Softwr

Business Intelligence · head to head

Evidence vs Lightdash

Evidence logo

Evidence

Business Intelligence

Business intelligence as code for teams and AI agents

From
$2500/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: Evidence high starting price at $2,500/month limits small team adoption; Lightdash requires existing dbt infrastructure, not suitable for teams without data models
  • They diverge on capability: Evidence covers Analytics Agent, Lightdash covers dbt Integration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Evidence and Lightdash actually diverge.

Attributes where Evidence and Lightdash differ
AttributeEvidenceLightdash
Starting price$2500/monthFree
Pricing modelFlat team pricing with no per-user feesUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsCloud, EmbeddedWeb, Cloud (managed), Self-hosted (on-premise)
FoundedUnknown2021

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 Evidence

  • Analytics Agent
  • Code-based infrastructure
  • Development environment
  • Visualization tools
  • Embedded analytics
  • Enterprise security
  • Multi-channel access

Only in Lightdash

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

What people use each for

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

Evidence

  • Building version-controlled analytics infrastructurenot Lightdash
  • Enabling AI agents to answer business questionsnot Lightdash
  • Delivering analytics through multiple channels (web, Slack, ChatGPT)not Lightdash
  • Embedding white-labeled analytics in productsnot Lightdash

Lightdash

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

Where each one falls short

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

Evidence

  • High starting price at $2,500/month limits small team adoption
  • No freemium option for evaluation or learning
  • Code-based approach has steeper learning curve than visual tools
  • AI credits limited on Team plan; additional credits cost extra
  • Requires Git workflow familiarity for effective collaboration

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

Evidence

$2500/month
  • Team$2500/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Monthly billing
    • Analytics Agent
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • All Team features
    • SSO/SAML authentication
    • SCIM directory sync

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 Evidence if

  • You need analytics agent.
  • You work on Cloud, Embedded.
  • You also want code-based infrastructure.
Evidence 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 Evidence or Lightdash better?
Neither clearly leads. Evidence starts at $2500/month and Lightdash at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Evidence or Lightdash?
Lightdash has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/month for Evidence and Free for Lightdash.
Does Evidence or Lightdash run on more platforms?
Evidence runs on Cloud, Embedded. 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. Evidence starts at $2500/month.
What is Evidence best used for?
Evidence is most often used for building version-controlled analytics infrastructure, enabling ai agents to answer business questions, delivering analytics through multiple channels (web, slack, chatgpt), embedding white-labeled analytics in products. Of those, building version-controlled analytics infrastructure and enabling ai agents to answer business questions are not what Lightdash is typically brought in for.
What can Evidence do that Lightdash cannot?
Evidence covers Analytics Agent, Code-based infrastructure, Development environment, Visualization tools. Lightdash covers dbt Integration, Metrics Layer, Dashboards, Scheduling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Evidence: Does Evidence have per-user pricing?

No, Evidence offers one flat price for unlimited users at $2,500/month on the Team plan with a 30-day free trial.

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
Evidence: How many AI credits come with Team plan?

Team plan includes 20,000 AI credits monthly at $0.01 per additional credit. Enterprise offers custom credit packages.

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
Evidence: What is included in the Enterprise plan?

Enterprise adds SSO/SAML, SCIM directory sync, row-level access rules, embedding capabilities, and custom deployment options at custom pricing.

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
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
Share

Related pages

More on Evidence

More on Lightdash

Keep looking

Other head to heads