dbt Semantic Layer vs Kyvos
dbt Semantic Layer
getdbt.com
Kyvos
kyvosinsights.comSide by side
| Figure | dbt Semantic Layer | Kyvos |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.09/mo | $0.41/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 3 |
| Spec score · Semantic Layer Software | 9.2 (#2) | 8.4 (#7) |
| Access controls | The Semantic Layer applies access permissions and respects policies attached to the underlying warehouse credentials. | Pricing features include role-based access control and row- and column-level security. |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California, United States | Los Gatos, California, USA |
| Integrations | 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. | Kyvos lists Tableau, Power BI, Excel, Strategy, and Looker as BI platforms, and Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, AWS, Redshift, Azure, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Fabric in its data ecosystem. |
| Intended users | The product is presented for data teams seeking governed, consistent metrics for analytics, embedded applications, and AI use cases. | Kyvos describes its platform as serving enterprise data and analytics workloads across industries and teams. |
| Purpose | The Semantic Layer centralizes metric definitions on dbt models and automatically handles data joins for consistent use across downstream tools and applications. | Kyvos is a semantic layer for enterprise AI and BI that provides business context and consistent definitions for analytics. |
| Support | The pricing page lists 24x5 support for Starter and priority support with SLAs for Enterprise. | Kyvos Support states that help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provides a phone number and request form. |
Plans
dbt Semantic Layer
- DeveloperFree
- dbt State add-on$0.09 a month
- Starter$100 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Enterprise+Priced on request
Kyvos
- Kyvos on Cloud Marketplace$0.41 a month
- Kyvos Managed Service$0.61 a month
- Kyvos On Premise$48,000 a year
In their own words
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.
Kyvos
Kyvos is a semantic layer for enterprise AI and business intelligence that gives analytics tools shared metrics, definitions, and business logic. Kyvos says it delivers sub-second analytics across massive datasets and thousands of concurrent users. Listed BI connections include Tableau, Power BI, Excel, Strategy, and Looker; the data ecosystem includes Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, AWS, Redshift, Azure, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Fabric. Deployment options include cloud marketplaces, managed service, and on-premises environments, with a hybrid deployment model. Controls include role-based access and row- and column-level security. Kyvos also lists HIPAA and PCI support, high availability, and disaster recovery. Its security policy describes annual SOC 2 Type 2 audits and encryption at rest with AES 128-bit or better and in transit with TLS 1.2 or better. There is no free plan, but the trial includes $500 in Kyvos credits, described as approximately 820 core-hours. Cloud marketplace use costs $0.41 a month, billed per core hour; managed service costs $0.61 a month, also billed per core hour.