head to head · open source
Redash vs Lightdash
Redash has 28,860 GitHub stars, 4,634 forks, 805 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lightdash has 6,219 stars, 801 forks, 1,018 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Redash leads on adoption by 364% (28,860 vs 6,219 stars). Redash is written in TypeScript under BSD-2-Clause; Lightdash is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Redash has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Lightdash 13%. Redash was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (business-intelligence), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Redash | Lightdash | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 6.2K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.6K | ⑂ 801 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Redash if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Lightdash if
- You want the Lightdash feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Lightdash fits your workflow better
About Redash
Redash is designed to enable anyone, regardless of the level of technical sophistication, to harness the power of data big and small. SQL users leverage Redash to explore, query, visualize, and share data from any data source. Their work, in turn, enables anybody in their organization to use the data. Every day, millions of users at thousands of organizations around the world use Redash to develop insights and make data driven decisions. Redash features: 1. Browser based : Everything in your browser, with a shareable URL. 2. Ease of use : Become immediately productive with data without the need to master complex…
read the full Redash overview →
About Lightdash
Open source Agentic BI for modern data teams Build governed metrics, dashboards, AI agents, and data apps from your context layer. Ship analytics through Git, CI, MCP, and the Lightdash CLI. Why Lightdash Lightdash is the Agentic BI platform for teams that want analytics to move like software. Your context layer defines trusted metrics, joins, permissions, business logic, and caching once, then powers every way people consume data: dashboards, AI agents, data apps, embedded analytics, SDKs, and MCP. Data teams can build and maintain analytics with any AI agent, then use the terminal, pull requests, and CI to…
read the full Lightdash overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Redash or Lightdash more popular?
Redash has 28,860 GitHub stars and Lightdash has 6,219. Redash has the larger community by that measure.
Are Redash and Lightdash free?
Both are open source. Redash is licensed under BSD-2-Clause, and Lightdash has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Redash and Lightdash?
Redash is written in TypeScript and Lightdash in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Redash or Lightdash?
Choose Redash if you want the larger community (28,860 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Lightdash if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.