Tableau License Types

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For help understanding purchased licenses, visit Understanding License Models and Product Keys.

In today's demanding work environment, access to data is crucial for enhancing job performance. We understand that people have different relationships with data. Tableau’s role-based licenses cater to users of all skill levels, allowing you to deploy data throughout your organization in a trusted and governed manner.

Our license types—Creator, Explorer, and Viewer—offer varying capabilities to meet different needs. Creators have full functionality access to Tableau Prep Builder, Tableau Desktop, and Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud. They can design, clean, and curate data sources, and create interactive visualizations and dashboards. Explorers, on the other hand, have a subset of Creator capabilities through Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud, enabling them to author new content based on existing data sources and workbooks. Viewers can view and interact with published visualizations and dashboards, benefiting from guided drill paths, filters, and subscription options.

Whether you're a data enthusiast, a Line of Business user, or someone who needs data-driven insights without deep analytics expertise, we have a license type tailored for you. By allocating the appropriate licenses and providing the necessary education, you can ensure that users in your organization have the right tools to excel in their roles.

Tableau Creator

The Creator license is designed for users who create content. This can include the design, cleaning, and curation of data sources, which others will use to analyze governed data, or the creation of visualizations and dashboards with which other users will interact. It also includes designing governance and permissions models that control which information users may find.

You might be a Creator if…

  • Analytics is a fundamental part of your daily responsibilities.

  • You frequently merge multiple data sources for analysis.

  • You develop or curate data sources for others.

  • You engage in data cleaning and transformation alongside analysis.

  • You will manage or administer a Tableau Server or Cloud implementation.

You can access the full functionality of the applications below to create content:

  • Tableau Prep Builder
  • Tableau Desktop
  • Tableau Server/Cloud

Tableau Explorer

The Explorer option provides governed authoring and data exploration capabilities for users who don't require the complete data transformation functionalities of Tableau Prep Builder or the ability to connect to raw data sources. Explorers have the freedom to access and analyze published data, create and distribute their own dashboards, and manage the content they have built or been granted permission to edit.

You might be an Explorer if:

  • You are a Line of Business data user who enjoys hands-on data exploration.

  • You prefer creating visualizations using curated data sources from others.

  • You want to customize or edit visualizations and dashboards built by others.

  • You are responsible for administering content on a Tableau Server or Cloud site.

As an Explorer, you have access to a subset of Tableau Creator capabilities specifically via Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud for authoring new content based on existing published data sources and workbooks.

Tableau Viewer

Tableau Viewers have the ability to view and interact with published visualizations and dashboards. These users can be granted permission to access published content, explore guided drill paths, apply filters, and even subscribe to dashboards for regular updates and data-driven alerts.

You might be a Viewer if:

  • You require data-driven insights for your job but lack the time or skills for extensive analytics.

  • You prefer interacting with visualizations created by others rather than building your own.

As a Tableau Viewer, you receive a limited set of capabilities in Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud based on the requirements of someone who primarily views and interacts with data.

 

 

The allocation of Creator, Explorer, and Viewer license types within different business groups in your organization will depend on their respective interests and needs. Ensure that users with specific responsibilities are assigned the appropriate license type and provided with the necessary training and education.

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