Azimutt vs dbt Semantic Layer
Azimutt
azimutt.app
dbt Semantic Layer
getdbt.comSide by side
| Figure | Azimutt | dbt Semantic Layer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €7/mo | $0.09/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 5 |
| Spec score · Database Documentation Tools | 9.5 (#1) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Integrations | The connectors page lists PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Couchbase, BigQuery, and Snowflake. | The product page says the Semantic Layer offers an API, the dbt MCP Server, and dozens of out-of-the-box integrations for BI, notebooks, spreadsheets, embedded analytics, and AI systems. |
| Intended users | The homepage names developers, architects, DBAs, data analysts, product managers, and tech support as intended users, and targets companies with large databases. | The product is presented for data teams seeking governed, consistent metrics for analytics, embedded applications, and AI use cases. |
| Purpose | Azimutt is a database exploration and documentation tool for understanding and managing databases. | The Semantic Layer centralizes metric definitions on dbt models and automatically handles data joins for consistent use across downstream tools and applications. |
| Support | The site offers support through Slack, documentation, GitHub issues, and email; Enterprise includes priority email with a stated 48-hour response. | The pricing page lists 24x5 support for Starter and priority support with SLAs for Enterprise. |
| What it does | Azimutt is a database tool for exploring, designing, documenting and analyzing complex schemas and data. | The Semantic Layer centralizes metric definitions in dbt and generates queries with joins for downstream tools. |
Plans
dbt Semantic Layer
- DeveloperFree
- dbt State add-on$0.09 a month
- Starter$100 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Enterprise+Priced on request
In their own words
Azimutt
Azimutt is a database exploration and documentation tool for understanding and managing databases. Its ERDs let users choose which tables, columns, relations, and ordering to show, while data exploration follows relations and can access real data on demand. For schema design, it provides AML, a minimal domain-specific language. Documentation includes table and column notes, layout memos, and visual indications; schema analysis can point out inconsistencies and possible improvements. Listed connectors cover PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Couchbase, BigQuery, and Snowflake. Other schemas can be imported in JSON format, and the CLI includes JSON schema inference. The maker says schema parsing happens in the browser, projects can remain local, and Azimutt can be self-hosted. The free plan has no long-term save and allows a maximum of one user. Solo costs €7.00 per month billed annually; Team costs €35.00 per month billed annually per user. The site says Azimutt is made and hosted in the EU, while its privacy policy says personal data is hosted on DigitalOcean servers in the United States.
dbt Semantic Layer
The dbt Semantic Layer centralizes metric definitions on dbt models and handles joins so downstream tools and applications can use metrics consistently. MetricFlow generates SQL at query time from semantic model and metric configurations. Teams define those models and metrics in YAML as version-controlled, lineage-aware code. MetricFlow can optimize joins, rewrite queries to reduce compute and latency, and cache repeated queries. The product offers an API, the dbt MCP Server and integrations for BI tools, notebooks, spreadsheets, embedded analytics and AI systems. GraphQL and JDBC APIs and a Python SDK provide ways to query metrics and dimensions; Claude and ChatGPT can connect to governed metrics through the MCP server. Documented warehouse platforms include Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and Redshift. Defining and querying metrics requires a dbt Starter or Enterprise-tier account, and single-tenant accounts need account-representative setup and enablement. Starter includes 5,000 queried metrics per month; Enterprise and Enterprise+ each include 20,000. Starter costs $100 a month per user. The free Developer plan does not list the Semantic Layer.