# Alternatives to Lightdash

Lightdash is a business intelligence platform that reads metrics and dimensions from a connected dbt project (or standalone Lightdash YAML) so teams define logic once and reuse it across dashboards, alerts, and embeds. The core platform is MIT-licensed and self-hostable; a subset of enterprise features lives under a separate Source Available License requiring a subscription. Content such as charts and dashboards can be managed as code and synced to Git via pull requests.

Lightdash ranks #1 of 8 in Business intelligence, with an Alt Score of 93. It is licensed under MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) and open source with paid hosting from $3000/mo. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lightdash/
Category: Business intelligence

## Where Lightdash stands out

- **Git version control** — 3 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Open source** — 4 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Data analysts and engineering teams that already maintain a dbt project and want self-serve BI without redefining metric logic in a separate semantic layer.
- **What you get**: A browser-based explorer with a no-code query builder and a SQL runner for ad-hoc queries, dashboards with scheduled email/Slack deliveries and threshold-based alerts, row-level security via user attributes, and Git-synced charts/dashboards managed as code.
- **How it works**: Lightdash connects to a data warehouse and a dbt project, exposing dbt models as explorable Tables; users pick metrics and dimensions to build queries without SQL, or write custom SQL in the SQL runner, and changes to charts, dashboards, and scheduled deliveries can be written back to the project's Git repository through opened pull requests.

## Profile

- **License**: MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Starts at**: $3000/mo (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-08-03)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Apache Superset](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/apache-superset.md) | 89 | Apache License 2.0 | Web |
| 2 | [Metabase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/metabase.md) | 89 | AGPL | Web |
| 3 | [Microsoft Power BI](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/power-bi.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Windows, Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Looker](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/looker.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [Sigma](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sigma-computing.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web |
| 6 | [Tableau](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tableau.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [Redash](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/redash.md) | 59 | BSD-2-Clause | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Business intelligence checklist | Lightdash | Apache Superset | Metabase | Microsoft Power BI | Looker | Sigma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | Free | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Subscription | Usage-based |
| Starts at | $3000/mo | Free | $100/mo | $14/user/mo | ? | ? |
| License | MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) | Apache License 2.0 | AGPL | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | ? | Web | Web | Windows, Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| SQL editor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No-code query builder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled report delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Embedded analytics | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Row-level security | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Semantic layer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Git version control | Yes | ? | Partial | Yes | Yes | No |
| SSO (SAML/OIDC) | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Lightdash. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: MIT (core); Source Available (enterprise ee/ module) — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lightdash/lightdash/main/LICENSE> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — <https://www.lightdash.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Starts at**: $3000/mo — <https://www.lightdash.com/pricing> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/lightdash/lightdash/releases> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Self-hostable**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/self-host/self-host-lightdash> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lightdash/lightdash/main/LICENSE> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **SQL editor**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/guides/developer/sql-runner> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **No-code query builder**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/get-started/exploring-data/using-explores> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Scheduled report delivery**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/guides/how-to-create-scheduled-deliveries> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Embedded analytics**: Partial — <https://docs.lightdash.com/guides/embedding/how-to-embed-content> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Row-level security**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/references/workspace/user-attributes> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Data alerts**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/guides/how-to-create-alerts> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Semantic layer**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/guides/lightdash-semantic-layer> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Git version control**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/guides/developer/pull-requests> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **SSO (SAML/OIDC)**: Partial — <https://docs.lightdash.com/references/workspace/sso-providers> (verified 2026-08-03)
- **Free tier**: Yes — <https://docs.lightdash.com/self-host/self-host-lightdash> (verified 2026-08-03)

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/