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Developer Tools · head to head

Dagger vs Holistics

Dagger logo

Dagger

Developer Tools

Programmable CI/CD engine that runs your pipeline as containers on any runner

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DaggerFull review
Holistics logo

Holistics

Business Intelligence

Self-service BI for data teams

From
$800/month
Free plan
No
Visit HolisticsFull review

The short version

  • Holistics is a self-service business intelligence platform.
  • Dagger has a free plan, then $50/mo; Holistics starts at $800/mo.
  • Only Dagger lists pipelines as code; only Holistics lists data Modeling.
  • Where Holistics falls short: the entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dagger and Holistics actually diverge.

Attributes where Dagger and Holistics differ
AttributeDaggerHolistics
Starting priceFree$800/month
Pricing modelPer month per team for Dagger CloudSubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

Not yet recorded: founded for Dagger.

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 Dagger

  • Pipelines as code
  • Local and CI parity
  • Content-addressed caching
  • Dagger Functions and modules
  • CI-provider agnostic
  • Dagger Cloud traces
  • GitHub Checks integration
  • Container-native execution

Only in Holistics

  • Data Modeling
  • Version Control
  • Scheduling
  • Caching
  • Embedding
  • BigQuery
  • Snowflake
  • Redshift

What people use each for

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

Dagger

  • A platform team maintaining near-identical build YAML across forty repositories that wants one versioned module every repository calls insteadnot Holistics
  • An engineering organisation migrating off a CI provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migrationnot Holistics
  • A team whose engineers waste hours pushing commits to debug CI-only failures and needs to reproduce the exact run locallynot Holistics
  • A monorepo where most commits touch a small subset of services and cache-accurate step skipping cuts build minutes materiallynot Holistics

Holistics

  • Modelling business metrics in a code-defined semantic layer with Git version controlnot Dagger
  • Self-service exploration and dashboards for non-SQL usersnot Dagger
  • Embedding analytics into a customer-facing productnot Dagger

Where each one falls short

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

Dagger

  • Dagger is not a CI provider, so you keep paying for GitHub Actions or GitLab runners underneath it; the Dagger Cloud subscription is an addition to your CI bill, not a replacement for it
  • Writing pipelines in Go or TypeScript raises the barrier to entry: a release engineer who could edit a YAML step now needs to read code, and the people who can fix a broken build shrink to those comfortable with the SDK
  • The engine runs as a container on the runner and needs a persistent cache volume to deliver its main benefit, so ephemeral CI runners give you correctness without the speed, and provisioning durable cache storage is extra platform work
  • The Team plan caps at ten users and ten million events per month; an organisation of any size crosses that quickly and moves to Enterprise pricing that is not published, so cost at scale is unknowable up front
  • The module ecosystem is young and thinly maintained relative to the marketplace of a mature CI provider, so integrations that exist as a one-line Action often have to be written yourself as a Dagger function

Holistics

  • The entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool
  • Every plan includes only the first 10 users, with additional users charged at $15 per month each on Entry and Standard and $18 on the Security Compliance Suite
  • The Entry plan caps reports at 100, and each additional 100 reports costs $120 per month
  • Google SSO requires the Standard plan at $1,200 per month; enterprise SSO with SAML and SCIM provisioning requires the Security Compliance Suite at $2,400 per month
  • Row-based access control, IP whitelisting, pass-through authentication and user activity monitoring are all Security Compliance Suite features
  • Connecting Git version control to your own repository requires Standard; Entry only gets Holistics-hosted Git
  • White labelling, dynamic row-level permissions and unlimited dashboard viewers for embedded analytics are Custom Plan only, with no published price
  • Bank payments and custom payment terms are Custom Plan only, and custom infosec or legal paperwork is Enterprise plan only
  • The two months off discount requires yearly billing

Pricing, plan by plan

Dagger

Free
  • IndividualFree
    • One user
    • One million events per month
    • Workflow logs and function call traces
  • Team$50/mo
    • Up to ten users
    • Ten million events per month
    • Module insights and module catalogue
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Custom user and event limits
    • SSO
    • Managed single-tenant deployment

Holistics

$800/month
  • Entry$800/mo
    • 100 reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Core self-service analytics
  • Standard$1,000/mo
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Custom charts
  • Security Compliance Suite$2,000/mo
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Granular access controls

Which should you pick?

Choose Dagger if

  • You need pipelines as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
  • You also want local and ci parity.
Dagger review

Choose Holistics if

  • You need data modeling.
  • You also want version control.
Holistics review

Questions people ask

Is Dagger or Holistics better?
Neither clearly leads. Dagger starts at Free and Holistics at $800/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dagger or Holistics?
Dagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dagger and $800/month for Holistics.
Does Dagger or Holistics run on more platforms?
Dagger runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. Holistics runs on Web.
Can I use Dagger for free?
Yes. Dagger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Holistics starts at $800/month.
What is Dagger best used for?
Dagger is most often used for a platform team maintaining near-identical build yaml across forty repositories that wants one versioned module every repository calls instead, an engineering organisation migrating off a ci provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migration, a team whose engineers waste hours pushing commits to debug ci-only failures and needs to reproduce the exact run locally, a monorepo where most commits touch a small subset of services and cache-accurate step skipping cuts build minutes materially. Of those, a platform team maintaining near-identical build yaml across forty repositories that wants one versioned module every repository calls instead and an engineering organisation migrating off a ci provider that does not want to rewrite every pipeline as part of the migration are not what Holistics is typically brought in for.
What can Dagger do that Holistics cannot?
Dagger covers Pipelines as code, Local and CI parity, Content-addressed caching, Dagger Functions and modules. Holistics covers Data Modeling, Version Control, Scheduling, Caching.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dagger: Does Dagger replace GitHub Actions?

No. Dagger runs inside GitHub Actions or any other CI. It replaces the YAML that describes your pipeline steps, not the trigger and runner layer.

Holistics: How much do additional Holistics users cost?

Additional users cost $12.50 per month (yearly billing) or $15 per month (monthly billing) for Entry/Standard plans, and $15-18 per month for Security Suite.

Source
Dagger: Is the engine open source?

Yes, the Dagger engine and SDKs are open source and free. Dagger Cloud, the observability product, is what costs money.

Holistics: Can I purchase additional reports on Holistics?

Yes, additional 100-report blocks cost $100 per month (yearly) or $120 per month (monthly billing).

Source
Dagger: What is an event in the pricing?

Dagger Cloud meters pipeline telemetry events. One million per month is free; the Team plan at 50 USD per month allows ten million.

Holistics: Does Holistics support multiple data centers?

Yes, Holistics supports multiple data centers in US, EU, and APAC regions with pricing available for embedded analytics with unlimited dashboard viewers.

Source
Dagger: Can I run the same pipeline on my laptop?

Yes, that is the main reason teams adopt it. The dagger CLI executes the identical graph locally, so CI-only failures become reproducible.

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