Cube vs Starburst Enterprise Context Layer
Cube
cube.dev
Starburst Enterprise Context Layer
starburst.ioSide by side
| Figure | Cube | Starburst Enterprise Context Layer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $40/mo | $0.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 7 |
| Spec score · Semantic Layer Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Company legal name | Crunchbase identifies the company as Cube Dev Inc., also known as Cube.js. | Crunchbase lists the legal name as Starburst Data, Inc. |
| Compliance | Cube Cloud states SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and GDPR compliance and offers audit logs across deployments. | Starburst states that it has SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and ISO/IEC 27001 certification. |
| Deployment | Cube Cloud can run as a managed multi-tenant service on AWS or GCP, in a VPC on AWS, GCP, or Azure, or on a customer's cloud through BYOC. | Starburst Enterprise is self-hosted and can run on premises, in private or hybrid clouds, Kubernetes and major cloud marketplaces. |
| Founded | 2019 | 2017 |
| Integrations | Listed data sources include Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Trino, Presto and AWS Athena. | The platform connects to more than 50 sources, including Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hive, Amazon S3, Snowflake, and PostgreSQL. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 27 reviews | 4.3 out of 5 from 133 reviews. |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.2 out of 5 from 7 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 from 71 reviews overall; Starburst Enterprise is 4.6 from 62 lakehouse-platform reviews, 4.5 from 2 data-integration reviews, and Starburst Galaxy is 4.7 from 7 reviews. |
| Rating on Software Advice | 4.6 out of 5 from 79 reviews | No reviews yet; pricing is listed as available upon request. |
| Security | Cube states that data is encrypted at rest, API access uses token-based security, and application traffic is encrypted over SSL/TLS 1.2. | Enterprise security includes column- and row-level RBAC and ABAC, Apache Ranger, HashiCorp Vault, Okta, LDAP, dynamic masking, column-level encryption, and unified audit logging. |
| Security controls | Cube states that data is encrypted at rest, APIs require token security, traffic uses SSL/TLS 1.2, and SAML 2.0 and OAuth 2.0 are supported. | Enterprise provides row- and column-level RBAC or ABAC, masking, column encryption, unified auditing and integrations with Ranger, Vault, Okta and LDAP. |
| Semantic layer | The semantic layer encodes governed business definitions so answers from dashboards, embedded apps, and AI agents use a consistent model. | Starburst describes its semantic layer as translating raw schemas into trusted metrics, dimensions and relationships for tools and AI agents. |
| Support | Cube lists community support for Free, limited chat and email for Starter, and chat and email plus a dedicated CSM for Enterprise. | Enterprise support tiers range from five portal tickets monthly to unlimited tickets and dedicated experts; Sev-1 response targets range from one hour to 30 minutes. |
Plans
Starburst Enterprise Context Layer
- FreeFree
- ProPriced on request
- Pro$0.50 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Enterprise$0.75 a month
- Mission-CriticalPriced on request
- Mission-Critical$1 a month
In their own words
Cube
Cube is an analytics platform with a semantic layer that encodes governed business definitions for dashboards, embedded applications, and AI agents. Cube Cloud supports internal business intelligence and embedded analytics, while Cube Core is the open-source project alongside which the cloud platform is built. The Free plan includes a semantic layer IDE, workbooks, dashboard publishing, semantic model and workbook agents, and analytics chat. Listed data sources include PostgreSQL, Snowflake, ClickHouse, Databricks, BigQuery, MySQL, Oracle, Redshift, MongoDB, and Trino; integrations include dbt, Dagster, Prefect, Airflow, and Coalesce.io. Cube Core processes API requests using pre-aggregated data in Cube Store or raw data in connected databases. Cloud deployment options include a managed multi-tenant service on AWS or GCP, a VPC on AWS, GCP, or Azure, and a customer's cloud through BYOC. Cube lists a free plan, Starter at $40 a month per developer, and Premium at $80 a month per developer.
Starburst Enterprise Context Layer
Starburst Enterprise Context Layer turns scattered data into governed, versioned Data Products. Each product combines a dataset with business definitions, ownership, access policies, and lineage, and appears in a shared catalog. Controls include role-based access, column masking, and row-level security. Teams can define products in YAML, commit them to git, test changes before merging, and roll back; breaking changes are reviewed before rollout. Automated CI/CD lineage checks verify upstream freshness before a new version is published. A semantic layer turns raw data into business-ready metrics, dimensions, and relationships for BI tools and AI agents. Products can be consumed through JDBC or REST, and the platform connects to more than 50 sources, including Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hive, Amazon S3, Snowflake, and PostgreSQL. It runs in private cloud, hybrid, or on-premises environments and is air-gap ready. The free plan is free. Pro costs what you agree with the maker, billed /credit; Enterprise costs what you agree with the maker, billed /credit; Mission-Critical costs what you agree with the maker, billed /credit.