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Business Intelligence · head to head

Dundas BI vs Firebolt

Dundas BI logo

Dundas BI

Business Intelligence

Flexible business intelligence platform

From
$500/month
Rated
-
Firebolt logo

Firebolt

Databases

Sub-second analytics at cloud data warehouse scale

From
$1.84/hour
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Dundas BI the published Embedded BI Package starts from about $4,738.70 USD per month billed annually for 8 core capacity; Firebolt compute billed per second on Arm-based processors; small instances still incur measurable costs during idle periods despite auto-stop
  • They diverge on capability: Dundas BI covers White-labeling, Firebolt covers Sub-second Queries.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dundas BI and Firebolt actually diverge.

Attributes where Dundas BI and Firebolt differ
AttributeDundas BIFirebolt
Starting price$500/month$1.84/hour
Pricing modelsubscriptionusage-based
PlatformsWeb, Embedded, MobileCloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDatabases
Founded19922019

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Dundas BI

  • White-labeling
  • Embedded Analytics
  • Data Preparation
  • Custom Visualizations
  • API
  • SQL Server
  • Oracle
  • PostgreSQL

Only in Firebolt

  • Sub-second Queries
  • Sparse Indexes
  • Data Pruning
  • Decoupled Storage/Compute
  • SQL Support
  • Semi-structured Data
  • Workload Isolation
  • Airflow

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Dundas BI

  • Embedding dashboards and analytics inside another applicationnot Firebolt
  • Self service business intelligence and ad hoc reportingnot Firebolt
  • Building custom data visualisations against open BI APIsnot Firebolt

Firebolt

  • Data analytics teams running gigabyte-to-petabyte datasets with sub-second query requirementsnot Dundas BI
  • Real-time business intelligence platforms requiring ACID transactions and snapshot isolationnot Dundas BI
  • Applications needing vector search on analytical data for similarity queriesnot Dundas BI

Where each one falls short

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

Dundas BI

  • The published Embedded BI Package starts from about $4,738.70 USD per month billed annually for 8 core capacity
  • That figure reflects a limited time 35 percent promotional discount rather than list price
  • Licensing is by CPU core capacity rather than by user, so cost scales with server hardware
  • Dundas is now part of insightsoftware following acquisition
  • The page states that a pricing plan is worked out together with the vendor rather than published as a rate card

Firebolt

  • Compute billed per second on Arm-based processors; small instances still incur measurable costs during idle periods despite auto-stop
  • Storage pass-through charged at $0.0264/GB monthly on compressed data; uncompressed storage could exceed this
  • Azure deployment currently in Preview status; production recommendations unclear
  • Vector indexes limited to float arrays; other data types require alternative indexing strategies
  • Free tier credits ($200) limited; no perpetual free tier for production use

Pricing, plan by plan

Dundas BI

$500/month
  • Professional$500/month
    • Full Platform
    • Embedding
    • Support
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Unlimited Users
    • Multi-tenant
    • Premium Support

Firebolt

$1.84/hour

No published plan breakdown. See the Firebolt review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Dundas BI if

  • You need white-labeling.
  • You work on Web, Embedded, Mobile.
  • You also want embedded analytics.

Choose Firebolt if

  • You need sub-second queries.
  • You work on Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want sparse indexes.

Questions people ask

Is Dundas BI or Firebolt better?
Neither clearly leads. Dundas BI starts at $500/month and Firebolt at $1.84/hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dundas BI or Firebolt?
Dundas BI starts at $500/month and Firebolt at $1.84/hour.
Does Dundas BI or Firebolt run on more platforms?
Dundas BI runs on Web, Embedded, Mobile. Firebolt runs on Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes.
What is Dundas BI best used for?
Dundas BI is most often used for embedding dashboards and analytics inside another application, self service business intelligence and ad hoc reporting, building custom data visualisations against open bi apis. Of those, embedding dashboards and analytics inside another application and self service business intelligence and ad hoc reporting are not what Firebolt is typically brought in for.
What can Dundas BI do that Firebolt cannot?
Dundas BI covers White-labeling, Embedded Analytics, Data Preparation, Custom Visualizations. Firebolt covers Sub-second Queries, Sparse Indexes, Data Pruning, Decoupled Storage/Compute. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dundas BI: How much does Dundas BI cost?

Dundas BI does not publish specific pricing. The vendor emphasizes 'smarter licensing models to scale appropriately and achieve ROI rapidly' and offers 'custom plans that fit your needs' rather than standardized tiers. Customers must contact Dundas directly for pricing quotes tailored to their enterprise or embedded analytics use case.

Source
Firebolt: How does Firebolt's compute billing model work?

Firebolt uses per-second billing with scale-to-zero capability. The smallest S tier costs $1.84 per hour with 8 vCPU and 64GB memory, while the largest 4XL tier costs $58.88 per hour with 256 vCPU. Users only pay when compute is running.

Source
Dundas BI: What licensing options does Dundas BI offer?

Dundas BI describes their approach as flexible licensing designed to scale based on deployment needs. Specific licensing models and per-seat or concurrent-user costs are determined through custom quotes.

Source
Firebolt: What is the cost for data storage on Firebolt?

Storage costs $0.0264 per GB per month on object storage, billed as pass-through cost at cloud provider rates.

Source
Firebolt: What free credits or trial does Firebolt offer new users?

New users receive $200 free credits to get started with the platform.

Source
Firebolt: Does Firebolt publish pricing for commitment-based discounts?

The pricing FAQ lists a question about commitment-based discounts but does not provide published answers on the pricing page. This requires direct inquiry with sales.

Source
Firebolt: What deployment options does Firebolt offer besides managed service?

Firebolt offers self-hosted open source deployment (unlimited) and Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) options in addition to managed service.

Source
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