Comparison

Lightdash vs Looker

On the evidence we track, Lightdash leads this comparison with a composite score of 60/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Lightdash full profile →Looker full profile →

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★Lightdash60

Looker47

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	LightdashLeader	Looker
Vioscale score	60 / 100high · 75%	47 / 100medium · 56%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✗
Modelpricing.model	freemium	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	high	-
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✗
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	19	1
Security
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	✓
Hipaasecurity.hipaa	✓	-
Iso27001security.iso27001	-	✓
Soc2security.soc2	✓	✓
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40lightdash%2Fwarehouses&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	-
Reliability
Sla pctreliability.sla_pct	-	99.9
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	14	-
Github starsadoption.github_stars	6,084	-
Stackoverflow questionsadoption.stackoverflow_questions	-	2,000
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	-
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	30
Historyrelease.history	20 items	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	TypeScript	-
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US, EU · HQ GB	Available worldwide · Popular in US, GB, DE, JP, AU · HQ US
Content
Faqcontent.faq	-	8 items

Score

Vioscale score

Lightdash60 / 100high · 75%

Looker47 / 100medium · 56%

Pricing

Free tier

Lightdash✓

Looker✗

Model

Lightdashfreemium

Lookercommercial

Price level

Lightdashhigh

Looker–

Transparent

Lightdash✓

Looker✗

Integrations

Count

Lightdash19

Looker1

Security

Gdpr

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Hipaa

Lightdash✓

Looker–

Iso27001

Lightdash–

Looker✓

Soc2

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Vulnerabilities

LightdashCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40lightdash%2Fwarehouses&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Looker–

Reliability

Sla pct

Lightdash–

Looker99.9

Status page

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Lightdash14

Looker–

Github stars

Lightdash6,084

Looker–

Stackoverflow questions

Lightdash–

Looker2,000

Activity

Commits last 30d

Lightdash100

Looker–

Release

Cadence days

Lightdash–

Looker30

History

Lightdash20 items

Looker–

Language

Primary

LightdashTypeScript

Looker–

Market

Availability

LightdashAvailable worldwide · Popular in US, EU · HQ GB

LookerAvailable worldwide · Popular in US, GB, DE, JP, AU · HQ US

Content

Faq

Lightdash–

Looker8 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for bi software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for BI Software
Capability	Lightdash	Looker
Core
BI paradigm	Governed dashboards	NLQ / search
Semantic / modelling layer	dbt metrics	Built-in
Engine
Warehouse-native (SQL push-down)	✓	✓
Deployment
Self-hostable / OSS core	✓	-
Managed cloud available	✓	✓
Intelligence
Natural-language query / AI copilot	✓	✓
Delivery
Embedded / white-label analytics	✓	✓
Scheduled reports / alerting	✓	✓
Governance
Row-level security & SSO/SAML	✓	-
Commercial
Per-seat pricing published	✓	✗
Free tier / free desktop	✓	✓
Ecosystem
dbt-native integration	✓	-
Data-source connector breadth	9 data warehouses (BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks, Postgres, Trino, C	Cloud data warehouses (Snowflake confirmed), OAuth-authenticated data sources

Core

BI paradigm

LightdashGoverned dashboards

LookerNLQ / search

Semantic / modelling layer

Lightdashdbt metrics

LookerBuilt-in

Engine

Warehouse-native (SQL push-down)

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Deployment

Self-hostable / OSS core

Lightdash✓

Looker-

Managed cloud available

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Intelligence

Natural-language query / AI copilot

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Delivery

Embedded / white-label analytics

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Scheduled reports / alerting

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Governance

Row-level security & SSO/SAML

Lightdash✓

Looker-

Commercial

Per-seat pricing published

Lightdash✓

Looker✗

Free tier / free desktop

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Ecosystem

dbt-native integration

Lightdash✓

Looker-

Data-source connector breadth

Lightdash9 data warehouses (BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks, Postgres, Trino, C

LookerCloud data warehouses (Snowflake confirmed), OAuth-authenticated data sources

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Lightdash

Leader

A BI platform that anchors analytics in dbt-defined metrics and provides a governed semantic layer for organizations. Teams define metrics, joins, and business logic once, then access the data through dashboards, AI-powered Q&A, embedded analytics, or custom data applications, all with consistent governance and user permissions.

Independently observed

Looker

Looker transforms static dashboards into governed, agentic analytics experiences. It combines natural language interactions powered by Gemini with a semantic layer to enable organizations to explore data conversationally and automate business decisions through AI agents.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Lightdash

Leader

from $3000/moHybridFree tier21-day trial

Open source free tier, Cloud Pro at $3,000/month (unlimited users), Enterprise custom. No per-seat pricing.

Open SourceFree
- Unlimited seats
- Data explorer and report builder
- Native dbt integration
- Scheduled deliveries
- Alerting
- +11 more
Cloud Pro$3,000/month flat rate, unlimited users and visualizations
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited visualizations
- Native dbt integration with open semantic layer
- Scheduled reports and alerting
- Dashboards as code
- +11 more
EnterpriseContact sales
- All Cloud Pro features, plus:
- Cloud or on-premises deployment
- SAML 2.0 and SCIM 2.0 provisioning
- Advanced user management with custom roles
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- +9 more

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Looker

Pricing not documented yet.

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Lightdash	Looker
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✗
On-premiseDeployment	✓	✗

Platforms

Web

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

CLI

Lightdash✓

Looker✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Lightdash✓

Looker✓

Self-hosted

Lightdash✓

Looker✗

On-premise

Lightdash✓

Looker✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (1)

Snowflake

Lightdash

Leader

19 total - 18 not shared

BigQuery
Redshift
Databricks
Postgres
Trino
ClickHouse
Athena
DuckDB
GitHub
GitLab
Azure DevOps
Bitbucket
Slack
Microsoft Teams
Google Sheets
dbt
Rollstack
MotherDuck

Independently observed

Looker

1 total - 0 not shared

Snowflake

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.