# Alation vs Basedash MCP (slim)

> Basedash MCP and Alation score within a point of each other for data catalogues, 61.1 and 60.3 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alation-vs-basedash-mcp.md (~5,450 tokens) · this version ~3,430 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alation-vs-basedash-mcp.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/alation-vs-basedash-mcp
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-02
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Basedash MCP and Alation score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61.1 (C) and 60.3 (C). Alation leads on schema & documentation and agent ergonomics. Both do data catalogues.

- Alation: C 60.3, rank #551 of 1266 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/alation.min.md
- Basedash MCP: C 61.1, rank #501 of 1266 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/basedash-mcp.min.md
- Alation, good for A company already on Alation Cloud Service that wants agents to find governed tables, columns, queries, BI reports and lineage, and to run read-only SQL against data products, under an Alation role. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 78 against 57; Agent ergonomics, 71 against 55. Also Runs on your own machine.
- Basedash MCP, good for Teams already on Basedash, or choosing a BI tool, that want an agent to answer questions from governed metrics and build dashboards under each person's access. Ahead on Reliability, 70 against 61; Security & auth, 68 against 63; Payments & pricing, 32 against 0. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install; Free to start without a card.

| Category | Alation | Basedash MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 61 | 70 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 78 | 57 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 71 | 55 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 63 | 68 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 0 | 32 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 71 | 75 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 76 | 74 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Alation | Basedash MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | MCP server |
| Vendor | Alation, Inc. | BaseDash Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://charts.basedash.com/api/public/mcp` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Alation's Master Cloud Software Licence and Services Agreement. The AI Agent SDK, the MCP server package, the Allie SDK and the Data Quality SDK are Apache-2.0 | Proprietary hosted service under Basedash's Terms of Service (updated 14 October 2026), governed by Delaware law. The Basedash/mcp repository holds only a README and server.json, with no licence file and no server code |
| Tools exposed | 16 | 10 |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `com.basedash/mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-10-03 | 2026-10-30 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-10-14 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-06-01 |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 19 stars, 2.1k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Payments & pricing, Basedash MCP +32: Alation 0 (Hosted service, so the hosted rubric applies. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No published prices. www.alation.com/pricing redirects to a form for a 30-minute sales call (0). No free tier or trial for a new user. The 2,000 free Aggregated Context API calls are a one-time allowance inside a paying tenant (0). An agent needs a customer's Server Admin to register an OAuth client, or a user to create a token, after a sales contract (0).); Basedash MCP 32 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public, $1,000 a month for Startup with $1,000 of AI credits included, but the cost of an MCP question in AI usage isn't published (10). A 14-day trial needs no card, includes up to $250 of AI usage and has the MCP server, since it's on every plan and the trial has full feature access (20). A person signs up in a browser and approves the OAuth connection; clients can register themselves with the authorisation server, which earns 2 (2 of 20). Total 32.)
- Schema & documentation, Alation +21: Alation 78 (Every API has an OpenAPI 3.0 definition, printed in the Markdown copy of each reference page and served by each instance under `/openapi/`. We found no single public file to download. The local MCP server's tools take typed parameters through FastMCP (22 of 25). No llms.txt on developer.alation.com, www.alation.com or docs.alation.com, but the developer portal serves a Markdown copy of each page at the same address with `.md` (6 of 10). MCP tool descriptions name use cases, counter-examples and the tool to call instead, and the API reference states purpose and availability for each operation (16 of 20). The `signature` parameter is a free-form JSON object, search `filters` is a JSON string, and the agent tools take one natural-language `message` (9 of 15). A table of six-digit error codes, request and response examples and recipes. The portal warns that its code generator builds a wrong URL for `filters` (13 of 15). Reference pages are versioned from v2024.1 to v2026.9.0-1 and paths carry v1 or v2, but the API release notes page we read holds only the 2026.7.2.0 entry (12 of 15).); Basedash MCP 57 (The served tool definitions can be read only in a signed-in MCP session, which this run doesn't open. The docs and feature page list all ten tools with their inputs, which are required or optional, their scopes, what each returns and which one is annotated destructive, and the REST API counterpart has a public OpenAPI 3.1.0 file (50 paths, 91 operations). Judgement call, 10 of 25 for documented inputs without published JSON Schemas. llms.txt and Markdown copies of every docs page are served (10). Each tool's purpose is stated, with when to use MCP over the REST API and `get_data_sources` described as the call to make before asking; when not to call a build tool isn't stated (12 of 20). Inputs are a free-text `question` or `instructions` plus ids, with no enums or constraints documented (5 of 15). Example questions on the feature page and the launch posts, and troubleshooting for Forbidden or not-a-member, usage blocked and not-found errors, but no error payload shapes (10 of 15). A public dated changelog with MCP entries on 5 June, 14 August, 4 and 25 September and 7 and 9 October 2026, and a server.json version (1.1.0), but the registry entry is still 1.0.0 and the llms.txt of 7 October 2026 still describes two tools (10 of 15). Total 57.)
