Abstract: We analyze the sensitivity of hadronic tau decays to nonstandard interactions within the model-independent framework of the standard model effective field theory. Both exclusive and inclusive decays are studied, using the latest lattice data and QCD dispersion relations. We show that there are enough theoretically clean channels to disentangle all the effective couplings contributing to these decays, with the tau -> pi pi nu(tau) channel representing an unexpected powerful new physics probe. We find that the ratios of nonstandard couplings to the Fermi constant are bound at the subpercent level. These bounds are complementary to the ones from electroweak precision observables and pp -> tau nu(tau) measurements at the LHC. The combination of tau decay and LHC data puts tighter constraints on lepton universality violation in the gauge boson-lepton vertex corrections.