Hex and Mode court the same analyst, so the decision comes down to whether your output is an analysis or a report.
These are the closest pair in Hex's lineup. Choose Mode if your analysts mostly write SQL and need to turn it into recurring, parameterized reports quickly, and you are comfortable that Mode now sits inside ThoughtSpot. Choose Hex if their work regularly mixes SQL with Python, branches into exploration, and ends as an interactive app or a written analysis.
Both products were built for people who are comfortable in SQL, and both leave business users mostly reading what analysts produce. That shared audience is why teams leaving one so often trial the other. The difference is what each treats as the finished product. Mode is organized around getting from a query to a shareable report. Hex is organized around a notebook where the query is one step in a longer piece of reasoning.
In Hex, SQL cells and Python cells share one reactive notebook, so changing an upstream query or filter flows through to everything that depends on it. An analyst can pull data, clean it in Python, fit a model, chart the output, and add commentary in one shared project that colleagues can open and build on. Hex Magic writes and debugs code, projects can run on a schedule, and the notebook can be published as an app with inputs for stakeholders.
For a team doing statistical work or long investigations, that flexibility is the reason to choose Hex. For a team that mainly needs clean recurring reports, the extra structure can feel like more than the job requires.
Mode is at its best when the job is turning SQL into something a stakeholder can open every week. Analysts write in a SQL editor, attach charts, add parameters so readers can change a date range or segment, and organize reports in shared spaces. For SQL-centered teams that mainly deliver recurring reporting, that path is quick and familiar.
Two things deserve attention. Mode is now part of ThoughtSpot, so its roadmap and pricing will increasingly follow the parent company's priorities. And like Hex, it keeps the creating in analysts' hands; business users can adjust parameters but rarely build anything new.
| Criterion | Hex | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| What a finished piece looks like | A notebook or published app combining code, charts, and narrative | A SQL-backed report with charts and parameters |
| SQL and Python together | Equal citizens, with reactive cells that update downstream work | SQL-first; the editor and report are the center of the workflow |
| Recurring reporting | Possible through schedules and apps, with more structure to set up | The core use case, quick to build and iterate |
| AI assistance | Hex Magic for SQL, Python, chart suggestions, and debugging | AI help layered onto a SQL-centric process |
| Ownership | Independent product focused on notebooks | Owned by ThoughtSpot, with roadmap tied to the parent |
| Business-user role | Uses published apps an analyst built | Reads reports and changes parameters |
Analysts routinely move between SQL and Python inside one piece of work.
Deliverables are investigations, models, or interactive apps rather than fixed reports.
Analyses are collaborative projects that teammates extend, not one person's query.
Most output is recurring SQL reports with a few parameters.
Your analysts value a short, familiar path from query to shared report.
You already use ThoughtSpot or are comfortable with Mode's place in its roadmap.
Teams comparing Hex and Mode are often trying to make analysts faster, but the bigger cost is usually that every new question still has to go through an analyst. Basedash changes who can start the work. A product or ops lead asks in plain English, Basedash drafts the SQL and the chart, and an analyst can review the query before it becomes a shared dashboard. Shared metric definitions keep recurring reports consistent, and Slack answers and automations cover the requests that would otherwise land in the queue. Accuracy matters here too: Basedash scored 94.8% on BI Bench with roughly 33-second answers, while Hex scored 80.6% and took around 198 seconds.
If your analysts need Python notebooks, Hex remains the better tool for that work, and Basedash is not trying to replace a SQL IDE for people who prefer writing every query by hand.
The SQL skills carry over directly, so the learning curve is mostly about workflow. Mode analysts are used to writing a query and building a report on top of it. In Hex, queries become cells in a notebook that can be chained with Python, reactive updates, and narrative text, and the shareable version is a published app. Recurring reports need to be rebuilt as scheduled notebooks or apps. Teams that mainly produce parameterized reports may find the move adds structure without much benefit, while teams doing more exploratory or Python work tend to gain the most.
It adds a factor to weigh. Mode is no longer an independent company, so decisions about its roadmap, packaging, and pricing will increasingly reflect ThoughtSpot's strategy, which centers on search-driven analytics for business users. Hex remains focused on its notebook product. If you value Mode's SQL-to-report workflow and already use or are considering ThoughtSpot, the ownership may be neutral or positive. If you want a vendor whose whole roadmap is about analyst notebooks, Hex is the more direct bet.
Neither is designed for business users to create their own analysis. In Mode, they open reports and adjust parameters such as date ranges or segments. In Hex, they open published apps with inputs and charts an analyst set up. Hex apps can be more interactive and can wrap more complex logic, while Mode reports are quicker for analysts to produce. If your goal is for non-technical colleagues to ask new questions themselves, that requirement points to a different kind of tool.
Consider Basedash when the team is good at SQL but spends too much time on routine requests from other departments. Basedash lets those colleagues ask in plain English, generates SQL that analysts can review, and each answer can join a dashboard, go to Slack, or become a recurring automation, all on common metric definitions. Analysts then focus on the harder work. Basedash is not a Python notebook, so data science work still belongs in Hex, and it does not aim to be a hand-written SQL environment like Mode.