OpenPanel
OpenPanel's 3.x line hits six builds in 36 hours, still without release notes.
Comparison · Analytics
dbt Core vs Evidence
A side-by-side editorial comparison of dbt Core and Evidence — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
dbt Core vs Evidence: at a glance
What is dbt Core?
dbt's 1.x releases now point users at v2 straight from the command line.
dbt 2.0 GA split the project into a proprietary 'dbt' binary and dbt-oss, and the 2.0 dev channel has since added read-only Databricks Unity Catalog access through Lake Compute. The 1.x line is still shipping: 1.13.0b1 adds an opt-in --use-v2-parser that hands parsing to the Fusion parser, and today's 1.12.6 prints a v2 availability notice on dbt --version and relays Fusion parser logs through the otel log format.
What is Evidence?
Evidence's last release was a February CVE sweep that also removed Evidence Cloud references.
Every tracked Evidence release is from a single day, February 6, 2026: a coordinated patch across the SDK, preprocessor, universal SQL layer and database connectors to pick up dependency updates for CVEs. The SDK patch also removes references to Evidence Cloud.
dbt Core vs Evidence: editorial side-by-side
dbt Core
6.3ANALYTICS
dbt's 1.x releases now point users at v2 straight from the command line.
◆ Current state
dbt 2.0 GA split the project into a proprietary 'dbt' binary and dbt-oss, and the 2.0 dev channel has since added read-only Databricks Unity Catalog access through Lake Compute. The 1.x line is still shipping: 1.13.0b1 adds an opt-in --use-v2-parser that hands parsing to the Fusion parser, and today's 1.12.6 prints a v2 availability notice on dbt --version and relays Fusion parser logs through the otel log format.
◆ Where it's heading
The 1.x branch is being turned into an on-ramp for v2: a PyPI banner in 1.12.5, a CLI notice in 1.12.6, deprecated-version warnings and the Fusion parser opt-in in 1.13. Meanwhile 2.0 work concentrates on adapter parity (ClickHouse, Databricks) and Lake Compute.
◆ Prediction
Expect 1.13 to reach GA with the v2 parser opt-in and more migration prompts, and 2.0.x to extend Lake Compute past read-only Unity access. The entries don't show an end-of-life date for 1.x.
Evidence
0.0ANALYTICS
Evidence's last release was a February CVE sweep that also removed Evidence Cloud references.
◆ Current state
Every tracked Evidence release is from a single day, February 6, 2026: a coordinated patch across the SDK, preprocessor, universal SQL layer and database connectors to pick up dependency updates for CVEs. The SDK patch also removes references to Evidence Cloud.
◆ Where it's heading
Nothing has shipped in the eight months since, so the open-source BI-as-code framework looks to be in maintenance mode. Removing Evidence Cloud references suggests the hosted offering has been dropped or separated, though the entries do not say why.
◆ Prediction
It is unclear from the entries whether active development will resume; the next release is more likely another dependency or security patch than new features.
Alternatives to dbt Core and Evidence
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either dbt Core or Evidence.
OpenHouse
OpenHouse starts simplifying replication by making its catalog, not Iceberg metadata, the source.
Basedash
Basedash adds view-only seats so whole departments can read dashboards without editing.
OpenReplay
OpenReplay adds offline license tokens so air-gapped installs can run licensed.
Tinybird
Tinybird switches off Classic for Free and Developer plans, leaving Forward as the only path.
OpenCTI
OpenCTI's weekly train now merges entities in the knowledge view and reads defanged IOCs.
See all dbt Core alternatives → · See all Evidence alternatives →
Recent activity from dbt Core and Evidence
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4d agodbt Coredbt 1.12.6 points users to v2 and fixes Fusion parser logging
- 4d agodbt Coredbt 1.11.16 fixes nested wildcard selectors, adds tarball path check
- 4d agodbt Coredbt-core 1.13 beta adds opt-in Fusion parser and dbt login
- 25d agodbt CoreLake Compute gains Databricks Unity Catalog read access
- 1mo agodbt Coredbt v2.0.0 ⚡
- 1mo agodbt Coredbt v1.12.5
- 8mo agoEvidenceSQLite connector picks up CVE-patched shared dependency
- 8mo agoEvidencePreprocessor package updates to resolve CVEs
- 8mo agoEvidenceTrino connector picks up CVE-patched shared dependency
- 8mo agoEvidenceSDK patches CVEs and removes Evidence Cloud references
- 8mo agoEvidenceRedshift connector picks up CVE-patched dependencies
- 8mo agoEvidenceSnowflake connector picks up CVE-patched shared dependency
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between dbt Core and Evidence?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. dbt Core is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is dbt Core better than Evidence?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. dbt Core is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to dbt Core?
Top dbt Core alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "dbt Core alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/dbt-core for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Evidence?
Top Evidence alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Evidence alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/evidence for the full list with editorial commentary on each.