dbt Labs vs Starburst Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| dbt Labs pricing | Starburst pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $100/mo | $0/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 4 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | hybrid | usage-based |
Price is one row. To weigh the features too, use our feature comparison template →
Developer
- Browser-based IDE
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Job scheduling and monitoring
- CI checks on Github and GitLab
- Upgrade to the latest dbt release automatically
Starter
- Lineage with dbt Catalog
- Define & query metrics with dbt Semantic Layer
- dbt Semantic Layer basic
- API access
Enterprise
- Column-level lineage in dbt Catalog
- Governed metrics with caching
- Multi-project architecture (dbt Mesh)
- SSO, Role-Based Access Control, and SCIM provisioning
- Priority suport with SLAs
Enterprise+
- PrivateLink
- IP Restrictions
- Run dbt in your own environment (Hybrid Projects)
Free
- Create and run up to 3 clusters
- Access to standard cluster execution mode for ad hoc queries
Pro
- Flexible cluster execution modes
- Streaming Ingest
- Advanced cluster management
Enterprise
Popular- Advanced autoscaling features
- Fine-grained access controls (ABAC, SCIM)
- AWS PrivateLink for data sources
- Early access to features (Private Preview)
- AIDA (token usage billed separately)
Mission-Critical
- Elite support and ticketing
- Advanced governance integrations
- Lakehouse security and compliance tools
- Highest uptime guarantees
- AIDA (token usage billed separately)
dbt Labs vs Starburst FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Starburst is the cheaper option, starting at $0/mo vs $100/mo for dbt Labs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. dbt Labs uses hybrid pricing, while Starburst goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. dbt Labs: dbt Labs isn't competing on price — the free Developer tier is a land-and-expand move, not a signal they're the budget option. They're positioning as the category-defining standard for analytics engineering, so the real competition is convincing teams to pay for orchestration and governance instead of duct-taping open-source dbt Core themselves. Starburst: Sitting in the middle of the modern data lakehouse/query engine space, Starburst isn't trying to be the bargain-bin option — the tiered jump to Mission-Critical signals they're chasing large enterprises with complex, high-stakes data infrastructure, while still keeping a free tier to hook smaller teams and individual engineers early.
Still deciding? See the best dbt Labs alternatives or the best Starburst alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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