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Developer Tools · head to head

Atlantis vs Databox

Atlantis logo

Atlantis

Developer Tools

Runs Terraform plan and apply from pull request comments, self-hosted and free

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit AtlantisFull review
Databox logo

Databox

Business Intelligence

KPI dashboards that pull from the tools you already run on

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DataboxFull review

The short version

  • Atlantis is free; Databox starts at $71/mo.
  • Only Atlantis lists pull request plans; only Databox lists pre-built dashboards.
  • Where Databox falls short: data sources are the billing unit, so cost tracks the number of tools you connect rather than the value you get from them.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 25 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Atlantis and Databox actually diverge.

Attributes where Atlantis and Databox differ
AttributeAtlantisDatabox
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeSubscription
PlatformsLinux, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android, TV and console
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: founded for Atlantis.

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Atlantis

  • Pull request plans
  • Comment driven apply
  • Workspace locking
  • Policy checking
  • Multi-platform webhooks
  • Custom workflows

Only in Databox

  • Pre-built dashboards
  • Dashboard designer
  • Metric library
  • Goal tracking
  • Scorecards
  • Alerts
  • Scheduled reports
  • Client reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Atlantis

  • Making Terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approvernot Databox
  • Removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keysnot Databox
  • Getting pull request driven infrastructure without paying a per-user subscription for a hosted platformnot Databox
  • Enforcing Conftest policies as a blocking check before an apply can runnot Databox

Databox

  • Watching marketing, sales and finance KPIs from separate SaaS tools on one shared dashboardnot Atlantis
  • Agencies reporting campaign performance to many clients without rebuilding a report per accountnot Atlantis
  • Putting a live KPI board on an office TV or a recurring email to a leadership teamnot Atlantis
  • Replacing a manually maintained spreadsheet that someone updates from tool exports each weeknot Atlantis
  • Tracking goals and getting alerted when a metric moves past a thresholdnot Atlantis

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Atlantis

  • There is no company, no service level agreement and no paid support at any price, and the six maintainers are volunteers with day jobs, which some risk committees will not accept for a component holding production cloud credentials
  • The security surface is inherently sharp, because it is an internet-reachable webhook endpoint that executes applies with privileged credentials, gated by pull request comment authorisation that is coarse next to a real policy engine
  • It is stateful, holding a working directory and lock database on local disk, so high availability and horizontal scaling are awkward and you own upgrades, webhook plumbing, secret rotation and the host itself
  • It lacks the features that distinguish the commercial alternatives, with no native drift detection, no cost estimation, no managed state interface and no policy engine beyond the Conftest integration
  • Terragrunt and monorepo layouts are not first-class, requiring hand-written custom workflows and repository configuration that becomes a growing maintenance burden as the number of repositories increases

Databox

  • Data sources are the billing unit, so cost tracks the number of tools you connect rather than the value you get from them
  • The $71 Analyst plan is a single seat: adding even a second person means the $199 Core plan, a 2.8x jump
  • AI credits are metered monthly, from 50 on Free to 1,000 on Scale, so heavier AI use pushes you up a tier
  • Every published price assumes annual billing; monthly billing forfeits the advertised 20% saving
  • Free and Analyst plans sync daily and hourly respectively, so neither suits anything close to real-time monitoring
  • It is a dashboarding layer, not a warehouse: there is no transformation or modelling step for messy source data

Pricing, plan by plan

Atlantis

Free
  • AtlantisFree
    • Apache-2.0, no usage limits and no seat count
    • No commercial edition and no paid support tier
    • Community support through GitHub and the CNCF Slack channel

Databox

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 3 data sources
    • 1 user
    • 50 AI credits per month
  • Analyst$71/mo
    • 5 data sources
    • 1 user
    • 150 AI credits per month
  • Team - Core$199/mo
    • 10 data sources
    • 3 users
    • 500 AI credits per month
  • Team - Scale$319/mo
    • 30 data sources
    • 10 users
    • 1,000 AI credits per month

Which should you pick?

Choose Atlantis if

  • You need pull request plans.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want comment driven apply.
Atlantis review

Choose Databox if

  • You need pre-built dashboards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, TV and console.
  • You also want dashboard designer.
Databox review

Questions people ask

Is Atlantis or Databox better?
Neither clearly leads. Atlantis starts at Free and Databox at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Atlantis or Databox?
Atlantis starts at Free and Databox at Free.
Does Atlantis or Databox run on more platforms?
Atlantis runs on Linux, Self-hosted. Databox runs on Web, iOS, Android, TV and console.
Can I use Atlantis for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Atlantis best used for?
Atlantis is most often used for making terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approver, removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keys, getting pull request driven infrastructure without paying a per-user subscription for a hosted platform, enforcing conftest policies as a blocking check before an apply can run. Of those, making terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approver and removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keys are not what Databox is typically brought in for.
What can Atlantis do that Databox cannot?
Atlantis covers Pull request plans, Comment driven apply, Workspace locking, Policy checking. Databox covers Pre-built dashboards, Dashboard designer, Metric library, Goal tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Atlantis: Is there a company behind Atlantis?

No. It runs as a series of LF Projects under the Linux Foundation and is maintained by volunteers. There is no vendor to buy support from and no service level agreement.

Databox: How much does Databox cost?

Databox has a free forever plan with 3 data sources and 1 user. Paid plans are Analyst at $71 per month, Team Core at $199 per month and Team Scale at $319 per month, with an Agency plan from $79 per month plus $20 client packs and a Custom tier on request. All prices are billed annually; monthly billing forfeits the 20% annual saving.

Source
Atlantis: Is it a CNCF project?

No. It uses a channel in the CNCF Slack, which is often misread as membership, but the project sits under LF Projects rather than the CNCF.

Databox: Does Databox have a free plan or a free trial?

Both. The Free plan is free forever and covers 3 data sources, 1 user, 50 AI credits a month and daily syncing. Paid plans also offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Source
Atlantis: Does it work with OpenTofu?

Yes, there is a dedicated integration guide alongside Terraform, and it also has configuration for working with hosted Terraform backends.

Databox: How many users does each Databox plan include?

Free and Analyst are single-user. Team Core includes 3 users and Team Scale includes 10. The Agency and Custom plans include unlimited users.

Source
Atlantis: What does it not do that a paid platform does?

Drift detection, cost estimation, a managed state and run interface, and a real policy engine. Atlantis does pull request plan and apply well and stops there.

Databox: How many tools does Databox integrate with?

Databox connects to more than 130 tools, spreadsheets, databases and APIs, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Google and Facebook Ads, Shopify, Stripe, QuickBooks, Google Sheets and custom API sources.

Source
Databox: How often does Databox refresh its data?

The Free plan syncs daily. Analyst, Team Core, Team Scale, Agency and Custom plans all sync hourly.

Source
Databox: Who makes Databox?

Databox, Inc., founded in 2012 by Davorin Gabrovec, who is now President and Chief Product Officer. Pete Caputa became CEO in 2017 after a decade at HubSpot. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with its product and engineering team based in Ptuj, Slovenia.

Source
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