, which later expanded to embedded analytics.
Sisense (embedded-focused business intelligence)
A mature platform built initially for internal BI that eventually pivoted to embedded use. It offers end-to-end data management (including an in-chip ‘ElastiCube’ engine) and solid visualization features. Sisense is relatively easy to embed in various environments, but still has some major limitations which we'll discuss in a moment.
Sisense pricing is opaque and high, often tens of thousands of dollars annually.
Large-scale data can challenge its performance, and its charting options are not as extensive as some Sisense competitors.
Tableau (visualization-driven business intelligence)
A leading BI tool known for powerful visuals and a vast ecosystem. Tableau connects to almost any data source and provides rich interactive dashboards. This analytics platform excels in enterprise data analytics scenarios with fast data analysis on huge datasets and a vast community for support.
That said, it has a steep learning curve and embedded analytics is not Tableau’s core focus – so integrating Tableau into a SaaS product can feel clunky since it was built mainly for internal reporting and data analysis. If you already use Tableau for dashboards internally, it may seem like a good embedded choice, but it’s worth knowing the compromises you’ll have to make.
The licensing is user-based (e.g., Creator licenses around $70/user/month), and adding embedded OEM capabilities means you'll have to talk to sales to get a quote. For small teams or primarily customer-facing projects, Tableau’s steep learning curve and cost may be a barrier
Sisense vs Tableau: user interface and experience
Whether it's for your team or your end-users who want to analyze data on their own terms, everyone will need a smooth and easy-to-understand UX. One tool fares better here.
Sisense UI/UX
Sisense provides a web-based dashboard editor that many developers find intuitive for building basic reports. A G2 reviewer notes that the interface makes model building and dashboard creation straightforward, aided by a range of drag-and-drop widgets.
This means teams can quickly spin up professional-looking dashboards without extensive coding. Sisense’s learning curve tends to spike when using advanced features or customizations – for example, implementing complex widget tweaks via its Blox scripting can be challenging.
Some users report the UI feels a bit dated and cluttered with options, which can be overwhelming at first. Additionally, Sisense historically had separate Windows vs. Linux versions with inconsistent features, adding confusion during deployment.
In summary, Sisense’s UI is powerful and self-service friendly once learned, but new users (and developers configuring deeper data integrations) should be prepared for some complexity as they tap into its more sophisticated capabilities.
Tableau UI/UX
Tableau gets a lot of praise for its polished and interactive interface, featuring a visual drag-and-drop workflow that analysts love. Reviews frequently highlight Tableau’s powerful visualization builder and user-friendly design for creating charts and dashboards.
The platform’s maturity shows in small touches, from its rich formatting options to quick insights and tooltips that make exploring data feel engaging. However, beginners might find Tableau’s interface busy and complex, as it exposes many features upfront.
There is a steep learning curve to master Tableau’s advanced capabilities, which is mitigated by extensive documentation and one of the largest user communities in BI software.
Developers integrating Tableau need to learn its specific conventions (like worksheets, dashboards, and workbooks) and possibly its scripting (Tableau calculations) to customize behavior fully.
Overall, Tableau delivers a refined experience for experienced users and offers plenty of community support, but for newcomers or simple embedding needs it may feel heavy compared to leaner, embed-first tools.
Data visualization capabilities
Going from raw data to meaningful insights requires a range of visualization options. Both tools can visualize data, but one of them has the upper hand.
Sisense visualizations
Sisense covers all the standard chart types (bar, line, pie, tables, etc.) needed for dashboards and has interactive features like filtering and drill-downs. Its visuals are designed to be clear and business-oriented, helping end-users interpret data without fuss.
Users appreciate that Sisense’s default visuals are easy to read and not overwhelming, making them practical for operational dashboards.
However, Sisense doesn’t offer as wide an array of out-of-the-box visualization styles as Tableau does. If you require very specialized or flashy chart types, you might find Sisense’s library limiting.
The platform allows deeper customization through its Sisense Blox and plugin framework, which lets developers tweak the look and behavior of widgets beyond the defaults. The trade-off is that such customization can require coding and is noted to be complex due to scarce documentation.
