Business intelligence tools have notoriously complex pricing that depends on various factors, such as the number of users, the data sources, the volume of data, and the company's headcount. Getting a precise quote from a software vendor can take a lot of time. The ThoughtSpot pricing model is like that.
It has a seemingly transparent pricing model, but in reality, things are not so clear. Third-party websites such as Vendr show that the average contract size for ThoughtSpot is around $137,000 annually. But there is more to it than that.
There are two main Thoughtspot offerings: Thoughtspot Analytics (for internal reporting) and Thoughtspot embedded (for embedded analytics). We'll show you how much each of them costs.
Thoughtspot Analytics pricing plans
Like similar BI tools (e.g. Looker, Power BI, Sisense etc.), ThoughtSpot has a feature set for internal reporting called ThoughtSpot Analytics, with three different pricing plans. As we'll explain in a second, it is a mix of a user- and consumption-based pricing model.
A couple of things to note:
- Some plans limit the number of ‘groups’ you can have. A group is essentially a tier or grade of permissions. For example, sales, marketing, and engineering might have access to different permissions—each of these is a ‘group’.
- It’s also worth noting upfront that the pricing page stipulates that these prices are with hosting in the US only, so prices may vary if you’re located elsewhere.
There is no free plan available for this cloud-based BI tool.
The Essentials plan
Essentials starts at $1,250 per month for 20 users and 25 million rows of data, which has to be paid annually, for a total of $15,000 per year. Compared to other BI tools such as Tableau or Power BI, this is a fairly high amount for internal reporting.
This plan gives you 25 million rows of data, five permission groups (for internal use), natural language search to get instant answers from your data with the help of AI, advanced data encryption and row level security. Once you start getting close to the cloud data limit, ThoughtSpot will send you threshold alerts, letting you know it might be time for an upgrade.
Something you’ll want to be aware of with this plan is that customer support is in-app and community-based. If you get stuck with something, you're left handling the situation alone, which could be a problem if you have urgent needs and really rely on your data insights day-to-day. .
The Pro plan
The Pro plan has custom pricing for unlimited users - making it feel like you get a lot for your money. However, you are limited to 500 million data rows, and 25 permission groups - so it’s worth modeling out whether this is enough for your needs. You still get all the AI powered analytics features from the previous plan, along with the basics such as granular access control.
The support is better because you can talk to actual human beings, but the response time is based on the priority of your issue. You get essential security controls, which include single sign-on via SAML/OAuth and row-level security.
How much it costs: about $2,500 per month with an annual contract, but prices vary based on your needs
The Enterprise plan
The Enterprise plan is meant for precisely that: giving you enterprise grade controls so you can scale AI powered analytics, allowing every business user to gain insights with natural language search. You get actual phone support so you can phone in and troubleshoot.
You get unlimited data rows and permission groups, and there is support for organizations. In other words, this is the only plan that supports multiple tenant-specific environments, so the tenant's data is protected so other users can't access it in the same Thoughtspot application instance.
However, since this is not for embedded environments, it's often not a huge problem.
How much it costs: about $12,000 per month and up, depending on your needs and the number of users
Thoughtspot Embedded pricing plans
This is the type of plan you’ll need if you’re looking to embed dashboards and analytics into a customer-facing application with ThoughtSpot. There are three plans available: Developer, Pro, and Enterprise.
The Developer plan
This plan is free, but it’s not really a ‘plan’ - it’s a trial. You can only invite up to five users, and there is a one-year usage limit with two permission groups.
You're limited to 20 objects. An object is any defined element within the platform that stores or processes data and contributes to the analytics workflow. Objects can be both data-related and analytics-related.
The only way to get support is through Thoughtspot's Discord channel. You also get standard security controls, API and developer tools access.
This plan is meant for developers who want to give Thoughtspot embedded a try before committing to a paid plan.
The Pro plan
This plan supports unlimited users and the pricing is kept a secret, so you'll have to reach out to the sales team to get a quote. You'll get up to 5 billion rows of data, 500 permission groups, automated insights and AI powered search, in-app and standard support and standard security controls.
What does this mean? How can I apply this information to my use case, should I use this plan if I have e.g. 100 customers?
You'll have to talk to sales to get a quote, but you can try this plan for free before committing.
