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Competitor comparison

Domo vs Mode

Domo puts the business reader at the center with hosted data, alerts, and mobile dashboards, while Mode puts the SQL analyst at the center with a fast path from query to published report.

Quick decision snapshot

Choose Mode if a capable analytics team writes most of your reporting in SQL on an existing warehouse and stakeholders are happy to read what analysts publish. Choose Domo if you want business teams building and monitoring their own dashboards, with the vendor hosting the data and handling alerts and mobile access. Both now sit inside larger companies, ThoughtSpot for Mode and Progress Software for Domo, which is worth factoring into a long contract.

Analyst-led or business-led reporting

Domo and Mode can each be a company's main BI tool, but they assume different people do the work. In a Mode shop, analysts write SQL, add charts and Python cells, and publish reports that stakeholders read and filter. In a Domo shop, data is loaded into Domo's cloud and business users, often with a BI admin's help, assemble Cards and pages they check every day.

So the choice often comes down to staffing. If you have a strong analyst team and a warehouse, Mode makes them very productive. If you have few analysts and many people who want to see numbers, Domo's model spreads the work further.

What Domo offers the business reader

Domo is designed for the person consuming the numbers. Pages of Cards load quickly on phones and tablets, alerts tell an owner when a metric moves, scheduled reports reach inboxes, and certified content signals which dashboards are official. Under that, 1,000+ connectors and Magic ETL mean no warehouse is required, and Beast Mode lets non-engineers add calculations.

The downside is that logic lives in Domo's copy of the data rather than in the warehouse your analysts query, and Domo's consumption pricing can be difficult to forecast.

What Mode offers the analyst

Mode is one of the most focused tools for SQL-first analysis. Analysts move from a query to a parameterized report with charts in minutes, notebook cells add Python for deeper work, and Helix keeps exploration fast by holding results in memory. The AI assistant helps generate and explain SQL. Because Mode queries the warehouse directly, the dbt models your team already maintains remain the source of truth.

The limit is reach. Business users who do not write SQL depend on analysts for new reports, and as more teams want data, that queue grows. Its phone experience and alerting are also thinner. ThoughtSpot has owned Mode since 2023.

Domo and Mode compared

CriterionDomoMode
Who builds reportsBusiness users and BI admins with visual toolsAnalysts writing SQL, with optional Python cells
Who reads themExecutives and operators on desktop, tablet, and phoneStakeholders opening reports analysts publish
Data source of truthDomo's hosted copy, shaped in Magic ETLYour warehouse and its dbt models
Speed for a new questionFast if the DataSet exists; otherwise a pipeline changeFast for anyone who can write the SQL
MonitoringBuilt-in alerts and mobile notificationsScheduled report delivery; lighter alerting
AIAgent building and an MCP server over Domo dataAssistant for writing and explaining SQL
Parent companyProgress Software, since September 2026ThoughtSpot, since 2023
Pricing posturePlatform fees plus consumption creditsPer-seat plans

Pick Domo for

Companies with more dashboard readers than analysts.

Teams without a warehouse that want data hosted and transformed for them.

Operational monitoring through alerts and mobile apps.

Pick Mode for

Strong analyst teams working in SQL on Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift.

Parameterized reports that analysts maintain for recurring questions.

Work that mixes SQL and Python in one shareable report.

Business users get answers without waiting on a SQL author

Basedash removes the queue that forms in Mode without moving data into a vendor cloud the way Domo does. Stakeholders say what chart they need, Basedash drafts the SQL, and analysts can review or correct it before it goes on a dashboard. Its answers were the most accurate of any agent on BI Bench, at 94.8%.

Domo customers also get the layers Mode never had: a managed warehouse, 750+ connectors, and automations in place of Domo alerts and scheduled reports. Analysts who live in Python notebooks for deep investigation may still prefer Mode's report-plus-notebook workflow for that part of their job.

Also compare each against Basedash

FAQ

Can Mode take over Domo's executive dashboards?

Partly. Mode reports can include KPI tiles, charts, and filters that work as a light dashboard, and analysts can build them quickly with the AI assistant. What Mode does not try to match is the surrounding experience Domo has built for executives: mobile apps designed around Cards, alerts when thresholds are crossed, certified content, and page-level organization. Teams that adopt Mode often keep a separate surface for executive monitoring, or accept that executives will read reports rather than interact with live dashboards on their phones.

Does ThoughtSpot's ownership of Mode affect the choice?

It is worth asking about. ThoughtSpot acquired Mode in 2023, so Mode's roadmap now sits alongside ThoughtSpot's own search-first products, and buyers should ask how Mode will be positioned and priced over a multi-year term. Domo carries a similar question: Domo now belongs to Progress Software, which plans to merge it into the Progress Data Platform and has not said how it will be sold long term. Neither situation is a reason to avoid the product, but both justify written commitments in a contract.

What changes for analysts when moving from Domo to Mode?

Analysts usually gain speed and lose some reach. Mode reads directly from the warehouse, so instead of maintaining Magic ETL dataflows and Beast Mode fields inside Domo, logic moves into SQL and warehouse models such as dbt. That makes analysis faster and easier to review. The cost is that business users who built their own Cards in Domo now rely on analysts for new reports, and the team has to stand up a warehouse and ingestion if Domo was storing the data.

What if neither analyst-written reports nor Domo's hosted model fits?

Basedash fits teams that want analyst-quality SQL behind every chart but do not want analysts writing every report. Business users ask questions in plain English, the AI generates SQL that analysts can inspect, and results become dashboards, embedded views, or Slack answers. Teams leaving Domo can use its managed storage and 750+ connectors; teams with a warehouse simply connect it. BI Bench placed it first overall. If your analysts mainly need a Python notebook for deep statistical work, Mode or a notebook tool may still sit alongside it.

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