Happy Valley

Klipfolio vs Lightdash

Klipfolio and Lightdash are both BI & dashboards tools. Klipfolio is aimed at small businesses and agencies, while Lightdash is aimed at developers and small businesses. Klipfolio costs less, from $140/mo versus $3000/mo for Lightdash. Only Lightdash has a free plan.

Klipfolio

Dashboard and KPI reporting tool for SMBs and agencies

Lightdash

BI built on dbt metrics

PricingPaid · $140Open source · $3000
Starting price$140/mo$3000/mo
Free planNoYes
Free trial14 days21 days
Built forSmall businesses, AgenciesDevelopers, Small businesses
Platformswebweb
CountryCA · 2001GB · 2020
Rating——

Choose Klipfolio if

Agencies and data-comfortable SMB teams that need flexible, branded KPI dashboards with unlimited viewers.

  • Unlimited users, so pricing does not grow with viewers
  • Very flexible data shaping without a warehouse
  • Strong white-label options for agencies

Look elsewhere if: Teams wanting plug-and-play metric dashboards in minutes or full BI analysis (Databox, Geckoboard, Power BI).

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).

Klipfolio vs Lightdash pricing

Klipfolio

  • Base$140/mo$120/mo billed annually; 3 dashboards, unlimited users
  • Grow$220/mo$190/mo annually; 10 dashboards, hourly refresh
  • Team$350/mo$310/mo annually; 20 dashboards, SSO, 15-min refresh
  • Team+$690/mo$600/mo annually; 40 dashboards, priority support

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

Klipfolio · Key features

  • 200+ direct connectors plus SQL, REST, Excel and Google Sheets
  • Spreadsheet-style formulas for data modelling and joins
  • 30+ visualisation types with drill-down and dark mode
  • Scheduled email and PDF reports and published dashboard links
  • White-label themes and custom domains for client reporting
  • Unlimited users on every plan with role-based access

Cons

  • Formula editor has a real learning curve
  • No free plan and $140/month entry point
  • Dashboard limits push agencies to higher tiers

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

Klipfolio vs Lightdash: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Klipfolio or Lightdash?

Klipfolio starts at $140/mo and Lightdash at $3000/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Klipfolio and Lightdash have a free plan?

Klipfolio has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Lightdash has a free plan.

Not sure yet?