Comparing Hex vs. Omni

Choosing between Hex and Omni? Leading companies choose Hex for AI analytics, to give business users and data teams one place for trusted answers on data.

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Trusted by leading data companies

"Our vision for Notion’s data team is that anyone, regardless of technical proficiency, is comfortable using data to answer their own questions – and Hex enables that."Aks Nemana
"We like to embed Hex dashboards where teams work."Ian Macomber
"We’re regarded as top performers because the work we are doing is deemed more credible and more widely surfaced than before Hex."Kate Urquiola
"Hex has helped us empower business analysts to explore and dig into data on their own"Meghana Reddy

Why companies choose Hex over Omni

One place for every data question

Hex brings everyone into a single place to answer questions with data and AI. Business users explore with natural language and no code. Data teams dive into deeper questions using SQL & Python in agentic notebooks.

In Omni, deeper questions are siloed outside the platform, fragmenting answers and logic across multiple tools.

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Comparison breakdown

Features

Hex

Omni

AI self-serve

Natural language Q&A for business users

Hex

Threads handles questions and follow-ups across any curated dataset, with or without semantic models in place.

Omni

Chat-based exploration that is constrained to one modeled topic at a time.

No-code exploration

Point-and-click interfaces for data analysis

Hex

Explore with spreadsheets, pivot tables, and drag-and-drop chart builders.

Omni

Spreadsheet-style workbook with drag-and-drop, field pickers, and chart editor.

SQL + Python exploration

Code-first analysis with seamless language switching

Hex

Notebooks let you mix SQL, Python, and no-code cells interchangeably, keeping analyses clear, connected, and reproducible.

Omni

Workbook tabs are isolated queries. No notebook canvas for multi-step analysis, and no Python support.

AI code generation

AI for helping data teams query and analyze faster

Hex

Notebook Agent generates, debugs, and iterates on SQL and Python across multi-step logic.

Omni

No AI assistance for code generation or debugging.

Trusted AI without heavy upfront modeling

Trusted answers from AI depend on context. In Hex, start simple with metadata, table endorsements, and guides, then sharpen with observability and automation tools as you go.

In Omni, context for AI requires building semantic models for every domain upfront. Time-intensive to start and rigid to maintain.

Compare features

Comparison breakdown

Features

Hex

Omni

Context architecture

How context is structured and built

Hex

Context is layered, not monolithic: metadata, table endorsements, guides, and semantic models. Start lightweight and layer in over time as needed.

Omni

Context is locked to the semantic layer. Every new domain requires building a topic before AI can answer reliably.

AI observability

Visibility into how AI is being used

Hex

Context Studio provides visibility into AI interactions across all surfaces, detailed summaries, and usage patterns across your users.

Omni

Basic usage logs available. Lacks visibility into patterns and trends across AI usage.

Automated context improvement

Spotting gaps in context and suggesting fixes

Hex

Context Studio identifies where AI is falling short, flags missing context, and suggests improvements to implement.

Omni

No tooling or automation for proactively detecting context gaps or suggesting improvements.

Compounding context

Existing dashboards and apps inform future answers

Hex

Published apps and dashboards are reference-able context. Agents pull from them automatically, or users @-mention them directly.

Omni

No mechanism to reuse prior analyses or published dashboards as context for new questions.

Go beyond dashboards & semantic models

With Hex, business users can self-serve trusted insights, whether predefined in a semantic model or not. And data teams have the freedom to ship deeper work, like forecasts and simulations, as interactive data apps.

Omni constrains every question to a semantic model and every output to a dashboard. Fine for reporting, but limited for deeper analysis or exploration.

Compare features

Comparison breakdown

Features

Hex

Omni

Ad-hoc exploration

Investigating novel questions beyond what's modeled

Hex

Anyone can explore trusted data in Hex, modeled or not. Threads handles plain-language questions and notebooks handle deeper work.

Omni

AI and self-serve require a semantic topic. New domains can't be explored until they're modeled.

Reporting dashboards

Standard KPI and metric tracking

Hex

Create dashboards and visualizations using no-code charts or Python libraries.

Omni

Create dashboards with customizable Vega-Lite charts.

Interactive apps

Dynamic exploration beyond dashboards

Hex

Data apps include inputs and controls, like dropdowns, sliders, and date pickers, for truly interactive analysis.

Omni

Dashboards support filtering, but limited support for live computation based on inputs.

