Fulcrum
Fulcrum turns on Insights, its AI assistant for field data, for every customer.
Comparison · Analytics
Hex vs Highlight
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Hex and Highlight — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Hex vs Highlight: at a glance
| Feature | Hex | Highlight |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Analytics | Analytics |
| Velocity score | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | data analytics, ai agent, semantic layer, governance | observability, session replay, opentelemetry, sql analytics |
| Last editorial update | 1h ago | 1h ago |
| Website | — | Visit → |
What is Hex?
Hex exposes agent usage and credit data as its AI agent becomes a metered product.
Hex is a data workspace whose agent now builds projects, Generative Apps and published eval suites, and can be called from the CLI and API. The latest release lets admins pull agent usage and credit-grant data and import Apache Ossie semantic models.
What is Highlight?
Highlight grew from session replay into SQL-driven observability, then went quiet in August 2025.
Highlight is an open-source observability stack covering session replay, errors, logs, traces and metrics. Its last tagged self-hosted release, docker-v0.5.6, shipped in August 2025 with session-replay performance fixes and session restarts. Nothing has been tagged since.
Hex vs Highlight: editorial side-by-side
Hex
5.0ANALYTICS
Hex exposes agent usage and credit data as its AI agent becomes a metered product.
◆ Current state
Hex is a data workspace whose agent now builds projects, Generative Apps and published eval suites, and can be called from the CLI and API. The latest release lets admins pull agent usage and credit-grant data and import Apache Ossie semantic models.
◆ Where it's heading
Hex spent the summer turning its agent from a query helper into a governed builder, and it is now adding the controls needed to run it at scale: usage classification, credit accounting and semantic-model imports. The direction is AI-driven analytics that finance and data-governance teams will sign off on.
◆ Prediction
Expect more admin-side controls for agent spend and more semantic-layer integrations, building on the Ossie import.
Highlight
0.0ANALYTICS
Highlight grew from session replay into SQL-driven observability, then went quiet in August 2025.
◆ Current state
Highlight is an open-source observability stack covering session replay, errors, logs, traces and metrics. Its last tagged self-hosted release, docker-v0.5.6, shipped in August 2025 with session-replay performance fixes and session restarts. Nothing has been tagged since.
◆ Where it's heading
Through 2025 the releases added OpenTelemetry metrics ingest, a SQL editor and builder for graphs, SQL alerts and dashboards created from log and trace views. That pushed Highlight from a replay tool toward a general telemetry platform. The cadence then slowed from roughly monthly to a two-month gap before stopping.
◆ Prediction
The entries show no release in more than a year, so the self-hosted line's future is unclear. Any new tag would most likely be maintenance on session replay and OTel ingestion.
Alternatives to Hex and Highlight
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 Hex or Highlight.
Holistics
Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.
ThingsBoard
ThingsBoard updates time zone data on three release lines for 2026 daylight saving changes.
Lightdash
Lightdash opens AI-built chart types to every cloud user, through the app or MCP.
OpenPanel
OpenPanel reaches 3.9.0 within six days of 3.0.0, still with no release notes.
ChartMogul
ChartMogul's MRRaudit goes after its own core problem: MRR figures that don't reconcile.
See all Hex alternatives → · See all Highlight alternatives →
Recent activity from Hex and Highlight
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3d agoHexPull agent usage data and import Ossie models
- 26d agoHexSee how your team uses the agent
- 1mo agoHexExplore and share insights from Generative Apps
- 1mo agoHexPublish eval suites, skip approvals, and build Hex projects from your chat agent ⚡
- 1mo agoHexMore control over Generative app iteration
- 2mo agoHexChart controls and easier collaboration
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.6: session replay performance and session restarts
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.5: SQL alerts, log downloads, video in replays
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.4: SQL joins and graphed error metrics
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.3: dashboards and alerts from logs and traces
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.2: OTel metrics in the web SDK
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.1: SQL editor for graphs and OTel metrics export ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Hex and Highlight?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Hex is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 Hex better than Highlight?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Hex is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 Hex?
Top Hex alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Hex alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hex for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Highlight?
Top Highlight alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Highlight alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/highlight for the full list with editorial commentary on each.