In summary, Sisense’s visualization capability is solid for typical BI needs, and it provides a canvas to build upon, but achieving highly bespoke visuals may involve extra developer effort.
Tableau visualizations
Data visualization is Tableau’s strength. Tableau is famous for enabling you to produce interactive charts and graphs that can make even complex data immediately understandable. If you want to foster data literacy and help team members or users make more data driven decisions, this might be the better bet.
It supports advanced visuals like treemaps, geographic maps, scatter plots with trend lines, and more, often with simple drag-and-drop operations. Tableau’s VizQL engine enables on-the-fly queries as you build visuals, so you can slice data and do real time data analysis for actionable insights.
The result is a highly interactive experience – end users can hover to get details, click to filter, and use rich controls to explore data deeply. The platform also offers dashboard objects for text, images, web content, and even custom extensions, enabling users to tell stories with data.
Because of this breadth, Tableau’s visuals tend to be more “presentation-ready” and impressive out of the box. This aligns well with enterprises that need executive-level dashboards or client-facing reports with wow factor. On the downside, the very flexibility and depth of Tableau’s visualization features mean it can take time to master creating the perfect view.
But for teams that prioritize top-tier visual analytics and are willing to invest that time, Tableau provides virtually every visualization option you might need to explain data to any user group.
Embedded analytics capabilities
Both tools have advanced analytics features but when it comes to embedding, they fall short. The reason is simple: they are not built for embedding.
Sisense embedded analytics
Sisense supports embedding via iframes and JavaScript SDKs, including a newer Compose SDK that adds flexibility. However, it still falls into the BI-first category, meaning performance can lag, there’s feature bloat and deep customization remains limited.
You may be able to embed dashboards that look acceptable, but they won’t feel truly native to your app. For teams that care about performance, sub-second load times, or full design control, this approach can be frustrating.
Sisense allows setting up multi-tenant environments and granular user permissions on data, which is essential for embedding in a SaaS app where each customer should only see their data.
Reviews indicate that Sisense is effective for white-labeling: you can seamlessly embed its dashboards and even customize their theming to blend into your product’s look (to a point).
Sisense’s platform supports both iframe embedding and JavaScript widget embedding. The iframe method is simpler but can feel less native. In contrast, the JS integration (or Sisense’s newer Compose SDK) gives developers more power to build a tailored UI on top of Sisense’s analytics engine.
In practice, setting up Sisense in an application still requires effort—one source likened getting it fully working inside a product to rocket science for the uninitiated.
Initial configuration of the Sisense server, data models (Elasticubes), and authentication for embedding can be time-consuming. Once past that, Sisense shines by delivering robust interactive visuals inside your app, with strengths in things like cached queries for speed and the ability to handle complex data modeling behind the scenes.
In essence, Sisense provides the building blocks for embedded BI and is very capable in this role, but expect a significant implementation and learning period to integrate it smoothly and provide an intuitive interface for your end users.
Tableau embedded analytics
Tableau’s embedding is limited to iframe and JavaScript APIs wrapped around internal dashboards. These options work for light reporting needs, but come with long load times, rigid layouts, and styling limitations. Embedding Tableau often means forcing another full application to run inside yours, which adds bloat and hurts user experience.
For basic needs, this iframe approach works but gives limited control over the embedded content’s look and feel. For more integration, Tableau provides a JavaScript API that allows programmatic embedding and interaction – you can filter dashboards via code, listen for events, etc.
This enables a level of customization, but essentially, you’re still embedding a Tableau view within your app’s page. Many developers find that getting Tableau to feel truly integrated is challenging. As noted earlier, embedding is treated somewhat as an afterthought in Tableau’s design.
Achieving features like single sign-on, row-level security per tenant, or deep theming might require significant workarounds and expertise. While Tableau claims an embedded dashboard can be set up in 20 minutes, in reality, teams often spend much longer to get everything working just right.
Performance can also be an issue: an embedded Tableau dashboard might load slower or be less responsive if the Tableau Server isn’t optimally configured, since it’s delivering heavy interactive content within another application.
Overall, you can embed Tableau to deliver self-service analytics in your product, and many companies do for the rich features, but expect to allocate skilled developers to integrate it and possibly manage a Tableau Server (or Cloud) deployment behind the scenes for it to run.
