Best Semantic Layer Tools

dbt helps data teams transform raw data into trusted, analysis-ready datasets faster. With dbt, data analysts and data engineers can collaborate on version-controlled SQL models, enforce testing and documentation standards, lean on detailed metadata to troubleshoot and optimize pipelines, and deploy transformations reliably at scale. Built on modern software engineering best practices, dbt brings transparency and governance to every step of the data transformation workflow. Thousands of companies, from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises, rely on dbt to improve data quality and trust as well as drive efficiencies and reduce costs as they deliver AI-ready data across their organization. Whether you’re scaling data operations or just getting started, dbt empowers your team to move from raw data to actionable analytics with confidence.

DataGalaxy is a next-generation data governance and intelligence platform designed to help organizations manage, understand, and maximize the value of their data. Built around a unified interface, it empowers everyone—from executives to data consumers—to collaborate seamlessly across data assets, strategies, and analytics. The platform’s automated data catalog, governance hub, and AI co-pilot reduce manual work while ensuring compliance and data quality across systems. With over 70+ integrations, including Snowflake, Databricks, Power BI, and AWS, DataGalaxy connects your data ecosystem into a single source of truth. Its value tracking center and strategy cockpit align data initiatives with business goals, driving measurable outcomes and enterprise-wide visibility. Loved by users, DataGalaxy turns governance into a strategic advantage for the modern enterprise.

Dremio delivers lightning-fast queries and a self-service semantic layer directly on your data lake storage. No moving data to proprietary data warehouses, no cubes, no aggregation tables or extracts. Just flexibility and control for data architects, and self-service for data consumers. Dremio technologies like Data Reflections, Columnar Cloud Cache (C3) and Predictive Pipelining work alongside Apache Arrow to make queries on your data lake storage very, very fast. An abstraction layer enables IT to apply security and business meaning, while enabling analysts and data scientists to explore data and derive new virtual datasets. Dremio’s semantic layer is an integrated, searchable catalog that indexes all of your metadata, so business users can easily make sense of your data. Virtual datasets and spaces make up the semantic layer, and are all indexed and searchable.