Sigma vs Knowi: warehouse spreadsheet or NoSQL-native BI?

Sigma vs Knowi: Knowi queries MongoDB and Elasticsearch natively and can run on-premises. Sigma gives warehouse users a live spreadsheet. Compare the fit.

Linus TseGreyfield DataFacts last checked November 9, 2026

Contents 10 sections

The short answer

Pick Knowi if your important data sits in MongoDB, Elasticsearch or other NoSQL stores, you embed white-label dashboards in a product, or you need an on-premises or hybrid deployment. Pick Sigma if your data is in a cloud warehouse and finance or operations users want to build in a live spreadsheet and save input back to it.

How Knowi and Sigma Computing differ

1. Data sources
Knowi runs native queries on NoSQL and SQL sources, live or cached in its ElasticStore. Sigma queries a cloud warehouse live and nothing else.
2. Deployment
Knowi runs in the cloud, hybrid with an on-premises agent, or fully on-premises. Sigma is SaaS only.
3. Who builds
Sigma gives business users a spreadsheet grid and input tables. Knowi is built around queries, widgets and embedded dashboards.

Pricing at a glance

Knowi

Knowi, Inc.

BI and embedded analytics platform that runs native queries on NoSQL and SQL sources (MongoDB and Elasticsearch included) either live or into its own ElasticStore cache, with Cloud9QL for post-query transforms. Offered as cloud, hybrid (with an on-premises agent) or fully on-premises, with agentic AI that can run on Knowi's own model or your keys.

Pricing model: Based on users and deployment type (Basic, Team, Enterprise), quoted after a demo
Published starting price: Not published
Free tier: No free tier; 21-day free trial with no payment details
What drives cost: Knowi's plans page lists Basic (5 internal users, 2M ElasticStore records), Team (10 users, 15M records) and Enterprise (20 users, unlimited records). Cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployment, 70+ native connectors, scheduled reports and PPT/PDF/CSV export are on every plan. Startup and 501(c)(3) nonprofit discounts are available. Fees are prepaid for the chosen period.

Pricing source, checked November 9, 2026

Sigma Computing

Sigma Computing, Inc. (private, venture-backed; $80M Series E at a $3B valuation, May 2026)

Cloud BI and data-app platform that runs queries live against a cloud warehouse (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift and others) through a spreadsheet-style interface, with write-back input tables, Python/SQL and AI agents. Built for companies that already keep their data in a cloud warehouse and want business users to work on it without extracts.

Pricing model: Annual subscription: platform tier plus per-user licenses (Creator / Explorer / Viewer, per third-party buyer data)
Published starting price: Not published
Free tier: No; 7-day free trial with sample data or your own warehouse
What drives cost: Sigma's pricing page shows no prices and sends buyers to sales. Vendr buyer data (third-party, directional only) lists Essential, Business and Enterprise tiers, Creator licenses at roughly $1,200-$5,000+ per year depending on tier, and a median contract of about $65K per year (range ~$15.6K-$145K). Warehouse compute is billed separately by your warehouse vendor.

Pricing source, checked November 3, 2026

Feature comparison

"Not verified" means we could not confirm it from public docs, not that the feature is missing. Each cell links to the page we checked.

Data and querying

Data and querying: Sigma Computing and Knowi
Feature	Sigma Computing	Knowi
Queries the warehouse live Reads the cloud warehouse at view time, without an extract or import step.	Sigma ComputingYes Workbooks query the connected warehouse directly; no extract engine. source	KnowiYes Direct mode runs the query on the source with nothing stored in between; non-direct queries are stored in ElasticStore. source
Spreadsheet-style editing Business users work in a grid and write formulas instead of a separate modeling language.	Sigma ComputingYes Spreadsheet grid with 200+ functions on live warehouse data. source	KnowiNot verified Knowi's report docs mention spreadsheet widgets, but we did not find documentation of spreadsheet-style formula authoring.
SQL editor Write SQL against the warehouse inside the product.	Sigma ComputingYes Custom SQL elements in workbooks and data models. source	KnowiYes Native SQL and NoSQL queries in the Query Editor, plus Cloud9QL to transform results. source
Python Run Python inside the product.	Sigma ComputingSnowflake & Databricks only Only on Snowflake and Databricks connections; output cannot be materialized; only JWT-signed embeds are supported. source	KnowiNot verified We found no in-product Python in Knowi's docs; a Python SDK exists for automating Knowi from outside.
Writeback / input tables Users can enter or edit data that is saved back to the warehouse.	Sigma ComputingYes Input tables write to a warehouse write schema. Not available on some sources (MySQL, SQL Server, Azure SQL DB, AlloyDB, Starburst, ClickHouse, MotherDuck). source	KnowiPartly DBWrite writes query results to Redshift, Snowflake, MySQL, BigQuery, PostgreSQL or SQL Server. Must be enabled by Knowi; not user data entry. source
Governed semantic layer Reusable, governed models and metric definitions.	Sigma ComputingYes Data models with reusable metrics, relationships and RLS, also manageable as JSON/YAML via the API. source	KnowiPartly Glossary terms, governed relationships and certification for people and AI; no dedicated metrics object. source

Sharing and governance

Sharing and governance: Sigma Computing and Knowi
Feature	Sigma Computing	Knowi
Embedded analytics Embed reports in your own app or portal for external users.	Sigma ComputingYes JWT-signed secure embeds that pass user attributes and teams for RLS. source	KnowiYes Secure URL, SSO, JWT and JavaScript API embeds with white-label and multi-tenant support. Embed options are add-ons on some plans. source
Scheduled delivery Scheduled email, Slack, or file delivery of reports.	Sigma ComputingYes Email, Slack, Teams, SharePoint, Google Sheets/Drive, webhook and cloud storage. source	KnowiYes Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams and webhook delivery on hourly, daily, weekday or monthly schedules. source
Row-level security Restrict which rows each user can see.	Sigma ComputingYes Based on user, team or user attribute; works in embeds via JWT claims. source	KnowiYes User-level filters, also passed through SSO or signed JWT in embeds. source
Excel / CSV export Export data to Excel or CSV.	Sigma ComputingYes Excel and CSV up to 1M rows; larger exports go to cloud storage. source	KnowiYes CSV for datasets and widgets; Excel for grid, pivot and spreadsheet widgets. source
Git version control Content or models can be versioned in git.	Sigma ComputingVersion tags + API Version tags (with protected-tag approvals) and spec APIs; no built-in git sync, so teams build their own pipeline. source	KnowiNot verified We found no git integration in Knowi's docs.

