Comparison
Flitch vs Looker
Google Cloud’s model-first BI platform against an AI-first dashboard builder. What LookML buys you, and what it costs to keep.
Which should you choose?
Flitch has a semantic layer you set up without code, a published price, and a dashboard the same afternoon. Looker’s equivalent is LookML, which a developer writes and keeps writing, and Google publishes no price at all. Looker is the better choice when you have that team and need one governed model across a large company.
Checked against both products on .
Flitch vs Looker at a glance
| Flitch | Looker | |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | Yes: free, $20/month, or $30/user | No. Contact sales for a quote |
| Pricing shape | Flat or per user, monthly, no contract | Platform fee plus per-user seats, on 1, 2 or 3 year terms |
| Editions | Free, Pro, Team | Standard (under 50 users), Enterprise and Embed |
| Seats included | Every user on the plan | 10 Standard and 2 Developer users per instance |
| How the numbers are computed | Generated SQL, aggregated at the source against the semantic layer | SQL generated from LookML, aggregated in your warehouse |
| Costs beyond the sticker price | None. Credits are the whole bill | Your warehouse compute, since Looker queries it, plus AI data tokens from October 2026 |
| Seat types | One, everyone can build | Three: Developer, Standard, Viewer, each with different access |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| AI included | Generation is the product. The plan fee is the credit allowance: $20 buys 200 credits worth $20 | Conversational Analytics, free until 30 Sept 2026, then $3/1M input and $20/1M output data tokens |
| Integrations | 61, including file upload, an AI API finder and input tables | Warehouses, via the model |
| Semantic layer | Yes, relationships and calculations, no code | LookML, written and maintained as code |
| Who sets it up | Anyone, in plain language | A developer, in LookML |
| Time to first dashboard | Minutes | Weeks, once the model is built |
| Warehouse required | No | Yes, and it is happiest on BigQuery |
| Public publishing | Custom domains, password protection, email-restricted sharing | Embedding and scheduled delivery, seat-bound sharing |
| Governance | No SSO, SCIM or viewer-level row security | Mature, including row-level access in the model |
What does Looker cost?
Google publishes no dollar figure at all. The pricing page sets out the shape, a platform fee to run the instance plus per-user seats across Developer, Standard and Viewer roles, in Standard, Enterprise and Embed editions, each including 10 Standard and 2 Developer users, on annual subscriptions of one, two or three years. Then every price cell says to call sales. That is normal for enterprise BI and it is also a real difference: you cannot find out what Looker costs from its website, and you are committing for at least a year when you do. Flitch is free, $20 per month flat, or $30 per user, monthly, with no contract. One of those answers is available this afternoon. Google does publish AI pricing, though: Conversational Analytics in Looker is free of quota until 30 September 2026, after which data tokens are charged at $3.00 per million input and $20.00 per million output.
Is LookML worth it?
If you have the people, yes, and it deserves credit rather than a dismissal. LookML is a mature language for defining data models that fixes your metrics once, in version-controlled code, so every dashboard and every ad-hoc question resolves to the same definitions. For a company with real analytical complexity and a data team to own it, that is genuinely valuable and it is why Looker is where it is. The cost is that somebody has to write it and keep writing it. LookML is a project, not a setup step, and if it goes unmaintained the model drifts from the business and the dashboards quietly stop being right. Flitch has a semantic layer with relationships and calculations that you define without code, which is less expressive and needs nobody to own it.
What do you actually do in each one?
In Looker, a developer defines the model, and then business users explore within it, building Looks and dashboards from governed dimensions and measures. The exploration is good and the guardrails are the point. In Flitch you describe the dashboard you want and it is generated, then you refine it in plain language or edit the code directly. Looker gives a large company a safe, consistent way for many people to ask questions. Flitch gives a small one a dashboard today. Those are different problems, and picking the wrong one is expensive in opposite directions.
Which suits a small team better?
Flitch, fairly clearly. Looker Standard is aimed at under fifty users but still carries a platform fee, a sales process and a data model requirement, and none of those scale down well to five people. A small team usually does not have a LookML developer and will not hire one for a dashboard. Flitch has a free tier, published prices and no data model to build first, which is the practical difference between starting this afternoon and starting next quarter.
Does it matter which warehouse you use?
More than it should. Looker works across warehouses, but it is a Google Cloud product and the experience, integration and commercial packaging are strongest on BigQuery. If you are already on Google Cloud that is an advantage worth having. If you are not, some of Looker’s appeal is being paid for and not used. Flitch connects to about 60 sources directly, including databases, warehouses, files and mainstream SaaS applications, and does not need a warehouse to exist at all.
Choose Looker if
- You have data engineers who will write and maintain LookML
- You need one governed definition of every metric across a large company
- You are committed to Google Cloud and want BI packaged with it
- You have many people asking ad-hoc questions who need guardrails
- You need row-level access control enforced in the model
- Enterprise procurement and a sales process are normal for you
Choose Flitch if
- You do not have anyone to own a data model
- You want to know the price without booking a call
- You want a semantic layer with relationships and calculations without writing code
- You need a dashboard this week, not after a data model project
- Your data is not in a warehouse, or not in BigQuery
- The dashboard is going to clients or onto your own domain
Flitch vs Looker FAQ
How much does Looker cost?
Google publishes no figure. Pricing combines a platform fee with per-user seats across Developer, Standard and Viewer roles, across Standard, Enterprise and Embed editions, each including 10 Standard and 2 Developer users, on one, two or three year terms, and every price requires a call with sales. Flitch publishes its prices: free, $20 per month flat, or $30 per user per month, with no contract.
Does Looker charge extra for AI?
Conversational Analytics in Looker is free without quota limits until 30 September 2026. After that, data tokens are charged at $3.00 per million input and $20.00 per million output. In Flitch the plan fee is the AI allowance: $20 buys 200 credits worth $20.
Do I need to know LookML to use Flitch?
No. Flitch has no language for defining data models. You set up relationships and calculations without code, and describe dashboards in plain language. That is less expressive than LookML for a large company and considerably faster for a small one.
Is Flitch a Looker replacement for an enterprise?
No. Flitch has no SSO, no SCIM and no viewer-level row security, and it is not built for governing metrics across hundreds of users. Looker is, and that is the reason companies pay for it.
Does Looker need a data warehouse?
Yes. Looker queries a warehouse and does not store your data itself. Flitch connects directly to around 60 sources including databases, files and SaaS applications, so no warehouse is required.
Which is faster to get running?
Flitch, by a wide margin. Looker needs the model written before anyone can build anything, which is typically weeks. Flitch generates a dashboard from a connected source in minutes.