Sisense vs Tableau: pricing
Most data analytics tools have complex and secretive pricing, and these two are no different.
Sisense pricing
Sisense is sold on a quote-only basis with no public price list. This means you have to contact their sales for a custom quote tailored to your use case. According to our research on Sisense pricing, deals can range widely, from around $25k up to over $100k per year for the platform.
Even a smaller deployment (cloud or on-prem) will typically start at a five-figure annual sum. The cost depends on factors like the number of end-users, data volume, and whether you take a cloud-hosted package or self-host. Sisense’s pricing model often involves user or usage-based components (e.g., pricing tiers that go up with more consumer users or data queries).
This can drive the cost into six figures for companies with large customer bases. Budget-conscious teams have to consider that the licensing is costly, and implementing Sisense may incur additional expenses (in infrastructure or engineering time). Potential Sisense customers often complain about the lack of transparency.
In short, Sisense tends to be on the high end of the price spectrum for BI tools, which is a trade-off for its enterprise-grade features.
Tableau pricing
Tableau’s standard pricing for internal BI use is published, but its embedded analytics pricing is not directly listed. For internal users, Tableau operates on a per-user license: for example, Tableau Creator is around $70–$75 per user/month, Explorer $42, and Viewer $15 (when billed annually).
These licenses give individuals access to Tableau Desktop/Cloud to create or view dashboards. However, you typically need a special OEM or embedded agreement if you want to embed Tableau dashboards in a product for external end-users (customers who won’t have Tableau accounts).
In those cases, Tableau, like Sisense, requires you to talk to their sales team for a quote. Users report that these OEM deals can be pricey and inflexible – for instance, one source mentioned little wiggle room on price and even charges for inactive users in certain contracts.
This suggests that embedding Tableau might involve a significant licensing commitment (potentially billed based on cores or an enterprise license) rather than the simple per-user monthly fees of its regular plan.
Therefore, while a small team could start with Tableau at ~$70 per user for internal use, a software company embedding Tableau for thousands of customer users should expect enterprise-level pricing and negotiations. In summary, Tableau’s cost for embedded use is often high and not as transparent as its advertised per-user fees, so it requires careful consultation to budget.
Which one should you choose?
If you’re choosing between Sisense and Tableau for internal reporting, each has its strengths. But for embedded analytics inside your product, neither tool really delivers. Their reliance on iframe embeds, seat-based pricing, and heavy architecture creates performance and integration issues that slow your team down and frustrate users.
Having said that, if you're still on the fence about internal reporting use cases, here's our verdict.
Choose Sisense if...
- You need a business intelligence tool that offers some embedding capabilities as part of a full-stack platform. Sisense has been in the BI space for over a decade and offers a wide array of features (from data preparation to dashboards) in one package. It’s battle-tested with many security certifications and a solid knowledge base, which is reassuring for enterprise needs.
- Seamless native feel is not your top priority. If it’s acceptable that the embedded dashboards might use iframes and have some styling limits, Sisense can deliver analytics in your app without extensive custom UI work. In other words, you can embed Sisense more quickly if you’re okay with its default look shining through a bit (which you can tweak with themes, but not completely unlimited).
- You have a high budget or high customer lifetime value to justify the cost. Sisense’s pricing is usage-based and often premium, which only makes sense if analytics directly drives significant revenue. For example, through enterprise add-ons. Otherwise, embedding is a costly investment.
- Your use case demands an integrated solution (ETL+storage+viz in one). Unlike Tableau, Sisense can act as a one-stop shop, performing data transformations and storing data in its ElastiCube engine. If you don’t want to manage a separate data warehouse or pipeline, Sisense’s all-in-one approach might be beneficial. This can simplify your stack when embedding analytics, albeit at the cost of some flexibility.
Choose Tableau if...
- You prioritize top-notch visual analytics and a broad toolkit. Tableau is ideal if dazzling visualizations and rich interactivity are a must. For internal analytics teams or data-savvy users, Tableau provides an unparalleled experience to dig into data and present it beautifully. Choose Tableau if you want to wow users with interactive charts or need advanced visuals (like complex mappings or storytelling dashboards) that go beyond basic charts.
