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Business Intelligence · head to head

Rill Data vs Zoho Analytics

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
Zoho Analytics logo

Zoho Analytics

Business Intelligence

Self-service BI and analytics platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zoho Analytics has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Zoho Analytics the free plan is limited to 2 users, 10,000 rows and 5 workspaces
  • They diverge on capability: Rill Data covers Local development, Zoho Analytics covers AI Assistant.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rill Data and Zoho Analytics actually diverge.

Attributes where Rill Data and Zoho Analytics differ
AttributeRill DataZoho Analytics
Starting price$20/monthFree
Pricing modelPer user per month plus metered computesubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, WindowsWeb, Mobile, Embedded
FoundedUnknown1996

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 Rill Data

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

Only in Zoho Analytics

  • AI Assistant
  • Drag-and-drop Reports
  • Auto-blending
  • Embedded Analytics
  • White-labeling
  • Zoho CRM
  • Salesforce
  • Google Analytics

What people use each for

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

Rill Data

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

Zoho Analytics

  • Self-service dashboards and reports over business datanot Rill Data
  • Blending data from Zoho apps, databases and cloud services into one workspacenot Rill Data
  • Embedding white-labelled analytics inside another productnot Rill Data

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Zoho Analytics

  • The free plan is limited to 2 users, 10,000 rows and 5 workspaces
  • Plans are sold with a minimum user count: Basic starts at 2 users, Standard at 5, Premium at 15 and Enterprise at 50
  • Row capacity is part of the plan, starting at 0.5 million rows on Basic, and additional rows are sold as add-ons
  • Viewer licences are sold in blocks of 25 minimum rather than one at a time
  • Data alerts are capped per plan at 10, 30 and 100 active alerts across the whole account
  • REST API usage is metered in API units per day, from 4,000 per day on the lowest paid tier, with extra units sold separately
  • Logo rebranding and hiding the Powered By Zoho Analytics message on embedded reports are not available on the lower plans
  • Activity logs and cluster analysis are excluded from the lower plans
  • The white label embedded analytics offering has no published price and requires contacting Zoho
  • Local taxes such as VAT and GST are charged on top of the listed prices

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Zoho Analytics

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2 Users
    • Basic Features
    • 10K Rows
  • Basic$24/month
    • 2 Users
    • 500K Rows
    • Email Support

Which should you pick?

Choose Rill Data if

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

Choose Zoho Analytics if

  • You need ai assistant.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Embedded.
  • You also want drag-and-drop reports.
Zoho Analytics review

Questions people ask

Is Rill Data or Zoho Analytics better?
Neither clearly leads. Rill Data starts at $20/month and Zoho Analytics at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Rill Data or Zoho Analytics?
Zoho Analytics has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $20/month for Rill Data and Free for Zoho Analytics.
Does Rill Data or Zoho Analytics run on more platforms?
Rill Data runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows. Zoho Analytics runs on Web, Mobile, Embedded.
Can I use Zoho Analytics for free?
Yes. Zoho Analytics has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rill Data starts at $20/month.
What is Rill Data best used for?
Rill Data is most often used for an analytics team that wants dashboard changes to go through code review rather than being edited in a web ui, interactive exploration of event-scale data where a warehouse round trip per filter click is too slow, embedding fast slice-and-dice dashboards into a product where the underlying store is already clickhouse or druid, a data engineer prototyping a metrics layer locally on a laptop before committing to any cloud spend. Of those, an analytics team that wants dashboard changes to go through code review rather than being edited in a web ui and interactive exploration of event-scale data where a warehouse round trip per filter click is too slow are not what Zoho Analytics is typically brought in for.
What can Rill Data do that Zoho Analytics cannot?
Rill Data covers Local development, Dashboards as code, Embedded DuckDB, Bring your own database. Zoho Analytics covers AI Assistant, Drag-and-drop Reports, Auto-blending, Embedded Analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Rill Data: Is Rill open source?

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

Zoho Analytics: Is there a free plan available?

Yes, Zoho Analytics offers a permanent free plan with 2 users, 10,000 rows, and 5 workspaces. A 15-day free trial is also available for paid plans, no credit card required.

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.

Zoho Analytics: Can I cancel my subscription at any time?

Yes, you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time. It operates as a month-to-month, pay-as-you-go service with full flexibility.

Source
Rill Data: Can business users build dashboards?

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

Zoho Analytics: What is the difference between monthly and yearly billing?

Yearly billing provides a 20% discount compared to monthly rates. Both options are available for all subscription tiers.

Source
Rill Data: Which databases can back a deployed project?

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

Zoho Analytics: How much do additional users and data rows cost beyond what is included in my plan?

Additional users, data rows, and viewers are available as paid add-ons. The page does not specify the exact per-unit cost for these add-ons.

Source
Zoho Analytics: How often can I refresh my data in each tier?

Basic allows 1 refresh per day, Standard and Premium allow 8 per day, and Enterprise allows 24 per day. Dedicated Compute offers custom refresh rates.

Source
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