The Enterprise plan
This plan supports true logical multi-tenancy for large-scale applications. If the main goal of your app is enabling users to gain insights, this is the plan to choose. One user can access their company's specific data, safe from other tenants.
There's unlimited everything: data, users, and permission groups. You can set up organizations, and get enterprise level support and security controls.
The exact pricing is not publicly available, and online research tells us very little about the costs - so, like with any tool you ever buy, you can get ‘unlimited everything’ – ThoughtSpot make this the default but they reserve the right to quote you a price that might just be whatever they think they can extract from you at the time. This might seem negative, but if the cost is seemingly plucked from thin air, then the door is left open for negotiating discounts.
Should you buy ThoughtSpot?
It depends.
If you’re looking for an internal BI tool:
When it comes to internal reporting, ThoughtSpot pricing tends to be on the higher end, especially compared to established competitors such as Tableau or Power BI. It locks you into a plan that starts at $15,000 annually, which can be a tough pill to swallow for smaller teams that need basic reporting. You'll also likely need features available only in the more expensive plans.
Research shows that the average contract is around $137,000 annually. And even though the number is based on only 17 contracts, it paints a clear picture: Thoughtspot's target market is large enterprises with big budgets - and this might not be you.
Growing businesses that want to provide instant access to data to non-technical team members may be better off looking at tools like Metabase (which can be self-hosted for free).
For larger businesses with significant budgets, you’ll still want value for money, but ThoughtSpot can be a good option - especially if you only need a limited number of seats and the basic features.
If you’re looking for embedded analytics (dashboards for your customers):
Thoughtspot is far from the best option here. The pricing is not transparent, and customers report that you need to go through rounds of sales calls to get a number for your use case.
Whilst you’re on this page for ThoughtSpot’s pricing. Price should always reflect value.
Ultimately, you’re building an experience for your customers that represents your brand and drives product KPIs. So you’ll likely want it to feel like part of your application, load really fast (like every other page in your app), and take as little time to build and manage as possible.
ThoughtSpot might get you dashboards relatively quickly, but it offers little in terms of customization and flexibility, and you’ll only get the fast loading and customer support on the enterprise plan. The essential features are there for building dashboards, but it's hard to justify the price when your customers will be able to easily see that you’ve just dropped a third-party tool in your application.
If you're attracted by their AI powered automated insights, they have made this a strategic focus, but most online reviews to date (2025) describe the AI features as "half-baked" at best - so we recommend to run a PoC with this before committing. (We’ll keep an eye on it - watch this space for updates!)
If you’re one of the teams who already use ThoughtSpot for internal reporting needs and want to quickly deploy something to your users, then using their embedding feature will save you having to learn a new tool. If the pricing is not a blocker for you, and you don’t need anything more than the standard charts and reports available then there is no reason not to use ThoughtSpot Embedded.
But even then, it may just make more sense to switch to a tool that can help you deliver the end user experience that you really want for your customers.
Fast-loading, native-feeling embedded analytics
If you really want to provide a great experience for customers - one that feels like part of your application and loads just as fast as the other pages in your application, then you might want to explore using a tool designed specifically for customer-facing analytics.
Embeddable offers default charts that can be styled and extended in any way you want to, and you can even import new charts from your codebase or a library of your choice. It also embeds via a React embed, or web component that loads the charts directly in your app (not via an iframe). This means that the experience will feel truly native to your platform.
In addition, it offers a performant data service with 2 layers of configurable cache that enable you to achieve sub-second loading times for your end users.
Embeddable is an extendable toolkit built with developers in mind, so that the experience fits into your CI/CD processes, and enables you to scale and monitor efficiently.
You can find out how other companies have been building with Embeddable, and what they had to say about it in our customer stories. If you want to explore exactly how Embeddable can help you create genuinely remarkable analytics for your customers, you can explore the docs or find out more on the website.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is the starting price for ThoughtSpot's internal analytics?
The Essentials plan costs $1,250 per month, billed annually, for 20 users and up to 25 million rows of data.
2. How does ThoughtSpot's pricing model work?
ThoughtSpot uses a mix of user-based and consumption-based pricing, with higher tiers offering more data capacity and features .
3. Are there free options available for ThoughtSpot?
While there is no free plan for internal analytics, ThoughtSpot offers a free Developer plan for embedded analytics, limited to 5 users and a one-year term.
