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dbt vs QuerySurge

Checked Nov 15, 2026How we score

Verdict: dbt scores 8.9/10 against 8.5/10 for QuerySurge on our data score for ETL testing tools.

dbt has a free plan; QuerySurge does not.

dbt leads on 2 checks and QuerySurge on 0; 4 are even, out of 6 checks (yes/no, price and seats) where we have data for both.

Choose dbt for analytics engineers testing transformations inside the warehouse. Choose QuerySurge for enterprise QA and data teams testing data warehouses, migrations and BI reports.

Scoreboard: 6 checks

CheckdbtQuerySurge
Free planLeads
Free trialEvenEven
Smaller seat minimumLeads
CI/CD integrationEvenEven
Scheduled test runsEvenEven
Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery supportEvenEven
Total20

At a glance

dbtQuerySurge
Score8.9/10 (#2)8.5/10 (#3)
Best forAnalytics engineers testing transformations inside the warehouseEnterprise QA and data teams testing data warehouses, migrations and BI reports
Free planYesNo
Paid from (annual)See vendor$500.50/user/mo
Paid from (monthly)$100/user/mo—
Free trialStarter plan free trial (length not stated)1-day hosted cloud trial (1 user), 15-day download trial (2 users), 45-day proof of concept
Minimum seats12
PlatformsCloud (SaaS), Self-hosted (open-source runtime)On-premises, Private cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP and others), Azure and AWS marketplace (pay-as-you-go), Private cloud, Azure (pay-as-you-go), AWS (pay-as-you-go), Public cloud, AWS and Azure pay-as-you-go

Features

ToolScoreNo-code test creationSource-to-target comparisonCI/CD integrationScheduled test runsSnowflake, Databricks and BigQuery support
dbt8.9/10Not confirmedNot confirmedYesYesYes
QuerySurge8.5/10YesYesYesYesYes

Pros and cons

dbt

Pros
  • Free Developer plan (1 seat) and an Apache 2.0 open-source runtime
  • Four generic data tests built in; any SQL query that returns failing rows can become a test
  • Job scheduling and CI checks on GitHub and GitLab included from the free plan
  • Adapters for Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery among others
Cons
  • Tests run inside one warehouse; comparing a separate source system with a target is not built in
  • Tests are written in SQL and YAML rather than built in a no-code interface
  • Starter costs $100 per user per month and is limited to 1 project; SSO needs Enterprise
dbt pricing →

QuerySurge

Pros
  • List prices are published on the vendor's site, including per-user and 5/10/25-user package prices
  • Connects to 200+ data stores, including Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Excel, Parquet, JSON and XML files
  • BI Tester validates Power BI, Tableau, IBM Cognos, Strategy, Oracle BI and SAP BusinessObjects reports against source data
  • Several trial options: 1-day hosted cloud trial, 15-day download trial and 45-day proof of concept
Cons
  • Subscription per-user pricing starts at $6,006 per full user per year with a 2-user minimum
  • BI Tester, Full API and Query Import/Export are paid add-ons on the smaller packages
  • Customer-installed software (on-premises, private cloud, or pay-as-you-go Azure/AWS marketplace image) rather than a vendor-run SaaS
QuerySurge pricing →

Frequently asked questions

How do dbt and QuerySurge compare on features and price?

dbt leads on 2 checks and QuerySurge on 0; 4 are even, out of 6 checks (yes/no, price and seats) where we have data for both.

Is dbt better than QuerySurge?

dbt scores 8.9/10 against 8.5/10 for QuerySurge on our data score for ETL testing tools. dbt is best for analytics engineers testing transformations inside the warehouse; QuerySurge is best for enterprise QA and data teams testing data warehouses, migrations and BI reports.

Which is cheaper, dbt or QuerySurge?

Check each vendor's pricing page; one of them does not publish an entry price.

Do dbt and QuerySurge have free plans?

dbt: yes. QuerySurge: no.

See the full ETL Testing Tools ranking for other options.

Sources