Kater vs Sigma
Sigma is fast, warehouse-native and liked by business users. But its workbooks live in Sigma, and its git support is new. In Kater, every model, query, dashboard and app is a file. Your agent builds it, and you review the diff.
Reviewed October 2026.
Select Kater if
Stay with Sigma if
Workbooks live in Sigma. Workbooks as code is in beta, and a Sigma partner found that only the simplest workbook imported back from git.
“So plan for a one-way trip: people build in Sigma, Git keeps the record.”
In Kater The files are the product. Kater compiles them, serves them and keeps every save as a commit.
Viewers are free, but each person who builds needs a paid seat. Many teams keep most people on view-only.
“We have very few admin or report creator licenses, while everyone else is on a view-only mode.”
In Kater Kater quotes your rollout, not a seat count. People who do not build ask their own agent and get governed answers.
Sigma Agents are a premium feature, metered in Sigma credits. The model tokens bill to your AI provider on top.
In Kater Kater runs no chat of its own. Your team’s own agent reads the governed model through the Kater MCP.
Sigma works in columns, not cells. Users say the grid takes time to learn.
“I think there is a steep learning curve. It is not as intuitive as I was hoping…”
In Kater Business users read dashboards and apps, or ask in Slack, Claude or ChatGPT. Analysts can still type Excel formulas over a query’s rows.
| Feature | Kater | Sigma |
|---|---|---|
| Building with agents | ||
| Source of truth | Yes. Files in git: models, queries, charts, dashboards and apps. Every save is a commit. | In part. Workbooks live in Sigma. Workbooks as code is in beta, and git round-trips only simple workbooks. |
| Coding agents | Yes. Claude Code, Codex and Cursor edit the files through the Kater MCP, or in a local copy. | In part. The Sigma CLI, and Sigma Skills for Claude Code, Codex and Cursor in private beta. |
| Checks on changes | Yes. A write through the MCP compiles first and is refused on error. Every change has a diff, History and Undo. | In part. Version history, tags and restore. No branches or merges in the product. |
| Answers in your own AI | Yes. People ask in Slack, Claude or ChatGPT. The agent sees only what that person can see. | Yes. A Sigma MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor. Sigma Agents are a paid add-on. |
| Metrics and trust | ||
| Shared metrics | Yes. Kater SQL: your warehouse’s SQL with DIMENSION, MEASURE and EVAL. Defined once, read everywhere. | Yes. Data models with metrics. Workbooks can also define their own calculations. |
| Spreadsheet formulas | In part. Type Excel formulas over a query’s rows. The warehouse computes them. | Yes. A full spreadsheet grid with Excel-style functions. |
| Dashboards and apps | ||
| Build without code | Yes. Select fields, a chart and a place on the dashboard, all in the browser. | Yes. Business users build workbooks in a spreadsheet grid. |
| Custom apps | Yes. HTML apps, reports and decks on live queries, built by your agent. Export to PDF, PowerPoint, Word or Excel. | Yes. Data apps with input tables and actions. |
| Write-back | No. Kater reads your warehouse. It does not write to it. | Yes. Input tables write to the warehouse. |
| Platform | ||
| Warehouses | In part. Snowflake and DuckDB today. | Yes. Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift and more. |
| Live queries | Yes. Queries run live on your warehouse. There are no extracts to refresh. | Yes. Warehouse-native. Every view runs live. |
| Embedding | No. No embedding (for now). It is in development. | Yes. Embedding, with a React SDK. |
Sigma does some things better today. Here is each one, and why teams still select Kater.
Business users build their own analysis in a grid that looks like Excel.
Why teams still select Kater
Most business users want the answer, not the grid. In Kater they ask their own agent, and analysts can still type Excel formulas over a query’s rows.
Sigma apps can write data to the warehouse, such as plans and forecasts.
Why teams still select Kater
Kater only reads your warehouse, so no app or agent can change the data under a dashboard.
Sigma connects to Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift and more. Kater connects to Snowflake and DuckDB today.
Why teams still select Kater
Kater goes deep on each warehouse it supports. Queries run live, and the compiler checks each SQL dialect before a query runs. Have a warehouse we do not support? Request it.
Request a warehouseSigma embeds analytics in your own product, with a React SDK.
Why teams still select Kater
Kater has no embedding (for now). It is in development. Until it ships, apps export to PDF, PowerPoint, Word and Excel for readers outside Kater.
Ask about early accessUsers rate Sigma’s live support among the best in BI.
Why teams still select Kater
At Kater, you work directly with the people who build it, and your requests shape what ships next.
Sigma
Sigma does not publish prices. Its AWS Marketplace listing shows an Enterprise platform at $150,000 a year, with creator and explorer seats at $2,000 each and free viewers. Vendr reports a median contract near $65,000 a year. Sigma Agents are a premium add-on, metered in credits.
Kater
A 30-day free trial with every feature, then a subscription quoted for your team. Kater does not charge per viewer or per dashboard. Kater runs no chat of its own, so answers run in the agent your team already uses.
Sigma and Kater both query your warehouse live, so there is no data to move. You move the definitions and the layouts.
| In Sigma | In Kater |
|---|---|
| Connection | Connection, on Snowflake or DuckDB |
| Data model | Kater datasets and a semantic model, in Kater SQL |
| Metric | MEASURE in the shared layer |
| Workbook formula | A dimension or measure, or an Excel formula on a query |
| Workbook page | A dashboard section in dashboard.yaml, or an HTML app |
| Version tag | A git commit, with History and Undo |
| Input table | No equivalent. Kater does not write to the warehouse. |
Ask your agent to migrate one dashboard. Kater rebuilds it as a private draft on your warehouse, and you compare the numbers before you publish.
How a switch worksYes, for teams that want BI as code. Kater gives you governed metrics, dashboards, apps and AI answers. Every layer is a file in git that your agent builds.
Yes, in a different way. They select fields to build a query and a chart in the browser, or ask their own agent in Slack, Claude or ChatGPT. They do not get a spreadsheet grid.
Yes. Type a formula such as =B1/C1 over a query’s rows. Kater keeps it as a field, and the warehouse computes it.
Not today. Kater connects to Snowflake and DuckDB. If you run something else, tell us.
Yes, for as long as you want. Both read the same warehouse. Keep Sigma for its dashboards, and add Kater to give your team’s agent one definition for each metric, your context and your access rules. When you want, rebuild one dashboard in Kater, compare the numbers with Sigma, then move the next one.
Tell us what you want to move. We do the migration with you, on your warehouse, and we do not charge for it. Then compare the numbers and decide.