- Your organization already uses Tableau or has BI expertise. If you have analysts trained in Tableau or an existing Tableau Server infrastructure, extending it to embedded use can leverage that investment. You’ll benefit from Tableau’s large community, training resources, and support network, which can be a lifesaver when solving problems. Complex tasks (custom calculations, performance tuning) are easier if Tableau knowledge is in-house.
- You require connections to many different data sources and cutting-edge analytics features. Tableau connects natively to hundreds of data sources and has integration with Python/R for advanced analytics, plus features like NLP queries (Ask Data) and AI-driven insights. If your embedded analytics needs to tap into diverse databases or incorporate predictive analytics, Tableau’s ecosystem supports that out of the box. It’s a strong choice when the analytics itself is very complex.
- Your primary goal is internal dashboards and not for embedding. Tableau’s sweet spot is enterprise BI. If your main use case is internal (e.g., dashboards for your own sales or ops teams) and you don’t really need to embed something like a client-facing report, Tableau could be a good option. In the scenario where you need both internal BI and embedding, you can get the benefit of a two-birds-one-stone solution without maintaining two separate tools, but with compromises on the embedding side.
A purpose-built alternative to Tableau and Sisense for embedded analytics
If you’re looking to embed analytics into your application, you might benefit from looking into a tool that’s built specifically for that job. Embeddable is not a BI tool that added embedding later. It was built for embedding in SaaS applications from day one, which means it avoids all the typical problems you get with a general-purpose BI tool like Sisense or Tableau.
It takes a developer-first, headless approach to analytics. When you use Embeddable, you’re essentially getting building blocks (modules, SDKs, APIs) to drop analytics features into your app with total control over the UI, and seamless developer workflows.
Unlike Sisense or Tableau, which might rely on iframes or predefined widget frames, Embeddable lets you embed charts and dashboards natively in React or as a web component, with no iframe, so they truly feel like part of your app.
You can use Embeddable’s React SDK or Web Component to render analytics wherever you need, and style them however you want – it’s as flexible as using your own frontend components.
Explore some Customer Stories to see the bespoke customer experiences teams are building with Embeddable.
Performance is another key advantage. Embeddable emphasizes speed at scale: dashboards that “load lightning fast” for end-users.
Under the hood, it uses a modern analytics stack (for example, Cube.js for caching and a semantic layer) to ensure queries are optimized and data loading is snappy. This addresses a common pain point where embedded dashboards from traditional BI tools can be slow or heavy.
For developers, Embeddable offers a much simpler integration experience. There are no auth workarounds, signed embedding or artefacts of an internal BI setup – Embeddable manages the backend analytics service, and you just connect it to your data to start building.
Finally, when it comes to pricing, Embeddable is clear, simple and cost-efficient for embedded use. It doesn’t charge per viewer; instead, it often uses a flat or usage-based pricing that scales more predictably with your application’s growth.
Find out more about how Embeddable can help you deliver truly remarkable analytics experience for your customers.
Frequently asked questions
1. Are Sisense or Tableau good choices for embedded analytics?
Not really. While Sisense offers better embedding tools than Tableau, both are limited because they were initially built for internal BI reporting. This can result in slow-loading iframe embeds that don’t really look and feel like part of your application.
2. Is Sisense or Tableau easier to embed in a SaaS product?
Sisense offers more purpose-built tools for embedding, but it still requires time and expertise. Tableau can be embedded, but it often feels less native and demands extra work to customize.
3. What is the pricing difference between Sisense and Tableau?
Both tools use custom pricing for embedded use, often starting in the five-figure range. Sisense is quote-based, while Tableau has user-based plans but charges more for OEM scenarios.
4. Can I fully customize the look of dashboards with these tools?
You can customize them to an extent, but neither offers full control without limitations. Embeddable provides greater design flexibility with a headless approach.
5. Is there a better alternative to Sisense and Tableau for embedding dashboards?
Yes, Embeddable is a modern option built specifically for embedded analytics, offering faster setup, native UI integration, and simpler developer tools.
