How we save our clients money by choosing the right stack

Every dollar counts when you're running a business.

But saving money isn’t just about cutting corners—it’s about making smart decisions.

You invest in a data tool with high hopes of transformation. Months later, you’re facing slow systems, clunky workflows, and paying for features you don’t even need.

It’s frustrating.

At Brainforge, we’ve seen this story too many times. That’s why we focus on one thing: helping you choose the right stack. By avoiding costly mistakes, we make sure your investments actually save money.

Here’s how we do it.

Key Takeaways:

• The wrong data stack can lead to costly inefficiencies, slow performance, and unnecessary expenses.
• Rill Data, Lightdash, and Evidence form an optimized stack that improves real-time insights, simplifies workflows, and offers flexible pricing models.
• Choosing the right stack saves money by reducing infrastructure costs, speeding up decision-making, and minimizing reliance on technical staff.
• A properly chosen stack reduces the risk of vendor lock-in, ensuring flexibility as your business grows.
• Scalability is key—selecting tools like Rill Data and Evidence means your stack can grow with your business, preventing costly replacements or upgrades.

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The Hidden Costs of Choosing the Wrong Stack

Choosing the wrong stack can lead to serious technical challenges, and those challenges translate directly into financial losses:

Lagging performance

• Tools like OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) engines, which are designed for analyzing large data sets, can be slow if they aren’t optimized for real-time use. This leads to sluggish dashboards that waste time—and in business, time is money.

Constant troubleshooting

• When tools don’t integrate smoothly, your team is stuck fixing errors instead of focusing on their work. This happens when systems aren’t designed to communicate well with each other, forcing you into endless configuration and debugging.

High licensing fees for unused features

• Some tools come with advanced features that sound great but might not be necessary for your specific needs. For example, certain data visualization platforms offer complex options that smaller businesses won’t ever use, yet you’re paying for them.

Resource drain on team adoption

• Complicated tools often require long training sessions. Instead of gaining valuable insights from your data, your team is bogged down trying to learn how to use the software effectively.

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These issues don’t just cause frustration—they directly hit your bottom line by wasting both time and money. Worst of all, they keep your team from making the data-driven decisions that could drive your business forward.

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How Brainforge Helps Clients Save Money with the Right Stack

At Brainforge, we take a tailored approach to help our clients avoid costly mistakes by selecting the most effective business intelligence (BI) tools. This isn’t just about picking the latest tool—it’s about choosing the right fit, ensuring that it meets your business goals without creating unnecessary risks or costs.

Let’s explore three platforms that we frequently recommend to our clients, detailing how each one aligns with specific needs.

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Rill Data Cost-Effective Processing at Scale

Rill Data is a powerful choice when real-time performance is critical. It’s built on OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) engines that enable lightning-fast data analysis. This is particularly useful for companies dealing with large datasets but need immediate insights without waiting for reports to load.

• Scalability: Rill Data shines when handling vast amounts of data. As businesses grow, this platform can easily scale without sacrificing performance, making it a cost-effective option for companies that expect their data needs to expand.
• Cost Efficiency: With Rill Data, you pay by the gigabyte of data processed. This pricing model allows businesses to control costs by paying only for what they use, making it an ideal solution for businesses managing large but fluctuating data volumes.
• Integration Compatibility: Rill Data integrates well with existing databases, which means less time spent on setting up and more time getting actionable insights. It also minimizes the risk of data silos, as the platform encourages smooth data flow.

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Use Case: For a company that processes massive amounts of transactional data and requires real-time, responsive dashboards, Rill Data offers speed, scalability, and cost control, ensuring no unnecessary overhead.

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Lightdash Efficient, Transparent Data Visualizations

Lightdash is a versatile BI tool, especially useful for companies focused on getting clean, simple visualizations without paying for overly complex features. Its core strength lies in providing clear and efficient data visualizations that are tailored to what the business needs—no more, no less.

• Customization Without Complexity: Lightdash allows businesses to create dashboards and reports that are straightforward and useful without requiring deep technical knowledge. The tool’s running totals, for example, provide quick insights without the need for complex SQL code. This feature makes it highly accessible to non-technical teams.
• Pricing: Lightdash charges a platform fee of $600/month, which can be more cost-effective than other platforms that charge per seat or per feature. This makes it a great fit for mid-sized businesses looking for simplicity without sacrificing functionality.
• Integration: Lightdash is designed to work seamlessly with modern data stacks like dbt, making it ideal for businesses already invested in cloud-native solutions. This integration ensures data accuracy and consistency, reducing the time spent managing different tools.

