dbt Semantic Layer vs Starburst Enterprise Context Layer
dbt Semantic Layer
getdbt.com
Starburst Enterprise Context Layer
starburst.ioSide by side
| Figure | dbt Semantic Layer | Starburst Enterprise Context Layer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.09/mo | $0.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 7 |
| Spec score · Semantic Layer Software | 9.2 (#2) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Founded | 2016 | 2017 |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California, United States | Boston, Massachusetts, 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. | The platform connects to more than 50 sources, including Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hive, Amazon S3, Snowflake, and PostgreSQL. |
| Licence | The dbt Semantic Layer service and APIs are proprietary cloud software; MetricFlow and dbt-semantic-interfaces are Apache 2.0 licensed. | SEP is a commercial Trino distribution; Trino itself is open source under Apache License 2.0, while some SEP features require a licence key. |
| Support | The pricing page lists 24x5 support for Starter and priority support with SLAs 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. |
| What it does | The Semantic Layer centralizes metric definitions in dbt and generates queries with joins for downstream tools. | The Enterprise Context Layer packages scattered data into governed, versioned data products containing business definitions, access policy and lineage for analysts, applications and AI. |
Plans
dbt Semantic Layer
- DeveloperFree
- dbt State add-on$0.09 a month
- Starter$100 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Enterprise+Priced on request
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
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.
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.