Google Data Studio vs Tableau Public: Two Free BI Tools Compared

Google Data Studio (now Looker Studio) and Tableau Public are both free data visualization tools — but with a critical difference. Data Studio keeps your dashboards private. Tableau Public makes everything you create publicly visible. This distinction alone determines which one fits your use case.

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Note: Google rebranded Data Studio to "Looker Studio" in October 2022.

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AI Data Analyst for Growth Teams

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• Unify your data in one place in 15 minutes
• Conversational analytics, live dashboards, charts & reports
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Key Differences

Feature: Price · Google Data Studio: Free · Tableau Public: Free

Feature: Privacy · Google Data Studio: Private by default · Tableau Public: All work is public

Feature: Data sources · Google Data Studio: 1,000+ live connectors · Tableau Public: File uploads only (CSV, Excel, Google Sheets)

Feature: Live connections · Google Data Studio: Yes · Tableau Public: No (extract only)

Feature: Visualization · Google Data Studio: Basic charts + community · Tableau Public: Tableau's full chart library

Feature: Storage · Google Data Studio: No limit (cloud) · Tableau Public: 10 GB per account

Feature: Collaboration · Google Data Studio: Real-time co-editing · Tableau Public: View and download only

Feature: Governance · Google Data Studio: Basic permissions · Tableau Public: None (everything is public)

Feature: Use case · Google Data Studio: Business dashboards · Tableau Public: Portfolios, public data journalism

Feature: Desktop app · Google Data Studio: No (browser only) · Tableau Public: Yes (Tableau Public Desktop)

Graphed

AI Data Analyst for Growth Teams

Get the insights your sales and marketing teams need to grow your business faster.

• Unify your data in one place in 15 minutes
• Conversational analytics, live dashboards, charts & reports
• Connect our MCP to Claude or ChatGPT

Start a Free Trial

When to Use Google Data Studio

• Your data is private or confidential
• Need live connections to marketing/business platforms
• Sharing with specific people (not the public)
• Scheduled report delivery
• Real-time collaboration on dashboards

When to Use Tableau Public

• Building a data visualization portfolio
• Public data journalism or research
• Learning Tableau (free way to access the full chart library)
• Data is not sensitive and can be public
• Want Tableau's superior visualization engine without paying

Graphed

AI Data Analyst for Growth Teams

Get the insights your sales and marketing teams need to grow your business faster.

• Unify your data in one place in 15 minutes
• Conversational analytics, live dashboards, charts & reports
• Connect our MCP to Claude or ChatGPT

Start a Free Trial

A Private, Powerful Alternative: Graphed

If you want the analytical depth of Tableau with the privacy of Data Studio — without building dashboards manually — Graphed connects to 350+ private data sources and builds analysis from natural language. All data stays private, AI handles the visualization. Setup in 15 minutes.

The Bottom Line

Data Studio for private business dashboards with live data. Tableau Public for public visualizations and portfolios. The privacy distinction is the deciding factor — if your data cannot be public, Tableau Public is not an option.