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Lightdash

AI-native BI platform built on your dbt project

AI DataResearched, not tested
Pricing
freemium
From
$3000 a month
Free tier
Yes

What we think

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What readers think

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Best for

Data teams already using dbt who want a governed, self-serve BI layer without per-seat pricing.

What it is

Lightdash is a business intelligence platform that connects to your data warehouse and reads your existing dbt project to define metrics and models. It provides a data explorer, report builder, dashboards, scheduled deliveries, and alerting, with unlimited users on every plan. It is aimed at data teams already using dbt who want governed self-serve analytics without per-seat pricing.

Best forData teams already using dbt who want a governed, self-serve BI layer without per-seat pricing.

Features

  • dbt integration

    Reads your dbt project to define metrics, models, and the semantic layer.

  • Data explorer and report builder

    Web UI for exploring data and building charts and dashboards.

  • Scheduled deliveries and alerting

    Send scheduled reports and set up alerts on metrics.

  • AI agents and MCP

    AI agents and MCP integration for interacting with your data.

  • Embedding

    Embed dashboards via iframe and ReactSDK (add-on).

  • Governed self-serve

    Metrics catalog and explorer for governed self-service analytics.

  • Charts and dashboards as code

    Manage charts and dashboards as code.

  • Warehouse connections

    Connects to BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks, Postgres, Trino, ClickHouse, Athena, DuckDB.

TL;DR

Lightdash is a dbt-native BI platform with unlimited users, AI agents, and a semantic layer, available self-hosted or as a hosted cloud service.

Pros

  • •Unlimited users on all plans, including the free self-hosted open source version.
  • •Native dbt integration and open semantic layer.
  • •21-day free trial for Cloud Pro with no payment details required.
  • •Connects to a wide range of data warehouses.

Cons

  • •Requires a dbt project to use.
  • •Cloud Pro starts at $3,000 per month.
  • •Embedding is an add-on with usage-based or predictable pricing.
  • •HIPAA BAA costs an additional $490 per month on Cloud Pro.

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