IBM watsonx.data vs OpenMetadata
IBM watsonx.data
ibm.comOpenMetadata
open-metadata.orgSide by side
| Figure | IBM watsonx.data | OpenMetadata |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $1/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Machine Learning Data Catalog Software | 6.4 (#9) | 7.3 (#7) |
| Spec score · Data Lineage Tools | 6.4 (#34) | 7.4 (#22) |
Plans
In their own words
IBM watsonx.data
IBM watsonx.data has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
OpenMetadata
OpenMetadata is an open-source platform for cataloging and governing data, bringing technical context, business meaning and organizational memory into a knowledge graph. Its capabilities include discovery, data quality, observability, lineage, semantics and memory. The graph connects schemas, tables, columns, dashboards, pipelines, ML models, owners and classifications. Glossary terms, metric definitions and relationships using RDF, OWL, DCAT and Schema.org help represent shared business meaning. For AI workflows, OpenMetadata provides an MCP server, an AI SDK and a Context Center for articles, documents and memories. Its ingestion framework has connectors for 130+ data services, including Airflow, BigQuery, Databricks, dbt, Kafka, MySQL, Snowflake and Tableau. The schema-first architecture includes 700+ open specifications in JSON Schema and RDF/JSON-LD. It can be deployed in an organization's own environment, explored in a live sandbox with demo data, or used through a free cloud service with the organization's data. The self-hosted plan is listed at free, with no usage limits stated. Security documentation describes stored-secret encryption, SSL/TLS connections and external secrets manager support.