- Agent ergonomics, Alation +16: Alation 71 (The local MCP server registers 16 tools and enables 8 by default, with `--enabled-tools` and `--disabled-tools` lists, and the README says the remote server lists only the tools the current user may call. Descriptions are long. On the Aggregated Context API a signature selects object types and fields, and field caps hold a table to its top 50 columns (22 of 25). REST paging uses `limit` and `skip` with an `X-Next-Page` header and a 1,000-object cap, and the AI API uses `limit` and `offset` up to 1,000. Parameter names differ between API families (17 of 20). Six-digit error codes with a published table, and the SDK returns `reason`, `resolution_hint`, `is_retryable` and `help_links` (17 of 20). No idempotency keys in the docs and no `readOnlyHint` or `destructiveHint` in the MCP source. Bulk writes run as jobs with a status endpoint (6 of 20). The catalogue search agent needs one parameter. The official SDKs (`alation-ai-agent-sdk`, `allie-sdk`, `alation-data-quality-sdk`) are all Python (9 of 15).); Basedash MCP 55 (Ten tools, grouped by the vendor into ask, build and look up. Their definitions' size couldn't be measured without a session, so 20 of 25 rather than 25. No paging, filters or size controls are documented for `list_dashboards` or `list_charts`; `ask_question` returns tables as CSV files rather than inline rows, and the client can page through the tool list, per the changelog of 14 August 2026 (5 of 20). The troubleshooting section names Forbidden or not-a-member, usage blocked and not-found or archived artifacts with what to do, and `ask_question` and `get_data_sources` return typed structured payloads since 5 June 2026 (10 of 20). `edit_dashboard` is annotated destructive and a failed dashboard or chart build is cleaned up, but no readOnlyHint on the look-up tools or idempotency on the create tools is documented (10 of 20). One or two required inputs per tool and nothing to install; the only official SDK is the React embedding SDK, which isn't for MCP (10 of 15). Total 55.)
- Reliability, Basedash MCP +9: Alation 61 (Hosted service, read on the hosted lines and graded on what an agent uses, the Alation Cloud Service REST APIs and the MCP server. A Statuspage at status.alationcloud.com with production and development components for nine regions (20). The history page lists four incidents between 10 August and 10 September 2026. US-East-1 lost connectivity for 2 hours 26 minutes on 10 September (marked critical), eu-west-1 was disrupted for 65 minutes on 10 August (major), a subset of customers had degraded availability for 56 minutes on 18 August (major), and Sydney was down for 19 minutes on 20 August (critical). Each was regional, and two ran over an hour. July was not on the page we read (5 of 30). The AI API has a two-tier token bucket with no numbers published. REST throttling is off by default and, when enabled, defaults to 20 requests a second for each API family. The Aggregated Context API has a one-time quota of 2,000 calls with enforcement at 2,400 (10 of 15). AI API 429s carry `Retry-After` and three `Ai-RateLimit` headers, REST 429s state the seconds to wait, and the SDK marks 429 and 500 as retryable. No idempotency keys were found (10 of 15). The MSA sets a 99.5 per cent monthly uptime target with service credits of 1 to 5 per cent (10). The Aggregated Context API has been generally available since 2025.1.5. The AI API page calls itself new and under highly active development, and the SDK and local MCP server are at 1.0.0rc3 (6 of 10).); Basedash MCP 70 (Graded with the hosted lines, on the remote server at charts.basedash.com. Instatus status page at status.basedash.com with one component, App, and notices back to April 2021; the MCP server isn't a separate component (20). No notices since 14 March 2026 and 100.0 per cent shown for September, October and November 2026, so the last 90 days are clean (30). No rate limit is published for the MCP server. The public API allows 60 requests a minute by default, per the changelog of 7 August 2026, which we count in part since the MCP surface may differ (5 of 15). The OpenAPI file documents a 429 with `RateLimitExceeded` and `retryAfterMs` on all 91 operations and an `Idempotency-Key` on starting a chat, but nothing is documented for 429s or retries over MCP (5 of 15). No uptime SLA; the about page names priority support SLAs on Enterprise only (0). The server isn't labelled beta or preview and is on both paid plans (10). Total 70.)
- Security & auth, Basedash MCP +5: Alation 63 (OAuth 2.0 client credentials on Alation Cloud Service. A Server Admin registers a client application, which creates a system user with one Alation role, and the admin can set token duration, revoke tokens, rotate the secret and rotate the signing key. An authorisation code flow with refresh tokens exists for user sign-in, without dynamic client registration. API keys are a refresh token (60 days) and an access token (24 hours) sent in a `TOKEN` header, revocable by an admin. Permissions follow roles, not scopes, and the refresh token endpoint takes a username and password (24 of 30). The APIs by Roles table maps each API to the roles that may call it, AI SQL execution allows reads only, and tools can be disabled. No confirmation step for writes was found (13 of 20). Tools return descriptions, documents and query text written by catalogue users, and we found no prompt-injection guidance (3 of 15). A Logging API, an API usage log, and SDK tool events sent to the customer's instance with tool name, parameters, duration and status. The source says parameters are not redacted (10 of 15). ISO 27001, 27701, 27017 and 27018, SOC 2 Type 2 with HIPAA, two penetration tests a year and a security@alation.com address. No security.txt, no bug bounty, and advisories need a Community login (13 of 20).); Basedash MCP 68 (OAuth on Basedash's own authorisation server, with the authorisation code grant and PKCE S256 only, refresh tokens, public clients, dynamic client registration, client ID metadata documents and a revocation endpoint. Three scopes separate asking, reading dashboards and writing them, and the token goes in the header only (30). Building needs `mcp:dashboards:write` on top of `mcp:chat:ask`, `edit_dashboard` is annotated destructive, no tool deletes, and Basedash's AI can change database rows only from the web app with an approval card, per the accuracy page. No server-side confirmation is documented for dashboard edits, and the consent screen on the feature page shows all three scopes together (15 of 20). Answers are drawn from connected company data, which can include text written by outsiders (tickets, CRM records synced by Fivetran), and no prompt-injection guidance was found. Hidden columns and row-level security narrow what reaches the model (5 of 15). The MCP server is a named audit log source, but AI tool calls and queries are recorded on Enterprise only; AI usage per person and feature is shown on every plan (10 of 15). No security.txt on www or charts, and no bug bounty or disclosure policy found. Basedash says it holds SOC 2 Type II, with the report under NDA, and runs third-party penetration tests (8 of 20). Total 68.)