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Business Intelligence · head to head

Hex vs Rill Data

Hex logo

Hex

Business Intelligence

AI-powered analytics platform unifying notebooks, dashboards, and business intelligence

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rill Data logo

Rill Data

Business Intelligence

Local-first BI on DuckDB and ClickHouse with dashboards defined as code

From
$20/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hex has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hex pricing based per-seat ($36-$75/editor/month) becomes expensive for large teams; Rill Data the seat price of 20 dollars is misleading as a budget figure: Rill’s own calculator puts a small two-seat project at around 256 dollars a month, with compute making up the great majority.
  • They diverge on capability: Hex covers Agentic notebooks, Rill Data covers Local development.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hex and Rill Data actually diverge.

Attributes where Hex and Rill Data differ
AttributeHexRill Data
Starting priceFree$20/month
Pricing modelSeat-based subscription with credit systemPer user per month plus metered compute
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, SlackWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows
Founded2019Unknown

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 Hex

  • Agentic notebooks
  • Conversational analytics
  • Data apps
  • Context Studio
  • Data warehouse integration
  • dbt integration
  • Version history
  • Scheduled automation

Only in Rill Data

  • Local development
  • Dashboards as code
  • Embedded DuckDB
  • Bring your own database
  • Alerts and scheduled reports
  • Embedded analytics

What people use each for

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

Hex

  • Deep exploratory analysis by data teams on organizational datasetsnot Rill Data
  • Self-serve analytics for business users without SQL knowledgenot Rill Data
  • Executive dashboarding and reporting with real-time datanot Rill Data
  • Cross-functional data collaboration and insight sharingnot Rill Data
  • AI-assisted analysis reducing manual exploration timenot Rill Data

Rill Data

  • An analytics team that wants dashboard changes to go through code review rather than being edited in a web UInot Hex
  • Interactive exploration of event-scale data where a warehouse round trip per filter click is too slownot Hex
  • Embedding fast slice-and-dice dashboards into a product where the underlying store is already ClickHouse or Druidnot Hex
  • A data engineer prototyping a metrics layer locally on a laptop before committing to any cloud spendnot Hex

Where each one falls short

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

Hex

  • Pricing based per-seat ($36-$75/editor/month) becomes expensive for large teams
  • Free Community tier limited to small compute and trial AI features
  • Advanced compute adds per-hour fees ($0.32-$4.06/hour), requiring cost monitoring
  • Learning curve for users unfamiliar with SQL or Python notebooks
  • Enterprise features requiring custom quotes lack transparent pricing

Rill Data

  • The seat price of 20 dollars is misleading as a budget figure: Rill’s own calculator puts a small two-seat project at around 256 dollars a month, with compute making up the great majority.
  • Dashboards are defined in YAML and SQL, so business users cannot create or change one without a developer and a Git workflow, which stalls self-service adoption.
  • It is built for the explore-a-metric pattern and does not produce pixel-perfect financial or operational reports, so most organisations still need a second reporting tool.
  • AI tokens and API calls are quota-limited per seat, with API overage at a cent per call, so programmatic consumers can create an unbudgeted line item.
  • As a smaller vendor competing against Looker, Tableau and Power BI, the ecosystem of consultants, templates and trained analysts is thin, which raises the cost of hiring for it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hex

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Hex agent trial
    • Data source connections
    • All cell types
  • Professional$36/month
    • Everything in Community
    • Full Hex agent access
    • Standard credits
  • Team$75/month
    • Everything in Professional
    • Extended credits
    • Unlimited published apps
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Everything in Team
    • Explorer seat add-ons
    • Audit logs

Rill Data

$20/month
  • Starter$20/month
    • Per seat, up to twenty seats
    • Three projects
    • Compute at 0.15 USD per compute unit hour
  • Growth$30/month
    • Per seat, up to one hundred seats
    • Ten projects
    • Compute at 0.20 USD per compute unit hour
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Annual platform licence with negotiated capacity
    • Unlimited seats and projects
    • Dedicated infrastructure

Which should you pick?

Choose Hex if

  • You need agentic notebooks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Slack.
  • You also want conversational analytics.
Hex review

Choose Rill Data if

  • You need local development.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want dashboards as code.
Rill Data review

Questions people ask

Is Hex or Rill Data better?
Neither clearly leads. Hex starts at Free and Rill Data at $20/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hex or Rill Data?
Hex has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hex and $20/month for Rill Data.
Does Hex or Rill Data run on more platforms?
Hex runs on Web, Slack. Rill Data runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Hex for free?
Yes. Hex has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rill Data starts at $20/month.
What is Hex best used for?
Hex is most often used for deep exploratory analysis by data teams on organizational datasets, self-serve analytics for business users without sql knowledge, executive dashboarding and reporting with real-time data, cross-functional data collaboration and insight sharing. Of those, deep exploratory analysis by data teams on organizational datasets and self-serve analytics for business users without sql knowledge are not what Rill Data is typically brought in for.
What can Hex do that Rill Data cannot?
Hex covers Agentic notebooks, Conversational analytics, Data apps, Context Studio. Rill Data covers Local development, Dashboards as code, Embedded DuckDB, Bring your own database.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hex: What is included in the free Community plan?

The Community plan ($0) includes Hex agent trial, data source connections, all cell types, and small compute sizing. It's suitable for prototyping and hobbyist projects.

Source
Rill Data: Is Rill open source?

The Rill developer binary is open source and free to run locally; Rill Cloud is the paid product.

Hex: How much do advanced compute resources cost?

Advanced compute is billed per minute and ranges from $0.32 to $4.06 per hour depending on resource tier. Monthly credit grants are included in paid plans.

Source
Rill Data: How much does it actually cost?

Seats start at 20 USD per month, but hosted compute at 0.15 USD per compute unit hour typically dominates the bill. Bringing your own database removes the usage fee.

Hex: Can I share analytics with non-Hex users?

Yes. Published apps can be shared publicly. Embedded analytics are available on Enterprise plans for integrating Hex into other applications.

Source
Rill Data: Can business users build dashboards?

Not directly. Dashboards are YAML and SQL under version control.

Rill Data: Which databases can back a deployed project?

DuckDB, ClickHouse, Druid, Pinot, Snowflake and others.

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