COMPARISON

Built for Scale: How Sifflet outperforms Metaplane

Sifflet offers a more complete and scalable approach to data observability than Metaplane, built for the needs of modern enterprises—not just lean, dbt-centric teams. With deeper lineage, smarter automation, and broader team support, Sifflet helps organizations turn data trust into business impact.

THE BIG PICTURE

Augmented data quality for analytics and AI

Metaplane covers the basics of technical data quality: freshness, volume, and anomaly detection, mainly for dbt-centric teams. Sifflet goes further, layering rich metadata, lineage, and cataloging to give full visibility and faster resolution across complex data environments.

Built for scale, Sifflet supports both technical and business users with AI-powered automation, broad integrations, and an adaptive UX. It’s observability that drives trust, governance, and business value, not just detection.

Don't Solve Half the Problem.

If you want to tackle data quality just from a technical perspective, Sifflet isn’t for you. But if you want to reach augmented data quality for analytics and AI that truly brings business value to downstream users, Sifflet is the right choice for today… and tomorrow.

Metaplane
Monitoring Coverage

OOTB monitors + SQL logic + NLP monitor wizard; scales across complex environments

Freshness, volume, null checks; dbt-aware

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Automated RCA with health-aware lineage and pipeline insights

Manual triage with limited lineage context

Lineage

End-to-end lineage from ingestion to BI, with health overlays

dbt metadata or warehouse schema-based; partial

Catalog & Metadata

Full catalog with glossary, usage tracking, and business context

No built-in catalog; limited metadata visualization

Alerting & Surfacing

Alerts surface across tools—including BI dashboards via Chrome extension

Slack and email alerts

User Experience & Scalability

Adaptive UX for both technical and business users; built for large, decentralized orgs

Simple UI, CLI, fast setup; built for dbt-native, lean teams

Integrations

Wide coverage across orchestration, warehouse, modeling, and BI tools

Strong in dbt and warehouse tools; limited elsewhere

There's no one size fits all.

When it comes to data observability platforms, there's no one size fits all.
Chat with one of our experts today to learn more about Sifflet and if it's the right option for you.

Sifflet’s AI Helps Us Focus on What Moves the Business

What impressed us most about Sifflet’s AI-native approach is how seamlessly it adapts to our data landscape — without needing constant tuning. The system learns patterns across our workflows and flags what matters, not just what’s noisy. It’s made our team faster and more focused, especially as we scale analytics across the business.

Simoh-Mohamed Labdoui
Head of Data
"Enabler of Cross Platform Data Storytelling"

"Sifflet has been a game-changer for our organization, providing full visibility of data lineage across multiple repositories and platforms. The ability to connect to various data sources ensures observability regardless of the platform, and the clean, intuitive UI makes setup effortless, even when uploading dbt manifest files via the API. Their documentation is concise and easy to follow, and their team's communication has been outstanding—quickly addressing issues, keeping us informed, and incorporating feedback. "

Callum O'Connor
Senior Analytics Engineer, The Adaptavist
"Building Harmony Between Data and Business With Sifflet"

"Sifflet serves as our key enabler in fostering a harmonious relationship with business teams. By proactively identifying and addressing potential issues before they escalate, we can shift the focus of our interactions from troubleshooting to driving meaningful value. This approach not only enhances collaboration but also ensures that our efforts are aligned with creating impactful outcomes for the organization."

Sophie Gallay
Data & Analytics Director, Etam
" Sifflet empowers our teams through Centralized Data Visibility"

"Having the visibility of our DBT transformations combined with full end-to-end data lineage in one central place in Sifflet is so powerful for giving our data teams confidence in our data, helping to diagnose data quality issues and unlocking an effective data mesh for us at BBC Studios"

Ross Gaskell
Software engineering manager, BBC Studios
"Sifflet allows us to find and trust our data"

"Sifflet has transformed our data observability management at Carrefour Links. Thanks to Sifflet's proactive monitoring, we can identify and resolve potential issues before they impact our operations. Additionally, the simplified access to data enables our teams to collaborate more effectively."

Mehdi Labassi
CTO, Carrefour Links
"A core component of our data strategy and transformation"

"Using Sifflet has helped us move much more quickly because we no longer experience the pain of constantly going back and fixing issues two, three, or four times."

Sami Rahman
Director of Data, Hypebeast

Frequently asked questions

What are the main differences between ETL and ELT for data integration?
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) transforms data before storing it, while ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) loads raw data first, then transforms it. With modern cloud storage, ELT is often preferred for its flexibility and scalability. Whichever method you choose, pairing it with strong data pipeline monitoring ensures smooth operations.
Is Sifflet easy to integrate into our existing data workflows?
Yes, it’s designed to fit right in. Sifflet connects to your existing data stack via APIs and supports integrations with tools like Slack, Jira, and Microsoft Teams. It also enables 'Quality-as-Code' for teams using infrastructure-as-code, making it a seamless addition to your DataOps best practices.
What’s the main difference between ETL and ELT?
Great question! While both ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) and ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) are data integration methods, the key difference lies in the order of operations. ETL transforms data before loading it into a data warehouse, whereas ELT loads raw data first and transforms it inside the warehouse. ELT has become more popular with the rise of cloud data warehouses like Snowflake and BigQuery, which offer scalable storage and computing power. If you're working with large volumes of data, ELT might be the better fit for your data pipeline monitoring strategy.
Why is aligning data initiatives with business objectives important for Etam?
At Etam, every data project begins with the question, 'How does this help us reach our OKRs?' This alignment ensures that data initiatives are directly tied to business impact, improving sponsorship and fostering collaboration across departments. It's a great example of business-aligned data strategy in action.
What makes Sifflet a strong alternative to Monte Carlo for data observability?
Sifflet stands out as a modern data observability platform that combines AI-powered monitoring with business context. Unlike Monte Carlo, Sifflet offers no-code monitor creation, dynamic alerting with impact insights, and real-time data lineage tracking. It's designed for both technical and business users, making it easier for teams to collaborate and maintain data reliability across the organization.
How is AI shaping the future of data observability?

AI enhances data observability with advanced anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and automated root cause analysis. This helps teams identify and resolve issues faster while reducing manual effort. Have a look at how Sifflet is leveraging AI for better data observability here

Why is data lineage a pillar of Full Data Stack Observability?
At Sifflet, we consider data lineage a core part of Full Data Stack Observability because it connects data quality monitoring with data discovery. By mapping data dependencies, teams can detect anomalies faster, perform accurate root cause analysis, and maintain trust in their data pipelines.
Can I use custom dbt metadata for data governance in Sifflet?
Absolutely! Our new dbt tab surfaces custom metadata defined in your dbt models, which you can leverage for better data governance and data profiling. It’s all about giving you the flexibility to manage your data assets exactly the way you need.
Still have questions?