Evidence.dev review 2026: the open source SQL and Markdown BI-as-code framework, covering features, Evidence Cloud pricing, pros/cons and alternatives.
Category
Business Intelligence
Pricing
Open Source / Freemium, from Free (self-hosted); Evidence Cloud from $15/user/month
Evidence is an open source 'BI-as-code' framework that lets data teams build reports, dashboards, and embedded analytics using SQL embedded inside Markdown files, all version-controlled in Git rather than stored inside a proprietary BI tool.
Founded in 2021 by Sean Hughes and Adam McAskill through Y Combinator, Evidence is free and open source to self-host, with an optional paid Evidence Cloud offering for managed hosting and enterprise features.
Key Features
Developers write SQL queries directly inside Markdown files; Evidence executes those queries against connected data sources and renders the results using a built-in library of chart, table, and layout components.
Templated pages let a single Markdown definition programmatically generate many similar reports — for example, one report per region or customer — driven entirely by the underlying data.
Pricing
Evidence's core framework is free and open source for self-hosting on your own infrastructure and data sources, with no license fee.
Evidence Cloud offers managed hosting across three paid tiers: Team at $15/user/month, Pro at $25/user/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise tier with white-labeling, embedding, and advanced security features.
Key Features
SQL and Markdown authoring — Reports are written as Markdown files with embedded SQL query blocks, combining narrative text and live data in one file.
Git-native version control — Reports live as plain text files that can be committed, diffed, and reviewed through pull requests like any other code.
Built-in visualization components — A library of pre-built charts, tables, and layout components that render directly from SQL query results.
Templated pages — A single Markdown template can generate many pages programmatically, such as one report per region, product, or customer.
Universal data source support — Connects to warehouses and databases including Snowflake, BigQuery, Postgres, and DuckDB, among others.
Row-level and page-level security — Access control features that restrict which users can see which data or pages within a report.
Embeddable reports — Reports can be embedded in customer-facing products, not just used for internal dashboards.
AI credits and AI features — Evidence Cloud plans include monthly AI credit allocations for AI-assisted report building and analysis.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Reports are version-controlled as code, enabling Git-based review, diffing, and deployment workflows familiar to engineering teams
Free and open source to self-host with no artificial feature limits on the core framework
Templated pages eliminate manual duplication when building many similar reports across regions, products, or customers
Designed for embedding analytics into customer-facing products, not just internal dashboards
Cons
Requires comfort writing SQL and Markdown; not accessible to non-technical business users who want pure drag-and-drop reporting
Smaller ecosystem and community than established BI incumbents like Tableau, Looker, or Power BI
Evidence Cloud pricing is per-user, which can add up for larger analytics teams
AI features are metered via credits, adding a variable cost dimension beyond the base subscription
Pricing
Open Source (Self-Hosted) Free N/A
Team $15/user/month monthly
Pro $25/user/month monthly
Enterprise Custom annual (quote-based)
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 'BI as code' mean for Evidence?
It means reports are authored as plain-text Markdown files with embedded SQL, so they can be version-controlled in Git, reviewed via pull requests, and deployed like any other code, instead of being stored as opaque objects inside a proprietary BI tool.
Is Evidence free to use?
Yes, the core Evidence framework is free and open source to self-host. Evidence Cloud, a paid managed hosting option, starts at $15 per user per month for the Team plan.
What data sources does Evidence support?
Evidence connects to common data warehouses and databases including Snowflake, BigQuery, Postgres, DuckDB, and many others through its data source connectors.
Who is Evidence best suited for?
Evidence is best suited for data engineers, analytics engineers, and technical analysts already working in a code-first, Git-based data stack, often alongside tools like dbt.
How is Evidence different from Metabase or Tableau?
Metabase and Tableau are primarily GUI-driven tools for building dashboards through point-and-click interfaces. Evidence is authored entirely in SQL and Markdown, with reports stored as version-controlled code rather than objects inside the tool itself.
Can Evidence reports be embedded in other products?
Yes, embeddable reports are a core feature, particularly on the Evidence Cloud Enterprise plan, which supports white-labeling and embedding analytics into customer-facing applications.