Comparison

dvt vs Sigma: the dashboard is a versioned spec, not a workbook.

Both query Snowflake live. Sigma is a mature, spreadsheet-native SaaS BI platform with an in-app AI assistant. dvt is a schema-validated JSON spec that an agent authors directly over MCP, running as a Snowflake native app inside your own account, with every chart option exposed instead of locked behind a plugin.

At a glance

Three differences that matter.

Charts without limits

44 chart types in the spec schema, every visual property a named parameter, no plugin to build or host.1

Agents build it

An MCP server with 80+ tools lets Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or Codex CLI post a spec directly.2 Every write is validated, previewed, then applied.3

Runs in your Snowflake

A Snowflake native app on Snowpark Container Services, inside your account, with no egress and no route back to dvt.4

Side by side

The comparison, dimension by dimension.

Every cell carries a source marker. Follow it to the Sources list at the bottom for the URL and access date behind the claim.

DimensionSigmadvt
PricingNo list prices; per-user pricing across four tiers (View, Act, Analyze, Build), set by quote.56 Third-party estimate: median around $64.9k/yr, and $150k to $400k+ for 75+ user orgs.7Native app on the Snowflake Marketplace: a low flat fee, no per-seat licenses, no consumption pricing.8
Dashboards as codeWorkbooks as Code: a workbook as JSON or YAML through the REST API, with a dryRun validate step. Public beta since 2026-09-16.9The dashboard itself is a documented, schema-validated JSON spec, the primary object model, not an export of platform state. Revision history with diff and rollback.13
AI authoringAn in-workbook assistant drafts charts, tables, KPIs, and filters from a prompt. Output is Sigma workbook state.10Claude posts a spec directly over MCP: no GUI clicks. Validate, preview, apply on every write.13
Agent access (MCP)Official MCP server is read and query only: search, explore, analyze.11 Authoring over MCP, and a Claude plugin, are still in development.12The same MCP server authors the whole dashboard today: pages, panels, filters, all of it.2
Chart ceiling15 native chart types.13 Beyond that: a developer-built plugin, rendered in an iframe, that you host yourself.1444 chart types in the spec schema, plus a custom series for anything else. Every visual property is a spec parameter.1
Deployment on SnowflakeSigma SaaS. The Data Path native app keeps data in your account; the control plane and UI stay on Sigma's SaaS.15Runs entirely inside your Snowflake account as a native app on Snowpark Container Services. No egress, no route back to dvt.4
Data sourcesConnects live to Snowflake as a first-class warehouse partner.16Native app: your Snowflake account. Hosted dvt: Snowflake, BigQuery, Postgres, Redshift, DuckDB, and Google Sheets.1

Every dimension above is sourced individually below. Fetched 2026-09-27.

Pricing

Pricing that doesn't punish growth.

dvt

On the Snowflake Marketplace, the dvt native app is a low flat fee: no per-seat licenses, no consumption pricing. Hosted dvt is never priced per seat or metered on usage either.8

Both dvt and Sigma run their queries on your warehouse. dvt doesn't re-bill your Snowflake compute on top of its fee.8

Sigma

Sigma publishes no list prices.5 Cost is per user, assigned automatically by tier: "Sigma automatically assigns a license to each account type based on the highest license tier of the enabled permissions," across View, Act, Analyze, and Build.6 Cost scales with headcount and tier mix.

Vendr, a third-party procurement service, puts the median Sigma contract around $64.9k/yr, and $150k to $400k+ for organizations with 75 or more users.7

Chart ceiling

Build the chart you actually need.

The chart panel is where most BI tools hit a ceiling first. dvt's spec schema and Sigma's native list are not the same size.

dvt

44 chart types ship in the spec schema: sankey, treemap, sunburst, radar, candlestick, boxplot, calendar heatmap, network graph, chord, parallel coordinates, waterfall, gauge, maps, and 3D charts (bar, line, scatter, map, surface), plus a custom series for arbitrary rendering.22

Every chart panel passes any chart option through: each visual property is a named, storable spec parameter, with no locked styles.1 That covers animated charts like a bar chart race or a racing line, and rich tables with conditional formatting, in-cell visualizations, subtotals, and pivot.1

None of it is a plugin: it's part of the spec an agent writes, so there's nothing to build, host, or get an admin to approve.1 The option surface comes from ECharts, which documents 33 series types across its core and GL packages.17

Sigma

Sigma's own chart list names 15 native types.13 Treemap, sunburst, radar, candlestick, calendar heatmap, network graph, and 3D charts are not in that list.13

Anything beyond it means a developer-built JavaScript or React plugin, rendered in an iframe, that you are responsible for hosting.14 An admin has to register it against a production URL, and it works only inside the organization that registered it.18

