CData Semantic Layer vs Sema
CData Semantic Layer
cdata.comSema
semalayer.comSide by side
| Figure | CData Semantic Layer | Sema |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $49/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 4 |
| Spec score · Semantic Layer Software | 7.5 (#19) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Company | CData Software was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. | Sema says it was founded in 2025 and is remote-first. |
| Deployment | The CData Platform page says its modular architecture runs on-premises, in the cloud, or embedded in a product. | Sema says it can run in the customer’s VPC or its own environment; its self-hosted Kubernetes deployment uses a Helm chart and customer-provided Postgres and object storage. |
| Founded | 2016 | 2025 |
| Integrations | The product page names Google, SAP, Palantir, Zebra, Salesforce, UiPath, GSK, and Office Depot among its displayed organizations. | Sema describes its capabilities as MCP tools for use with Claude, Cursor, or an in-house agent, and supports OAuth2/OIDC identity providers including Okta, Entra, Auth0, and Google Workspace. |
| Support | CData lists technical support hours as Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. | The Pro plan includes email support, Business includes priority support, and Enterprise includes a named customer success manager. |
Plans
In their own words
CData Semantic Layer
CData Semantic Layer has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Sema
Sema is a semantic layer for enterprise AI that connects databases and answers business questions in plain English, with governance controls. It maps tables, joins, metrics, and business terms into a typed graph; verified inferred joins can be reused in later answers. It can ask clarifying questions, show the SQL and graph nodes behind an answer, and select a chart. Users can save and schedule reports for email delivery and set metric alerts for thresholds or deviations. Available connectors include PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, and SQLAlchemy URIs; ClickHouse and Amazon Redshift are in beta, while SQL Server, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, and dbt metadata are on the roadmap. Sema can run in a customer VPC or its own environment; self-hosting uses Kubernetes and Helm with customer-provided Postgres and object storage. The free Sandbox costs nothing and limits use to one connector, one user, 100 monthly chat queries, and five saved reports, without scheduled delivery or alerts. Pro costs $49 a month per user, with a three-seat minimum and a 14-day trial.