Lightdash

What it is for

Lightdash is a dbt-native BI desk: you open an Explore, and open source self-host is $0; Cloud Pro is $3,000/month (unlimited seats; 21-day trial, no card). Use it when the job is charts on your dbt semantic layer you start at $0 or $3,000, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official Lightdash View underlying data desk (page-view bar chart, results table, underlying-data modal) from the interact still — not a pricing card. The modal itself is ops of Explores. Lightdash bills the Cloud, not seats; embedding is an add-on.

Key features

• Explores — a chart / table you build on the semantic layer (underlying-data still; docs). One question. Cover “View underlying data”, filters, and CSV are ops of this. SQL runner sits here.
• Dashboards — a board of Explores you share (pricing Data explorer and report builder UI). A board, not a chart. Cross-filters and date zoom are options of this.
• dbt semantic layer — the dbt project Lightdash compiles as metrics (pricing Native dbt integration). A model, not a chart. The 21-day Cloud trial starts when you first connect and compile that project.
• Scheduled deliveries — a snapshot you send on a cron (pricing Scheduled deliveries). A send, not a dashboard. Alerting and Google Sheets sync sit beside this, not as extra desks.
• Self-host / Cloud — the OSS app you run vs Cloud Pro (pricing Open Source / Cloud Pro; GitHub). A control plane, not an Explore. OSS support is community Slack only.

Embedding (iframe / React SDK) is an add-on, not a sixth desk: first 1,000 loads free then $0.05/load, or $790/month for 100k loads per Embed Worker. AI agents / MCP / Autopilot are generate options.

Who it's for

Best fit: analytics teams who already own dbt and will self-host at $0, or buy Cloud Pro at $3,000/month after the 21-day trial — and will not treat embedding as the core product.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from lightdash.com/pricing. Tiles print Open Source (self-hosted) and Cloud Pro $3000 / month. Enterprise is Let’s talk. 21-day trial; no payment details to start.

• Open Source (self-host) — $0. Core BI. Unlimited seats. Community Slack only. Access to Lightdash OSS only.
• Cloud Pro — $3,000/month. No per-seat pricing. Unlimited users and visualizations. Native dbt. Private Slack + live chat. Version history 30 days (OSS 3 days). US and EU regions. Google SSO.
• Enterprise — Let’s talk. Cloud or on-prem. Custom roles, SCIM, custom domain, HIPAA / SOC 2 options. Do not invent an Enterprise dollar.
• Embedding add-on — pay as you go: first 1,000 loads free, then $0.05/load; or predictable $790/month for 100k loads per Embed Worker.
• HIPAA BAA — $490 per month on the compare row we fetched (Enterprise: Custom).

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Limitations / costs

• Cloud Pro is $3,000/month. OSS is the $0 path; you operate it.
• The trial clock starts at first dbt compile, not at signup.
• Embedding is extra ($0.05/load or $790/100k). Do not fold it into the $3,000 tile.
• A dbt BI desk, not a warehouse. For OSS question-asking see Metabase. For product analytics + flags see PostHog.

Alternatives

• Metabase — OSS BI when you want a $0 / $100 Cloud Starter ladder and no dbt compile step.
• PostHog — product analytics when the job is events + flags, not dbt Explores.
• Wren AI — semantic SQL chat when you want a text-to-SQL desk instead of Lightdash charts.

Official tutorial

Official Lightdash channel video: Finding stuff in Lightdash (oEmbed author: Lightdash). First-party product walkthrough; the docs View-underlying-data still is the cover.

Written path: lightdash.com/pricing plus the underlying-data still.

Website

https://www.lightdash.com

Repository

https://github.com/lightdash/lightdash

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official Lightdash View underlying data desk from the docs still. Dollars checked on lightdash.com/pricing (OSS $0; Cloud Pro $3,000/mo; embed $0.05/load after 1,000 or $790/mo per 100k; HIPAA BAA $490/mo). Tutorial oEmbed author: Lightdash.

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.