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Business Intelligence · head to head

Baremetrics vs Lightdash

Baremetrics logo

Baremetrics

Business Intelligence

Subscription analytics for SaaS

From
$75/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lightdash logo

Lightdash

Business Intelligence

Open-source BI for dbt users

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lightdash has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Baremetrics priced on the revenue it measures, so the bill rises with your ARR rather than with usage: $75 a month up to $360K ARR, $255 to $3.6M and $1,152 above that; Lightdash requires existing dbt infrastructure, not suitable for teams without data models
  • They diverge on capability: Baremetrics covers Revenue Metrics, Lightdash covers dbt Integration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Baremetrics and Lightdash actually diverge.

Attributes where Baremetrics and Lightdash differ
AttributeBaremetricsLightdash
Starting price$75/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise)
Founded20132021

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

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 Baremetrics

  • Revenue Metrics
  • Forecasting
  • Benchmarking
  • Cancellation Insights
  • Email Reports
  • Stripe
  • Braintree
  • Recurly

Only in Lightdash

  • dbt Integration
  • Metrics Layer
  • Dashboards
  • Scheduling
  • Version Control
  • dbt
  • BigQuery
  • Snowflake

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Baremetrics

  • Subscription metrics and MRR reporting from Stripe and similar billing systemsnot Lightdash
  • Churn and retention analysisnot Lightdash
  • Failed payment recovery through the add-onnot Lightdash
  • Cancellation surveys to understand why customers leavenot Lightdash

Lightdash

  • Self-service analyticsnot Baremetrics
  • Data explorationnot Baremetrics
  • Ad-hoc reportingnot Baremetrics
  • Collaborative analysisnot Baremetrics
  • Embedded analyticsnot Baremetrics

Where each one falls short

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

Baremetrics

  • Priced on the revenue it measures, so the bill rises with your ARR rather than with usage: $75 a month up to $360K ARR, $255 to $3.6M and $1,152 above that
  • Payment Recovery and Cancellation Insights are separate add-ons at $129 a month each
  • The advertised prices assume annual billing with a discount of up to 35 percent
  • There is no free tier, only a trial

Lightdash

  • Requires existing dbt infrastructure, not suitable for teams without data models
  • Enterprise features and AI agents unavailable in open-source MIT-licensed core

Pricing, plan by plan

Baremetrics

$75/month
  • Launch$75/month
    • Target $0-360K ARR
    • Single integration
    • Core analytics features
  • Growth$255/month
    • Target $360K-$3.6M ARR
    • Two integrations
    • Advanced features
  • Scale$1152/month
    • Target $3.6M+ ARR
    • Unlimited integrations
    • Enterprise features

Lightdash

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT-licensed core
    • Self-hostable
    • dbt integration
  • Cloud Managed$undefined/mo
    • Managed hosting
    • Premium features
    • AI agent capabilities

Which should you pick?

Choose Baremetrics if

  • You need revenue metrics.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want forecasting.
Baremetrics review

Choose Lightdash if

  • You need dbt integration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise).
  • You also want metrics layer.
Lightdash review

Questions people ask

Is Baremetrics or Lightdash better?
Neither clearly leads. Baremetrics starts at $75/month and Lightdash at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Baremetrics or Lightdash?
Lightdash has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $75/month for Baremetrics and Free for Lightdash.
Does Baremetrics or Lightdash run on more platforms?
Baremetrics runs on Web, Api. Lightdash runs on Web, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise).
Can I use Lightdash for free?
Yes. Lightdash has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Baremetrics starts at $75/month.
What is Baremetrics best used for?
Baremetrics is most often used for subscription metrics and mrr reporting from stripe and similar billing systems, churn and retention analysis, failed payment recovery through the add-on, cancellation surveys to understand why customers leave. Of those, subscription metrics and mrr reporting from stripe and similar billing systems and churn and retention analysis are not what Lightdash is typically brought in for.
What can Baremetrics do that Lightdash cannot?
Baremetrics covers Revenue Metrics, Forecasting, Benchmarking, Cancellation Insights. Lightdash covers dbt Integration, Metrics Layer, Dashboards, Scheduling. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Baremetrics: How much does Baremetrics' Launch plan cost per month?

Baremetrics' Launch plan starts at $75 per month with annual billing, or $49 per month with annual prepayment (35% discount when paying yearly).

Source
Lightdash: Is Lightdash free?

Yes. Lightdash is free and open source under the MIT license. Self-hosting is completely free. Managed cloud services and enterprise features require separate licensing.

Source
Baremetrics: What is the difference between Baremetrics plans?

Launch includes one integration and core analytics; Growth ($255/month) adds a second integration and advanced dashboards; Scale ($1,152/month) includes unlimited integrations and enterprise features.

Source
Lightdash: How does Lightdash integrate with dbt?

Lightdash reads dbt models and metric definitions directly. A team defines metrics once in dbt and reuses them across dashboards, exploration, and AI agents without redefinition.

Source
Baremetrics: What add-ons are available in Baremetrics?

Payment Recovery and Cancellation Insights are available as add-ons at $129 per month each to automate failed payment recovery and churn reduction.

Source
Lightdash: Does Lightdash support SQL queries?

Yes. As a modern BI platform for analysts, Lightdash supports full SQL capabilities alongside dbt model exploration and visual query builders.

Source
Baremetrics: Is there a free trial for Baremetrics?

Yes, Baremetrics offers a free trial available for new users to test the platform before committing to a paid plan.

Source
Lightdash: What are Lightdash AI agents?

Lightdash AI agents, available on paid plans, allow natural language queries against your data, generating SQL and visualizations automatically from questions.

Source
Lightdash: Can Lightdash be self-hosted?

Yes. Lightdash's MIT-licensed core is completely self-hostable and free. Enterprise features and AI agents ship under separate licensing.

Source
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