Platform

Platform: Sigma Computing and Knowi
Feature	Sigma Computing	Knowi
AI assistant Natural-language questions or AI-assisted building, generally available.	Sigma ComputingYes Sigma Assistant answers natural-language questions and shows its SQL; requires an AI provider set up for the org. Some AI surfaces, such as homepage chat, are still beta. source	KnowiYes Agentic BI with natural-language queries, dashboard and widget agents, and an MCP server. Off by default; enabled through support. source
Open source / self-host An open-source or self-hosted option exists.	Sigma ComputingNo SaaS only, hosted on AWS, Azure or GCP regions. source	KnowiOn-premises option Not open source. Fully on-premises and hybrid deployments are offered. source
Needs a desktop app to author "Yes" means some authoring requires installing a desktop application.	Sigma ComputingNo Authoring is entirely in the browser. source	KnowiNo The cloud version has nothing to install. source

Where your data lives decides most of this

Knowi was built for data that is not in a warehouse. It runs native queries on MongoDB, Elasticsearch and SQL databases, either directly or by storing results in its ElasticStore, and uses Cloud9QL to reshape results after the query.

Sigma assumes a cloud warehouse such as Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery or Redshift, and runs every query there. If your product data sits in MongoDB, Sigma needs it loaded into a warehouse first.

Embedding and deployment

Knowi supports secure URL embeds, SSO, signed JWT, a JavaScript API, white-labeling and multi-tenancy, and it can run fully on-premises. Its AI can use Knowi’s internal model, your own provider keys, or run inside your environment.

Sigma also embeds with signed JWT and passes user attributes for row-level security, but it is hosted only.

Analysis and input

Sigma’s spreadsheet grid lets finance and operations users build models with formulas, pivots, SQL and Python on Snowflake or Databricks. Input tables save forecasts and adjustments to the warehouse.

Knowi’s DBWrite stores query results in a database such as Snowflake or Redshift, which is useful for pipelines, but it is not user data entry. We found no in-product Python in Knowi’s docs.

Pricing

Neither publishes prices. Knowi prices by users and deployment type, with plans listing 5, 10 or 20 internal users and several features as add-ons on lower tiers. Sigma sells annual contracts. Knowi offers a 21-day trial; Sigma offers 7 days.

If your data is moving into Snowflake, our Snowflake consulting and Sigma consulting pages describe that path.

Where Knowi is better

Native queries on NoSQL sources such as MongoDB and Elasticsearch, so semi-structured data can be analyzed without first flattening it into a warehouse; Sigma needs a supported cloud warehouse
Cloud, hybrid (on-premises Cloud9Agent) or fully on-premises deployment; Sigma is SaaS only
AI can use Knowi's internal model, your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or Azure OpenAI keys, or run inside an on-premises install
Scheduled reports go to email, Slack, Microsoft Teams or a webhook, as PDF, PowerPoint, CSV or Excel
Embedding options include secure URL embeds, SSO, asymmetric JWT, a JavaScript API, white-labeling and multi-tenancy
21-day free trial with no payment details, against Sigma's 7-day trial; startup and nonprofit discounts are offered

Who should pick which

Pick Knowi if

Your key data lives in MongoDB, Elasticsearch or other NoSQL stores.
You embed white-label, multi-tenant dashboards in your product.
You need an on-premises or hybrid deployment, including AI inside your environment.
You want reports delivered to Slack, Teams and webhooks.

Pick Sigma Computing if

Your data is already in a cloud warehouse.
Finance and operations users will build analysis in a spreadsheet themselves.
Users need to enter forecasts or approvals that are saved to the warehouse.
You want Python next to SQL and the spreadsheet in one workbook.

Recommendations by team

If you are	Pick	Why
SaaS product team on MongoDB	Pick: Knowi	Native NoSQL queries and white-label embedding without a warehouse.
Finance or FP&A team on Snowflake	Pick: Sigma Computing	Live spreadsheet and input tables on warehouse data.
Regulated team that must stay on-premises	Pick: Knowi	Fully on-premises deployment option.
Operations team running planning workflows	Pick: Sigma Computing	Input tables write user input to the warehouse.

Questions people ask

Can Sigma connect to MongoDB?

Sigma queries cloud warehouses and databases, not document stores like MongoDB. Teams usually load MongoDB data into Snowflake or another warehouse first. Knowi can query MongoDB natively.

Does Knowi query data live?

Yes. In direct mode Knowi runs the query on the source with nothing stored in between. In non-direct mode it stores results in its ElasticStore, which suits long-running queries.

Does Knowi have writeback like Sigma input tables?

Not in the same way. Knowi’s DBWrite writes query results into a database you choose and must be enabled by Knowi. Sigma input tables let users type values that are saved in the warehouse.

Sources and corrections

We checked these pages on the dates shown. Products change quickly. If you work at Knowi and something here is wrong or out of date, email linus@greyfielddata.com and we will fix it.