A plugin's config panel is limited to six input types,20 and it only has direct access to the first 25,000 rows of its data source.19

Agent authoring

An agent builds it, a human reviews it.

dvt

An MCP server exposes 80+ tools to Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, and Codex CLI.2 Any of them can post a spec directly: no GUI clicks.1 Every write is validated, then previewed, then applied.3 Every edit is attributed to a human, an agent, or the system.3

Skills are org-scoped, versioned authoring guidance an agent reads before it builds.3 Revisions are append-only, with pixel-level visual diffs and identity-preserving restore.3 Panel-anchored threaded comments can be resolved by an agent over MCP; in hosted dvt, exports schedule to email, Slack, Teams, or Google Chat; folders carry inherited access; and the product name, accent, and logo can be white-labeled.3

Twelve filter control kinds bind to named SQL parameters, never interpolated. Panels cross-filter by brush and drill down on the clicked value. Maps run over bundled world, US, CA, UK, and EU boundaries, or a GeoJSON column.1

Sigma

Sigma's official MCP server is read and query only: search, explore, analyze.11 Sigma says authoring over MCP, and a Claude plugin, are still in development.12

Even where Sigma keeps customer data in-account through the Data Path native app, the control plane and the UI it's authored in stay on Sigma's SaaS.15 dvt's control plane, UI, and data all run inside your account.4

On Snowflake

Inside your account, not next to it.

dvt ships as a Snowflake native app and runs on Snowpark Container Services, entirely inside your own account.4 The app has no route out: no egress, and no external access integrations.4 Every query runs with the caller's own rights and shows up in your query history.4 Container images are scanned by Trivy and Grype, then by Snowflake's own scan, before they ship.4 Cortex Agents and Claude Code connect over MCP with no dvt API key.4 dvt is listed on the Snowflake Marketplace.4

One narrow case

Choose Sigma if.

  • Your analysts think natively in spreadsheet formulas: Sigma translates that into SQL against Snowflake on the fly.16
  • You want warehouse write-back tables in production today: Sigma's input tables are GA, with a broader Sigma Tables writeback layer in private beta.21
Next

See the spec, or bring dvt into your account.

Nothing here requires a call to start looking.

Get dvt on the Snowflake MarketplaceTry the free Builder
Verification

Sources.

  1. dvt product documentation, the dashboard spec schema: chart catalog, filter controls, cross-filter and drill-down, map layers, data sources. dvt.dev/spec. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  2. dvt product documentation, MCP dashboards. dvt.dev/solutions/mcp-dashboards. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  3. dvt product documentation, product overview: validate/preview/apply, edit attribution, skills, versioning, collaboration. dvt.dev/product. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  4. dvt product documentation, the Snowflake native app. dvt.dev/snowflake. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  5. Sigma Computing, pricing page. sigmacomputing.com/pricing. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  6. Sigma help docs, "Account type and license overview". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/account-type-and-license-overview. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  7. Vendr, Sigma Computing marketplace page. Third-party estimate, not a Sigma list price. vendr.com/marketplace/sigma. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  8. dvt pricing policy (ADR-0013, amended 2026-09-27). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  9. Sigma Community, "What's New in Sigma: September 18, 2026". community.sigmacomputing.com/t/whats-new-in-sigma-september-18-2026/7246. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  10. Sigma blog, "New in Sigma: July 2026". sigmacomputing.com/blog/new-in-sigma-july-2026. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  11. Sigma help docs, "Use the Sigma MCP server". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/use-sigma-mcp-server. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  12. Sigma blog, "New in Sigma: August 2026". sigmacomputing.com/blog/new-in-sigma-august-2026. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  13. Sigma help docs, "Intro to visualizations". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/intro-to-visualizations. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  14. Sigma developer docs, "Develop plugins for Sigma". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/develop-plugins-for-sigma. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  15. Sigma announcement, two Snowflake native apps on the Snowflake Marketplace (Data Path). sigmacomputing.com/resources/announcements/…. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  16. Sigma and Snowflake partner page. sigmacomputing.com/partners/snowflake/snowpark. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  17. ECharts documentation index. echarts.apache.org/en/llms.txt. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  18. Sigma help docs, "Register a plugin with your Sigma organization". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/register-a-plugin-with-your-sigma-organization. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  19. Sigma help docs, "Use your organization's plugins". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/use-your-organizations-plugins. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  20. Sigma developer docs, "Plugin development API". help.sigmacomputing.com/docs/plugin-development-api. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  21. Sigma blog, "Introducing Sigma Tables". sigmacomputing.com/blog/introducing-sigma-tables. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  22. dvt chart reference: every chart type with a live example and JSON spec, including 3D bar and 3D surface. dvt.dev/reference/charts. Accessed 2026-09-27.

Last verified 2026-09-27.