## Introduction [Cube](https://cube.dev/) is an open-source headless BI platform that enables data engineers and developers to build scalable and performant data APIs. It acts as a semantic layer between data warehouses and visualization tools, optimizing queries, caching results, and managing access control. <br> ![[Tooling Cube.png]] *Data model mapping of all measures and properties* ## Features - **Headless BI Platform**: Connects databases with front-end apps for smooth data flow and performance. - **Semantic Layer**: Standardizes business logic and metrics for consistent data interpretation. - **Query Optimization**: Uses pre-aggregation, caching, and optimized storage to speed up queries and reduce database load. - **Access Control & Security**: Ensures secure data access with role-based controls, authentication, and encryption. - **Multi-Database Support**: Works with Snowflake, BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Redshift, and more. - **API-First Approach**: Auto-generates REST and GraphQL APIs for easy data integration. - **Scalability & Performance**: Uses pre-aggregations and materialized views for faster analytics. ## Applications - **Embedded Analytics**: Enables real-time visualizations within SaaS apps for seamless insights. - **Business Intelligence**: Creates structured, reusable data models for consistent analytics. - **Data API Generation**: Provides secure, scalable APIs for real-time data access. - **Real-Time Dashboards**: Uses caching to deliver fast, up-to-date insights. - **Data Governance & Security**: Manages access, enforces security policies, and ensures compliance. ## Best Practices - **Define a Semantic Layer**: Standardize business logic, KPIs, and metrics for consistent reporting. - **Use Pre-Aggregations**: Store summarized data to speed up queries and reduce database load. - **Implement Caching**: Minimize redundant queries and improve performance. - **Leverage API Endpoints**: Use REST and GraphQL APIs for flexible, scalable data access. - **Monitor Query Performance**: Track and optimize query execution for efficiency. ## Pricing ​Cube.dev provides several [pricing plans](https://cube.dev/pricing) to suit different business needs:​ - **Starter**: At $0.15 per Cube Consumption Unit (CCU), this plan is ideal for newcomers. It offers fully-hosted services on AWS or GCP, development tools, integration with one BI tool (Preset or Metabase), observability features, high availability, and a daily query limit of 50,000. Support includes community Slack access and two support tickets per month. ​ - **Premium**: Priced at $0.30 per CCU, this plan caters to small-scale production environments needing flexible payment options. It includes all Starter features, plus a 99.950% uptime SLA, custom domains, unlimited queries, multi-cluster deployment, and performance insights. Support encompasses community Slack, chat and email access, and four support tickets monthly. ​ - **Enterprise**: With customized pricing, this plan builds upon Premium by offering a 99.990% uptime SLA, choice of deployment regions across AWS, GCP, or Azure, Single Sign-On (SSO) with SAML 2.0, integration with unlimited supported BI tools, workspace access control, and an MDX API for Excel. Support includes community Slack, chat and email access, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM). Optional add-ons are dedicated infrastructure, monitoring integrations, and a semantic catalog. ​[cube.dev](https://cube.dev/pricing) - **Enterprise Premier**: Designed for mission-critical, large-scale deployments, this plan offers bespoke pricing and includes all Enterprise features. Additionally, it provides a 99.995% uptime SLA, Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) capabilities, customer-managed encryption keys, custom data source integration, and Microsoft Fabric integration. Support comprises community Slack, chat and email access, a dedicated CSM, and expedited response times. Optional add-ons include audit logs. For development projects and proofs of concept, Cube Cloud offers instant and free access, with right-sized pricing plans available for every production use case. ## Usage The universal semantic layer provided by cube is used in the majority of data architectures currently managed by MAXQ Analytics. The ecosystem surrounding the company is a fertile environment where valueable use cases emerge.