Exploring Evidence.dev, ThoughtSpot & Visivo

Evidence.dev Vs. ThoughtSpot Vs. Visivo

In this article, we'll compare the key features, capabilities, and differentiators between Evidence.dev, ThoughtSpot, Visivo. This comprehensive comparison will help you make an informed decision about which platform best suits your data visualization and analytics needs.

Quick Comparison

A high-level overview of key features and capabilities across these BI tools. This comparison helps you quickly identify which platform best matches your needs.

FeatureEvidence.devThoughtSpotVisivo
Deployment ModelSelf-host (static site), Self-host (server), Vercel/Netlify deploymentCloud (SaaS), On-prem appliance, Private cloudOpen-source, Cloud Service, Self-hosted
PricingOpen-source (MIT); free to use. New hosted service as of fall 2024 (can also deploy on Vercel, Netlify, etc.)Commercial (Proprietary); enterprise pricing (by user and/or data volume)Open source (GPL-3.0)
Cost$$$$$$$
Git Integration✔️✔️
CI/CD & Testing✔️
Real-time
AI✔️
Visual to Code✔️
DAG-Based✔️

Deployment & Pricing

Understanding the deployment options and pricing structure is crucial for making an informed decision. Here's how each platform handles deployment and what you can expect in terms of costs.

ToolDeployment ModelPricingCost
Evidence.devSelf-host (static site), Self-host (server), Vercel/Netlify deploymentOpen-source (MIT); free to use. New hosted service as of fall 2024 (can also deploy on Vercel, Netlify, etc.)$
ThoughtSpotCloud (SaaS), On-prem appliance, Private cloudCommercial (Proprietary); enterprise pricing (by user and/or data volume)$$$$$
VisivoOpen-source, Cloud Service, Self-hostedOpen source (GPL-3.0)$

Target Users & Use-Cases

Each BI tool is designed with specific user personas in mind. Understanding the target audience helps ensure you choose a platform that aligns with your team's skills and needs.

Evidence.dev

Analytics engineersData-savvy users who prefer code/markdown workflowEngineers & Academics

ThoughtSpot

Business users (especially C-suite)Data teams for scalable analyticsSearch-driven analytics users

Visivo

Analytics EngineersData teamsBusiness usersEngineers

Ease of Development & Deployment

The development experience can significantly impact your team's productivity. This section compares how easy it is to build, deploy, and maintain dashboards in each platform.

Evidence.dev

ThoughtSpot

Visivo

Key Integrations & Ecosystem

A robust ecosystem of integrations is essential for modern BI tools. Here's how each platform connects with other tools in your data stack.

Evidence.dev

SQL databases via JDBC/ODBCdbt metadata integrationStatic site deployment platforms

ThoughtSpot

Cloud data warehousesdbt metadata syncEmbedding API for apps

Visivo

dbt coreAll major databasesCustom connector frameworkSlack for alertsGithub

AI & Advanced Features

Artificial intelligence is transforming how we interact with data. Compare the AI capabilities and advanced features offered by each platform.

ToolAI Features
Evidence.dev
ThoughtSpot
Visivo✔️

Visualization Capabilities

The ability to create compelling and insightful visualizations is a key differentiator between BI tools. Here's how each platform handles data visualization.

Evidence.dev

Reports built as Markdown with embedded SQL and charts. Outputs static HTML dashboards. Customization via editing Markdown/HTML/CSS; not a point-and-click UI.

ThoughtSpot

Search-driven analytics UI: users type questions in natural language and ThoughtSpot generates charts/tables as answers. Dashboards (pinboards) can be created from these answers. Visualizations are generally standard (bar, line, scatter, etc.) and auto-chosen by the engine (with ability to change chart type). Emphasis on simplicity – limited custom formatting beyond basic styling.

Visivo

Highly custom UI with easy defaults

Detailed Differentiators

Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. Here's a detailed breakdown of what sets each tool apart, including both advantages and limitations.

Evidence.dev

+ + Write dashboards as code – lightweight, reproducible, easily integrated with dbt pipelines. Great for data narratives that combine text, data, and charts.
− Static output means no ad-hoc drilling by end users; requires comfort with writing Markdown/SQL.

ThoughtSpot

+ Natural language search interface – Googling your data. Extremely scalable architecture (built to handle billions of rows). Strong AI analytics capabilities (SpotIQ automatically finds anomalies/patterns).
− Requires well-modeled data and user training to ask the right questions. Expensive at scale. Limited chart customization; not meant for pixel-perfect reports.

Visivo

+ BI-as-code approach enables version control, collaboration, and CI/CD workflows. DAG-based architecture provides powerful data transformation capabilities and dependency management. Seamless visual-to-code workflow allows both technical and non-technical users to build dashboards effectively.
− Requires understanding of data concepts; not a pure drag-and-drop tool like Tableau. Initial setup requires technical knowledge for optimal configuration.

Security & Architecture

Security and architecture are critical considerations for enterprise deployments. Here's how each platform handles data security and system architecture.

Evidence.dev

DB Access: Queries run at build time (or page load if in server mode); not needed for end viewer (static pages). Virtualization: By nature, it materializes results into the page (no live DB query once published). Push: Yes – essentially a push of data into static site. Other: No runtime user management (pages are static); security depends on where you host (you wouldn't include sensitive data in a public build).

ThoughtSpot

DB Access: If using live query (Embrace), it requires direct read access to the DB. If using imported data, queries hit the in-memory engine (no external DB access needed at query time). Virtualization: Yes – Embrace is essentially virtualization (no data copy, live query on external DB). Push: With imported mode, data is pushed into TS's storage from source on a schedule. Other: Robust security – row and column-level security, user and group permissions, and audit logs. Supports SSO and OAuth.

Visivo

No db access required. Very strong security features due to the DAG-based access controls and the push based deployment model.

Why Visivo Stands Out

While each platform has its strengths, Visivo offers unique advantages that make it an excellent choice for modern data teams.

  • DAG-Based Architecture: Enables complex data transformations and dependencies
  • Visual to Human-readable Code: Seamlessly switch between visual and code-based development
  • Ease of Development: Multiple approaches to build for both technical and non-technical users
  • AI-Powered Development: Leverage AI to accelerate dashboard creation
  • Git Integration: Full version control and collaboration capabilities

Ready to experience the power of modern BI? Try Visivo today and see how it compares to other tools in your stack.

$ curl -fsSL https://visivo.sh | bash
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Jared Jesionek (co-founder)
Jared Jesionek (co-founder)
Jared Jesionek (co-founder)
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How can I help? This connects to our slack so I'll respond real quickly 😄
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