Advanced insights

Forecasts, simulations, and what-ifs as shareable artifacts

Hex

Data apps run live Python and SQL logic, enabling forecasting and what-if scenario builds to live alongside reporting.

Omni

Limited support for advanced analytics, with no support for python.

Unify the full cycle of data work with Hex.

Leave disconnected workflows behind.

Compounding accuracy

Deep analysis

Trusted context

Conversational self-serve

Hear from data teams that chose Hex

Learn how the best companies in the world answer more questions with data using Hex.

"My favorite thing about Threads is that it writes out formulas for metrics and identifies any issues with the data."

"With Hex, we saved 240 hours by creating standardized product dashboard templates"

"Calendly's analytics team is 2x more efficient in Hex."

"Hex has helped ClickUp save more than $1M in churn"

View all Customer stories

FAQ

What's the main difference between Omni and Hex?

Omni and Hex diverge in two fundamental ways: where work happens and how context for AI is built.

Omni is a semantic-model-first BI tool. Every question has to anchor to a pre-defined model, which means two things. First, novel or complex questions can't be answered in the platform, they end up in spreadsheets, notebooks, or another tool. Second, building and maintaining those models is time-intensive and rigid, so AI's accuracy and reach are both bottlenecked by upfront modeling work.

In Hex, everyone can ask and answer questions in one place. Business users and data teams explore the same data with AI, code, or no-code. And ensuring accurate, consistent answers doesn't rely on every domain being prebuilt into a semantic model.

On top of that, AI in Hex gets smarter with every use. Existing apps, dashboards, and notebooks become referenceable context for future questions. Context Studio proactively surfaces gaps and suggests improvements based on every agent interaction. The more your team builds, the better the Hex agent performs.

Isn't Hex mainly for data teams? What about non-technical users?

Hex is built so business users and data teams can collaborate and answer every kind of question in one place. Business users explore in natural language through Threads, with no-code spreadsheets and pivot tables, or by interacting with published data apps. Data teams get the full depth of SQL and Python with the Notebook Agent when questions go deeper.

Because everyone works in the same workspace, business users and data teams iterate together. Context improves faster, deeper insights are shared more easily, and every answer becomes context for the next question.

Do I have to build semantic models to use Hex with AI?

No, you can build lightweight context like metadata, table endorsements, and guides, and see meaningful increases in accuracy and consistency in AI answers. You can still build semantic models when you have metric logic worth formalizing, or sync existing models from dbt, Snowflake, or Cube. But they are not imperative to start getting trusted answers from AI.

How is Hex different from traditional BI tools?

BI dashboards are built to show what happened—fixed KPIs and standard cuts of the data. Hex is built to answer how it happened, why it happened, and what if it changes. With data-team-first workflows in a notebook that supports SQL, Python, and no-code, teams can move quickly from simple KPI lookups to deep, iterative analysis, without bouncing between tools.

Why combine BI and technical data workflows in one tool?

Business questions come in all shapes and forms. Sometimes it’s a simple KPI trend, other times it’s “why is this happening?” or “what can we expect next?”, which requires deeper analysis. Splitting BI and technical analysis across different tools creates friction, duplicate effort, and inconsistent answers. Hex unifies it all in one place so the workflow stays connected.

Can you create dashboards in Hex?

Yes. Hex supports traditional dashboards, but also goes further, letting teams build interactive data apps, parameterized views, and even workflows with predictive models. That flexibility means you can cover executive reporting and deeper analysis in the same place, instead of maintaining separate tools.

Are there no-code ways for users to explore data in Hex?

Yes. Hex lets users self-serve insights with natural language Q&A, interactive charts, pivot tables, spreadsheet-style views, and simple formula-based calculations—all without writing SQL or Python.

Should I build semantic models in Hex?

Hex takes an interoperable approach to semantic models, giving you the flexibility to build directly in Hex or sync from other sources. Building in Hex lets you define and edit models right where you already work with data—with autocomplete, inline validation, and AI-assisted code generation in the modeling workbench.

Alternatively, you can sync existing semantic models from dbt, Snowflake, or Cube. Either way, your semantic models live alongside notebooks, self-serve, and agents, ensuring governed, reusable logic powers every workflow.

How can we start evaluating Hex?

Anyone can sign up for a free 14-day trial of Hex's Team plan. If you'll require more time to evaluate Hex or are curious about our Enterprise plan, please reach out and we'll get you set up!

Can't find your answer here? Get in touch.