At a glance
| Supported data platforms | Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Synapse, S3 and Iceberg |
| Anomaly detection | ML monitors with forecasts and feedback |
| Freshness and volume monitoring | Yes, out-of-the-box freshness and row count monitors |
| Schema checks | Not documented in the pages checked |
| Validation rules | Custom SQL monitors (3 on the Free plan) |
| Lineage and root cause | End-to-end lineage to BI tools |
| Alerting | Slack, Teams, webhooks, Jira |
| Deployment | SaaS; Snowflake Native App |
| Licensing | Free plan; Pro usage-based and Enterprise custom, per monitored table |
| Ownership | Datadog (acquired April 2025) |
Metaplane suits small and mid-sized data teams that want to switch on warehouse monitoring quickly and start free with 10 monitored tables. The Datadog acquisition is the main buying question: the product is still sold standalone, but Datadog is building data observability into its own platform, so ask about the roadmap before a long commitment.
Overview
Metaplane connects to a warehouse, transformation tool and BI layer and places machine learning monitors on tables for row counts, freshness and column statistics such as mean and standard deviation, with forecasts of expected values and feedback to tune the models. Custom SQL monitors cover business rules. End-to-end lineage, including Looker through LookML Git integration, shows which downstream dashboards a problem affects, and a Data CI/CD feature previews the data impact of dbt changes on GitHub or GitLab pull requests.
Datadog bought Metaplane in April 2025. The announcement said the product would continue as "Metaplane by Datadog" with no immediate change and would stay standalone for now, with plans to connect data quality to Datadog's Data Streams Monitoring, Data Jobs Monitoring and APM over time. A Snowflake Native App lets Snowflake users monitor without giving Metaplane credentials or moving sensitive data out of Snowflake.
Key features
- Machine learning monitors for row count, freshness, mean and standard deviation, with forecasts and model feedback
- Custom SQL monitors and monitors as code
- End-to-end lineage across warehouse, dbt and BI tools, with LookML Git integration
- Data CI/CD: impact and data test previews on GitHub and GitLab pull requests
- Automatic monitor placement rules, incidents and tags
- Alerts to Slack, Microsoft Teams, webhooks and Jira
- Snowflake Native App deployment option
Integrations and ecosystem
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free plan with 10 monitored tables and no credit card
- Clear billing unit (monitored tables) that excludes unmonitored synced tables
- Pull request previews for dbt changes on GitHub and GitLab
- Can be paid for with Snowflake credits
Cons
- Pro and Enterprise prices are not published
- Long-term product direction depends on Datadog's integration plans
- Seat allowances on the pricing page are inconsistent
Pricing
Metaplane has three plans billed per monitored table (a table with monitors active for more than 30 days; synced tables without monitors do not count). Free is $0 and "free forever" with 10 monitored tables, 3 custom SQL monitors and email support, no credit card needed. Pro is usage-based with no price shown, and Enterprise is custom priced with SSO and AWS or Azure PrivateLink. Paid plans start after a 14-day trial, and Snowflake customers can pay with Snowflake credits. The page lists user allowances inconsistently (Free: 4 users in the plan card, 1 user in the comparison table; Pro: 12 versus 5), so confirm seats with the vendor.
Pricing checked on the vendor's official page on 7 November 2026. Prices change; confirm before buying.
Who it is best for
Lean data teams on Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift or Databricks with dbt that want fast, low-effort monitoring and lineage and are comfortable with a Datadog-owned product.
Typical use cases
- Monitor freshness and row counts on the most important dbt models for free before buying
- Preview which Looker or Tableau dashboards a dbt pull request will affect
- Alert a data team channel in Slack when a Snowflake table stops loading
- Monitor Snowflake data without sharing credentials using the Native App
Who should look elsewhere
- Teams that want monitoring code inside their dbt project with an open source core: see Elementary.
- Organisations already on Datadog that would rather use its native Data Observability features: see Datadog.
Verdict
Metaplane offers one of the easiest ways to start data observability, with a free plan, per-table billing and dbt-aware lineage. Its ownership by Datadog adds roadmap uncertainty but also a path into a wider observability platform, so weigh that against standalone rivals.
Frequently asked questions
Is Metaplane owned by Datadog?
Yes. Datadog announced the acquisition on 23 April 2025. Metaplane continues as "Metaplane by Datadog" and, as of November 2026, is still sold standalone at metaplane.dev.
Is Metaplane free?
There is a free-forever plan with 10 monitored tables and 3 custom SQL monitors. Pro is usage-based and Enterprise is custom, both billed per monitored table, with prices not published.
What counts as a monitored table?
A table with monitors actively running for more than 30 days. Tables that are synced but have no monitors do not count toward your limit.
How is Metaplane different from Datadog Data Observability?
Datadog documents its own Data Observability Quality Monitoring inside the Datadog platform (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift and ClickHouse Cloud), while Metaplane remains a separate product with its own app and pricing. Ask Datadog how the two will converge.
Sources
- Metaplane pricing
- Metaplane by Datadog announcement
- Datadog press release: acquisition of Metaplane
- Metaplane documentation
- Datadog Data Observability Quality Monitoring (documentation)
Checked November 2026.
Listed in: Data Quality & Observability.
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