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Matplotlib VS Tableau Public

Compare Matplotlib VS Tableau Public and see what are their differences

Matplotlib logo Matplotlib

matplotlib is a python 2D plotting library which produces publication quality figures in a variety...

Tableau Public logo Tableau Public

Your data has a story. Share it with the world.
  • Matplotlib Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-14
  • Tableau Public Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-07

Matplotlib features and specs

  • Versatility
    Matplotlib can generate a wide variety of plots, ranging from simple line plots to complex 3D plots. This versatility makes it a go-to library for many scientific and technical visualizations.
  • Customization
    It offers extensive customization options for virtually every element of a plot, including colors, labels, line styles, and more, allowing users to tailor plots to meet specific needs.
  • Integrations
    Matplotlib integrates well with other Python libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, and SciPy, making it easier to plot data directly from these sources.
  • Community and Documentation
    It has a large, active community and comprehensive documentation that includes tutorials, examples, and detailed references, which can help users solve problems and improve their plot-making skills.
  • Interactivity
    Matplotlib supports interactive plots, which can be embedded in Jupyter notebooks and GUIs, allowing for dynamic data exploration and presentation.
  • Publication-Quality
    The library is capable of producing high-quality, publication-ready graphics that meet the stringent requirements of academic journals and professional presentations.

Possible disadvantages of Matplotlib

  • Complexity
    While Matplotlib offers extensive customization, it can be complex and sometimes unintuitive for beginners, requiring a steep learning curve to master all its functionality.
  • Performance
    Rendering a large number of plots or handling very large datasets can be slow, making Matplotlib less suitable for real-time data visualization.
  • Modern Aesthetics
    Out-of-the-box plots from Matplotlib can look somewhat dated compared to those from newer plotting libraries like Seaborn or Plotly, requiring additional customization to achieve a modern look.
  • 3D Plots
    Although Matplotlib supports 3D plotting, its capabilities are relatively limited and less sophisticated compared to specialized 3D plotting libraries.
  • Size and Structure
    The package is relatively large and can be slow to import. Its extensive structure can make finding specific functions and understanding the overall architecture challenging.

Tableau Public features and specs

  • Free to Use
    Tableau Public is available for free, allowing individuals and organizations to create and publish data visualizations without incurring costs.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform provides a drag-and-drop interface that simplifies the process of creating interactive visualizations, making it accessible to users without a technical background.
  • Cloud-Based Sharing
    Visualizations can be published to the cloud, making it easy to share insights and dashboards with others via a URL.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community offers a wealth of publicly available visualizations, tutorials, and forums, providing support and inspiration.
  • Rich Visualization Options
    Tableau Public offers a variety of visualization types, enabling users to create complex and insightful visual stories.

Possible disadvantages of Tableau Public

  • Limited Data Security
    Since visualizations are publicly accessible, sensitive data cannot be used with Tableau Public, limiting its use for confidential business information.
  • Data Source Limitations
    Tableau Public supports fewer data source connections compared to the full version of Tableau, potentially restricting data integration.
  • File Size Restrictions
    There are limits on the size of the data files that can be uploaded, which may be insufficient for large datasets and can constrain analysis.
  • No Offline Access
    Because it is cloud-based, an internet connection is required to access and publish dashboards, potentially causing issues for users with unreliable connectivity.
  • Limited Feature Set
    As a free platform, Tableau Public lacks some advanced features and customization options available in paid versions of Tableau, which may limit analysis capabilities.

Analysis of Matplotlib

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Matplotlib is a good library for data visualization, particularly for users who require a versatile and powerful plotting solution in Python.

Why this product is good

  • Matplotlib is highly regarded due to its extensive customization options, versatility in creating a wide range of static, animated, and interactive plots, and its large user community and support. It integrates well with other scientific libraries in Python, making it a staple for data visualization. The library is also open-source and frequently updated, ensuring it remains a reliable choice for users.

Recommended for

  • Data scientists and analysts needing to create detailed, customized visual representations of their data.
  • Researchers and engineers looking for a comprehensive plotting library that supports scientific and engineering formats.
  • Python developers who require integration with other scientific computing libraries like NumPy and Pandas.

