Softwr

Business Intelligence · head to head

Cyfe vs Snowplow

Cyfe logo

Cyfe

Business Intelligence

All-in-one business dashboard

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Snowplow logo

Snowplow

Business Intelligence

Behavioural data pipeline you run in your own cloud, relicensed away from Apache 2.0 in 2024

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cyfe has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cyfe dashboards are the billing unit, at 2 on the $29 Starter plan and 5 on the $39 Standard plan; Snowplow the core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • They diverge on capability: Cyfe covers Pre-built Widgets, Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cyfe and Snowplow actually diverge.

Attributes where Cyfe and Snowplow differ
AttributeCyfeSnowplow
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Mobile, TvLinux, Web, Docker
Founded2012Unknown

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 Cyfe

  • Pre-built Widgets
  • Custom Metrics
  • Historical Data
  • White-labeling
  • Embedding
  • Google Analytics
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Only in Snowplow

  • Own-cloud deployment
  • Schema enforcement
  • Warehouse loading
  • Enrichment
  • Trackers
  • Streaming output
  • Data models
  • Snowplow BDP

What people use each for

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

Cyfe

  • Building business dashboards from marketing, sales and finance sourcesnot Snowplow
  • Displaying live metrics on office screens and shared public URLsnot Snowplow

Snowplow

  • A data team that needs full-fidelity event data in its own warehouse to build attribution or machine learning features rather than to populate dashboardsnot Cyfe
  • A regulated business that cannot send behavioural data to a third-party analytics vendor and must keep collection inside its own cloud accountnot Cyfe
  • A product organisation tired of silently malformed events, which wants a schema contract enforced at collection timenot Cyfe
  • A company modelling customer behaviour across web, mobile and server events that needs them in one consistent structurenot Cyfe

Where each one falls short

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

Cyfe

  • Dashboards are the billing unit, at 2 on the $29 Starter plan and 5 on the $39 Standard plan
  • Users are capped separately, at 1 on Starter and 2 on Standard, so a two person team needs the second tier for seats alone
  • Unlimited users only appears on the $119 Premier plan
  • Additional dashboards beyond a plan are $5 each
  • The Agency plan includes 10 clients with further clients at $19 each

Snowplow

  • The core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • You run the pipeline in your own cloud, which means the infrastructure bill, the on-call rota and the upgrade work are yours, and at high event volume that operational cost frequently exceeds what a hosted product would have charged.
  • Schema enforcement is the main benefit and the main friction, because every new event requires a schema to be authored and versioned, and teams without discipline around that end up blocked on their own governance process.
  • There is no analysis layer: Snowplow delivers data to your warehouse and nothing else, so you still need modelling, a BI tool and the people to run them before anyone sees a number.
  • The licence change fractured the community, spawning an Apache 2.0 fork, which means community contributions and third-party tooling are now split across two codebases with uncertain long-term maintenance.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cyfe

Free
  • Starter$29/month
    • 2 Dashboards
    • 1 User
    • 14-day free trial
  • Standard$39/month
    • 5 Dashboards
    • 2 Users
    • 14-day free trial
  • Pro$65/month
    • 10 Dashboards
    • 5 Users
    • 14-day free trial
  • Premier$119/month
    • 20 Dashboards
    • Unlimited Users
    • Additional dashboards available at $5 per dashboard

Snowplow

On request
  • Snowplow BDP$undefined/year
    • Commercial pricing quoted by event volume and deployment
    • Core pipeline components under the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, not Apache 2.0
    • Trackers, analytics SDKs and Iglu SDKs remain Apache 2.0

Which should you pick?

Choose Cyfe if

  • You need pre-built widgets.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Tv.
  • You also want custom metrics.
Cyfe review

Choose Snowplow if

  • You need own-cloud deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Docker.
  • You also want schema enforcement.
Snowplow review

Questions people ask

Is Cyfe or Snowplow better?
Neither clearly leads. Cyfe starts at Free and Snowplow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cyfe or Snowplow?
Cyfe has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cyfe and On request for Snowplow.
Does Cyfe or Snowplow run on more platforms?
Cyfe runs on Web, Mobile, Tv. Snowplow runs on Linux, Web, Docker.
Can I use Cyfe for free?
Yes. Cyfe has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Snowplow starts at On request.
What is Cyfe best used for?
Cyfe is most often used for building business dashboards from marketing, sales and finance sources, displaying live metrics on office screens and shared public urls. Of those, building business dashboards from marketing, sales and finance sources and displaying live metrics on office screens and shared public urls are not what Snowplow is typically brought in for.
What can Cyfe do that Snowplow cannot?
Cyfe covers Pre-built Widgets, Custom Metrics, Historical Data, White-labeling. Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment, Schema enforcement, Warehouse loading, Enrichment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cyfe: How much does Cyfe cost?

Cyfe offers five subscription plans: Starter at $29/month (2 dashboards, 1 user), Standard at $39/month (5 dashboards, 2 users), Pro at $65/month (10 dashboards, 5 users), Premier at $119/month (20 dashboards, unlimited users), and Agency at $190/month (100 dashboards, 15 users, 10 clients).

Source
Snowplow: Is Snowplow still open source?

Not in the permissive sense. On 8 January 2024 the core pipeline moved from Apache 2.0 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, with version 1.1 following in December 2024, alongside a community licence based on the Confluent Community Licence. Trackers and analytics SDKs remain Apache 2.0.

Cyfe: What features are included in all Cyfe plans?

All Cyfe tiers include unlimited history, TV mode for dashboard displays, public shareable URLs, custom logos and themes, custom SSL domain support, unlimited data exports, and embedded analytics capabilities. The 14-day free trial is available for every plan.

Source
Snowplow: Can we still run it for free in production?

Free use of the relicensed core components is materially constrained and commercial use generally requires an agreement. Read the current licence text against your intended use rather than relying on older documentation.

Cyfe: What is included in Cyfe's Agency plan?

The Agency plan at $190/month includes 100 dashboards, 15 users, and 10 clients. Additional clients cost $19 each. The plan provides 100% white label branding, branded widgets, custom CSS, and full client management features.

Source
Snowplow: Is there an Apache 2.0 alternative?

Yes, a fork called OpenSnowcat was created in response to the relicensing and continues under Apache 2.0.

Snowplow: What does Snowplow BDP cost?

Not published. It is quoted by event volume and deployment, and your own cloud infrastructure costs are separate and additional.

Share

Related pages

More on Cyfe

More on Snowplow

Keep looking

Other head to heads