Conversational Analytics, Without the Silo
ThoughtSpot positions natural-language search as the headline product, with per-user query caps on Spotter at the Pro tier. Preset is a full open BI platform — dashboards, SQL Lab, embedded analytics — where conversational AI is one capability among many. Built on Apache Superset™, with BYOK on Enterprise so you can route AI through your own model provider.
Search-driven analytics is one feature, not the whole product
NL analytics, plus the rest of BI
Preset Chatbot delivers conversational analytics grounded in your semantic layer — equivalent to ThoughtSpot's Sage/Spotter experience — but it's one capability of a platform that also gives you dashboards, SQL Lab, embedded analytics, and 40+ chart types.
Bring your own AI client (Preset MCP)
Preset MCP exposes the same analytics platform to any MCP-compatible AI client — Claude, Cursor, Gemini CLI — with your existing RBAC, row-level security, and audit logging. ThoughtSpot's AI is a closed product surface.
Simpler, more predictable pricing
Preset Professional at $20/user/month, with a free tier for up to 5 users. ThoughtSpot Essentials starts at $25/user/month and Pro at $50/user/month, with limited Spotter AI queries per user that can push pricing higher with real-world usage.
Open-source foundation
Built on Apache Superset™ with 70k+ GitHub stars and 2,000+ contributors. ThoughtSpot is proprietary. Your work stays portable — export your dashboards or self-host anytime.
SQL-first, code-friendly
SQL Lab gives power users a full SQL IDE with autocomplete, query history, virtual datasets, and Jinja templating. ThoughtSpot's strength is search; Preset gives you search AND the SQL depth analysts actually want.
Embedded analytics, simpler licensing
Per-Viewer-license pricing for embedded dashboards (starting at $500/month for 50 Viewers, up to 90% volume discount on Enterprise). Predictable and forecastable — without the consumption-based pricing variability ThoughtSpot deployments often run into.
Preset vs ThoughtSpot: Key Differences
Conversational analytics
ThoughtSpot's Sage / Spotter is the product. Preset Chatbot is one feature of a broader platform — alongside dashboards, SQL Lab, and embedded analytics. Same NL capability, more value for the money.
Pricing
ThoughtSpot: $25/user (Essentials), $50/user (Pro), custom Enterprise. Preset: free for 5 users, $20/user Professional, custom Enterprise — with Preset Chatbot bundled in.
Open vs proprietary
ThoughtSpot is a closed product. Preset is built on Apache Superset under Apache Software Foundation governance — vendor-neutral, portable, and self-hostable if you ever need to leave.
Preset vs ThoughtSpot Feature Comparison
| Feature | Preset | ThoughtSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Open source foundation | ✓Apache 2.0 (ASF) | ✗Proprietary |
| Free tier | ✓5 users forever | ✗14-day trial only |
| Conversational / NL analytics | ✓Preset Chatbot | ✓Sage / Spotter |
| MCP server for AI clients | ✓Preset MCP | ✗Closed AI surface |
| Bring-your-own-key (BYOK) AI | ✓Enterprise — OpenRouter | ✗ |
| Full SQL IDE | ✓SQL Lab | PartialLimited SQL surface |
| 40+ chart types | ✓ | Partial |
| Native database connectors | 40+ | 20+ |
| Jinja templating for dynamic SQL | ✓ | ✗ |
| dbt integration | ✓Native | Partial |
| Semantic layer (open ecosystem) | ✓dbt, Cube, OSI | PartialProprietary model |
| Embedded analytics SDK | ✓React, Vue, Angular | ✓ |
| Predictable embed pricing | ✓Per-Viewer license | PartialOften consumption-priced |
| Cloud agnostic (AWS, GCP, Azure) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Private cloud in your account | ✓Managed Private Cloud | ✓Enterprise |
| SOC 2 Type II | ✓ | ✓ |
| SSO / SAML / SCIM | ✓ | ✓ |
| Row-level security | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audit logging | ✓AI tool calls included | ✓ |
| Public roadmap | ✓GitHub (ASF) | ✗ |
Try Preset for yourself
Start free for up to five users — Preset Chatbot trial included on Professional. No credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Choose Preset when you want conversational analytics AND the rest of a full BI platform in the same bundle — dashboards, SQL Lab, embedded analytics, dbt integration, and 40+ chart types. ThoughtSpot is a good fit if NL search is the only thing your team needs; Preset is the better choice when you want that capability as part of a broader open analytics platform.
For most use cases, yes. Both produce charts and insights from plain-English questions, grounded in a semantic layer that defines your metrics and dimensions. Preset Chatbot is built on Preset MCP, so the same tool calls are available to any MCP-compatible AI client you bring — see the Preset Chatbot launch post and Preset MCP for the architecture.
Yes. On Enterprise, paying customers can plug in their own OpenRouter API key to route Preset Chatbot through the account of their choice and handle token billing on their side. ThoughtSpot does not currently support BYOK at this granularity.
Yes. Dashboards are rebuilt rather than directly converted, but SQL-defined logic and database connections transfer cleanly. Our team provides migration guidance, and most teams run both tools side by side during the transition. Many find Preset's no-code Explore view plus Preset Chatbot covers the search workflows they relied on most in ThoughtSpot.
Preset's Embedded SDK supports React, Vue, Angular, and vanilla JavaScript with guest token authentication, row-level security, and full white-labeling. Per-Viewer-license pricing (starting at $500/month for 50 Viewers, with up to 90% volume discount on Enterprise) is often easier to forecast than ThoughtSpot's combination of per-user and consumption-based pricing.
Get in Touch
See why teams choose Preset for conversational analytics that ships with the rest of a full BI platform. Start free, or talk to our team for a scoped evaluation against your current ThoughtSpot footprint.
ThoughtSpot, Sage, and Spotter are trademarks of ThoughtSpot, Inc. Apache Superset is a trademark of The Apache Software Foundation. Preset is not affiliated with or endorsed by ThoughtSpot, Inc. or The Apache Software Foundation. Feature comparisons are based on publicly available information (including ThoughtSpot's public pricing page) and may not reflect the most recent product updates.