A Tableau Public Alternative That Keeps Your Data Private

Why Tableau Public is risky for company or client spreadsheets

Tableau Public is free (as of October 2026), and the desktop app (Tableau Desktop Public Edition, as well as Tableau Desktop Free Edition) can save workbooks locally for offline or private data. However, using the Tableau Public cloud platform for company spreadsheets carries three constraints:

1. Every workbook published to your Tableau Public profile is public. Publishing to Tableau Public uploads your workbook and its data extract to a public cloud profile where anyone can view or download it. Even if you hide a workbook thumbnail on your profile page, the published view on Tableau Public is not private.
2. Row caps apply. Tableau Public caps data extracts at 15 million rows per workbook.
3. Limited connectors. Tableau Public restricts connections to flat files and a small set of public/cloud connectors rather than internal enterprise databases.

How to analyze confidential data in your browser with xmetric

xmetric runs inside your browser tab on Mac, Windows, or Linux, and your files are not uploaded:

1. Open the app in any browser. No desktop install. You only need an account if you want to save a workbook online.
2. Load your local file. Import a .csv, .xlsx, or .parquet file, or open a .twbx or .twb workbook, in the xmetric app (/app/). The free workbook inspector (/inspect/) also reads .pbix and .pbip files. Files are read locally in browser memory.
3. Verify nothing is uploaded. Open your browser's Developer Tools (Network tab) while loading a file: no rows of your dataset are sent over the network.
4. Build the view. Drag dimensions and measures onto shelves and the Marks card, and write FIXED, INCLUDE, and EXCLUDE LODs and table calculations. To test a formula alone and see the equivalent SQL, use the formula playground (/play/).

Redacting or aggregating sensitive fields before sharing

If you later want to share a summary without exposing PII (such as customer emails or raw invoice IDs), aggregate at the cohort or segment level using a FIXED LOD expression.

Cohort revenue by signup month without exposing customer IDs

Tableau calculation syntax in xmetric:

{ FIXED DATETRUNC('month', [Signup Date]) : SUM([MRR]) }

Equivalent SQL query:

SELECT
  DATE_TRUNC('month', signup_date) AS cohort_month,
  COUNT(DISTINCT customer_id) AS customer_count,
  SUM(mrr) AS cohort_mrr
FROM subscriptions
GROUP BY 1;

Current scope and limits

• Works today in the browser: The xmetric app (CSV, Excel, Parquet, and .twbx/.twb workbooks; shelves, Show Me, calculated fields, LODs, table calcs; save online and share a view-only link), plus the formula playground (/play/), calculation-error tools (/errors/), and the workbook inspector (/inspect/). Not every Tableau dashboard will look identical.
• Persistence: Data stays in your browser session unless you sign in and save a workbook online.
• Database connectors: Live connections to Postgres and BigQuery are coming.
• Agent integration: Every chart and filter operation in the app is a command. An MCP server, ChatGPT app, and Claude connector are in development.

Spec comparison: xmetric vs Tableau Public for private data