Dark Horse Analytics

haven't used splunk, but IIRC, they focus on logging. Tableau is a better comparison. They (like excel) are the "do everything" solution. Meaning that if you want to change/tweak a chart or come up with a new chart type, you can. But most people don't know how to do that effectively and you can shoot yourself in the foot more easily.

Machete is geared towards doing only a few things, but knocking them out of the park. We try to follow data viz best practices by labeling elements directly, killing gradients, etc. (see http://darkhorseanalytics.com/blog/data-looks-better-naked/). Also, all of our animations are informative. Tableau will show you a bar chart, then you'll filter and the screen turns grey for a few seconds then all the bars "bounce" back in. It causes users to lose perspective on their data (aka change blindness). We try to have object constancy, meaning the visual element on charts will morph/transition smoothly from one state to the next as filters are applied. It is much easier to tell what is happening to your data that way.

Tableau is a great product, but they're a minivan. They can do a ton of stuff, but they're not that fun to drive. We're trying to turn Machete into a ferrari - you can't take 5 kids to soccer practice or haul groceries, but it'll get you from A to B pretty damn fast.

my email is in profile if you want to get in touch. Thanks for the kind words.