Matplotlib videos

Learn Matplotlib in 6 minutes | Matplotlib Python Tutorial

Tableau Public videos

Introduction to Tableau Public

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Introduction to Tableau Public | Tableau Public Tutorial | Edureka
  • Review - Tableau Desktop Vs Tableau Public | Tableau Training Videos | Tableau Certification - ExcelR

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Matplotlib and Tableau Public)
Data Science And Machine Learning
Business Intelligence
0 0%
100% 100
Technical Computing
100 100%
0% 0
Office & Productivity
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Matplotlib and Tableau Public

Matplotlib Reviews

25 Python Frameworks to Master
Matplotlib is a widely used tool for data visualization in Python. It provides an object-oriented API for embedding plots into applications.
Source: kinsta.com
5 Best Python Libraries For Data Visualization in 2023
You can use this library for multiple purposes such as generating plots, bar charts, histograms, power spectra, stemplots, pie charts, and more. The best thing about Matplotlib is you just have to write a few lines of code and it handles the rest by itself. Metaplotilib focuses on static images for publication along with interactive figures using toolkits like Qt and GTK.
15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Matplotlib is an open source Python plotting library that's used to read, import and visualize data in analytics applications. Data scientists and other users can create static, animated and interactive data visualizations with Matplotlib, using it in Python scripts, the Python and IPython shells, Jupyter Notebook, web application servers and various GUI toolkits.
Top Python Libraries For Image Processing In 2021
Matplotlib is primarily used for 2D visualizations such as scatter plots, bar graphs, histograms, and many more, but we can also use it for image processing. It is effective to get information out of an image. It doesnโ€™t support all file formats.
Top 8 Python Libraries for Data Visualization
Matplotlib is a data visualization library and 2-D plotting library of Python It was initially released in 2003 and it is the most popular and widely-used plotting library in the Python community. It comes with an interactive environment across multiple platforms. Matplotlib can be used in Python scripts, the Python and IPython shells, the Jupyter notebook, web application...

Tableau Public Reviews

27 dashboards you can easily display on your office screen with Airtame 2
By connecting and visualizing your data in a matter of minutes, Tableau Public can make you forget about the old-school spreadsheets and reports that used to clutter your life.
Source: airtame.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Matplotlib should be more popular than Tableau Public. It has been mentiond 114 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Matplotlib mentions (114)

  • The soul file
    In February, an AI agent named MJ Rathbun submitted a pull request to matplotlib โ€” the Python plotting library used by half the scientific computing world. Scott Shambaugh, a volunteer maintainer, rejected it. Standard code review. Nothing unusual. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • How to Analyze CSV Files with Python and Pandas
    Numbers are useful, but sometimes itโ€™s easier to spot patterns when you can actually see your data. Pandas works seamlessly with Matplotlib, a popular Python library for creating visualizations. Together, they make it easy to turn raw numbers into clear charts. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • libmalloc, jemalloc, tcmalloc, mimalloc - Exploring Different Memory Allocators
    We are storing the results in JSON files, which we combine, analyze and visualize using matplotlib in Python. Here's the structure of a benchmark result file:. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Building an AI Scoring Agent: Step-By-Step
    NetworkX and Matplotlib were used to visualize the graph structure of the agent. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Top 5 GitHub Repositories for Data Science in 2026
    The book introduces the core libraries essential for working with data in Python: particularly IPython, NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Scikit-Learn, and related packages Familiarity with Python as a language is assumed; if you need a quick introduction to the language itself, see the free companion project, Aโ€ฆ. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
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Tableau Public mentions (12)

  • Jobs for people who just want to crawl under their desks
    Now, if you do want to play around with data visualizations, you can do that for free with Tableau Public https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Data visualization
    Tableau Public - https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Weekly Entering & Transitioning Thread | 02 Jan 2022 - 09 Jan 2022
    Tableau and PowerBI are generally viewed as industry standard tools. The good news is you have free options for both! Tableau Public and PowerBI Desktop are what you're looking for. Try them out and pick which one you like more. The skills are pretty transferable once you master the basics. As far as python ML tools, ones that pop up pretty frequently are scikit-learn (questionable math notwithstanding), XGBoost,... Source: over 4 years ago
  • Foxhole Statistics
    I played with the idea of doing something similar and putting it all in Google Sheets (https://www.google.com/sheets/about/) so I could visualize it all in Tableau Public (https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/). Source: over 4 years ago
  • Help on creating a weekly and monthly summary?
    I record everything in a spreadsheet and then built a set of dashboards using Tableau. Took a bit to get set up, but once I had it, I can produce the summary in a few minutes. Here's an example of my weekly summary. If you're interested, happy to send you the Tableau workbook so you can take a look. Source: over 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Matplotlib and Tableau Public, you can also consider the following products

Pandas - Pandas is an open source library providing high-performance, easy-to-use data structures and data analysis tools for the Python.

KiniMetrix - Our approach blends proprietary metrics and frameworks, smart Business Intelligence software...

NumPy - NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing with Python

BrightGauge - BrightGauge is a business intelligence software for IT service providers.

Seaborn - Seaborn is a Python data visualization library that uses Matplotlib to make statistical graphics.

Datamatic.io - Datamatic - WordPress for data visualizations