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Use Case: Lightdash is perfect for businesses that prioritize transparency and simplicity in their data reporting. It works best in environments where easy access to data is needed across departments without the risk of overcomplicating the process.

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Evidence Actionable Data Reporting

Evidence takes a unique approach by focusing on the story behind the data. It allows businesses to add context directly into their charts, making it easier for decision-makers to understand trends and act on them quickly.

• Data Annotations for Clarity: With Evidence, you can add annotations like ReferenceLines and Callouts to explain trends, spikes, or dips in data. This additional layer of context helps teams act immediately without second-guessing what the numbers are trying to tell them.
• Scalability and Pricing: Evidence offers a flexible pricing model based on the number of seats, starting at $15 per seat or $500/month for enterprise plans. This flexibility allows businesses to scale their reporting needs as they grow without incurring unnecessary upfront costs.
• User-Friendly for Non-Technical Users: Evidence provides a user-friendly interface that allows even non-technical teams to create reports that are visually compelling and packed with insights. This reduces the reliance on developers or data scientists for everyday reporting tasks, freeing up resources across the business.

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Use Case: Companies that need actionable insights delivered quickly—without complex data wrangling—will benefit from Evidence. It’s perfect for teams that want to add narrative to their data, helping decision-makers quickly understand what’s happening and why.

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How the Right Stack Saves Money

Selecting the right stack is not just about cutting costs—it’s about optimizing every aspect of how your business handles, processes, and leverages data. Let’s break down how each tool in our stack contributes to financial savings through technical features, and why those features matter.

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Rill Data Cost-Efficient Processing at Scale

Rill Data’s usage-based pricing model ensures you only pay for the data you process. By leveraging an OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) engine, Rill Data enables real-time data analysis for businesses handling large datasets, saving valuable time by avoiding delays.

Why it saves money: You’re only charged for the data you use, avoiding unnecessary costs, while also benefiting from fast data processing that allows your team to make quicker decisions.

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Lightdash: Simplified Visualization Without Wasted Features

With Lightdash, a fixed platform fee keeps costs predictable. Its seamless integration with dbt means you can build reports directly from your data, cutting out the need for extra tools.

Why it saves money: Fewer tools and simpler setups reduce the overall cost of ownership. By focusing on necessary features, Lightdash eliminates unnecessary expenses, keeping your reporting process streamlined.

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Evidence Scalable and Contextual Reporting

Evidence offers flexible, user-based pricing. With its ability to add context to reports, teams can immediately understand trends and act on data without delays, speeding up decision-making.

Why it saves money: Evidence reduces reliance on technical staff for report creation, freeing up resources and lowering operational costs. Its pricing model ensures that you only pay for what you use, making it adaptable as your team grows.

Why Choosing the Right Stack Matters

When it comes to business intelligence, the right tools can make all the difference between efficiency and wasted resources. Choosing the right stack isn’t just a technical decision—it directly impacts your bottom line.

Here’s why it matters:

1. Avoiding Overhead Costs

The wrong BI tool can create significant overhead, from costly maintenance to inefficiency in your team’s workflow. For instance, a tool with features you don’t use or that requires constant troubleshooting can eat into both time and money.

2. Streamlining Operations

When your stack is optimized, processes flow seamlessly. For example, Rill Data’s ability to handle real-time data means less waiting on reports and more time for analysis. Lightdash’s direct integration with your data models eliminates unnecessary steps in the reporting process. This level of optimization helps teams focus on actionable insights instead of wasting time managing tools.

3. Scalable Solutions for Growth

As your business grows, so should your data tools. A scalable stack ensures that you won’t outgrow your systems or need to invest in costly replacements. Tools like Evidence grow with your team, allowing you to scale your reporting capabilities as you add more users. With flexible pricing models, these tools prevent you from overspending as your business expands.

4. Making Data-Driven Decisions Faster

The right stack empowers your business to act quickly on data. When you have access to real-time insights, you can make faster, smarter decisions that drive business outcomes. This agility is key in competitive industries where delays can result in lost opportunities.

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Conclusion

At Brainforge, we’ve seen firsthand how the right stack saves businesses time, money, and frustration. By carefully choosing tools like Rill Data, Lightdash, and Evidence, we ensure our clients avoid the hidden costs of inefficient systems, while providing scalable, cost-effective solutions for their future growth.

The right stack doesn’t just support your business today—it positions you for success tomorrow.