Evidence vs Lightdash
Evidence and Lightdash are both BI & dashboards tools. Evidence is aimed at developers, while Lightdash is aimed at developers and small businesses. Evidence costs less, from $2500/mo versus $3000/mo for Lightdash. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Open source · $2500 | Open source · $3000 |
| Starting price | $2500/mo | $3000/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days | 21 days |
| Built for | Developers | Developers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | CA · 2021 | GB · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Evidence if
Analysts comfortable with code.
- Version-controlled reporting
- Beautiful output
- Developer workflow
Look elsewhere if: Business users wanting self-serve.
Choose Lightdash if
Data teams using dbt who want a semantic-layer BI.
- Governed metrics in code
- Tight dbt integration
- Unlimited viewers
Look elsewhere if: Teams without dbt (Metabase).
Evidence vs Lightdash pricing
Evidence
- Open source$0MIT-licensed framework, self-build (GitHub)
- Team$2,500/moUnlimited users, 20K AI credits/mo, Analytics Agent
- EnterpriseCustomAnnual contract, SSO, SCIM, embedding, self-deploy
Lightdash
- Open Source$0Self-hosted, core BI features, community Slack support
- Cloud Pro$3,000/moNo per-seat pricing, unlimited users, AI agents, onboarding
- EnterpriseCustomCloud or on-prem, SSO/SAML/SCIM, SOC 2, HIPAA
Evidence · Key features
- Markdown + SQL reports
- Components for charts and tables
- Git version control
- Static site builds
- Templated pages
- Cloud hosting
Cons
- Requires SQL and Markdown
- Not drag-and-drop
- Smaller community
Lightdash · Key features
- Metrics defined in dbt YAML
- Self-serve exploration for business users
- Dashboards and scheduled deliveries
- AI analyst for natural language queries
- Embedding
- Open source and cloud
Cons
- Requires dbt
- Cloud pricing starts high
- Visualization less rich than Tableau
Evidence vs Lightdash: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Evidence or Lightdash?
Evidence starts at $2500/mo and Lightdash at $3000/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Evidence and Lightdash have a free plan?
Yes, both Evidence and Lightdash have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Evidence or Lightdash?
Lightdash lists small businesses as a core audience, while Evidence is aimed more at developers.