Count vs Hex
Count and Hex side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Count | Hex | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Data & Analytics | Data & Analytics |
| Starting price | Free; paid plans from $49/mo (checked October 2026) | Free; paid plans from $36/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Both list a free tier, so you can try each before paying.
Hex has the lower starting price ($36/mo against $49/mo for Count). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Data & Analytics category.
About each tool
Count
Collaborative analytics workspace where an AI agent builds queries, charts and reports on a shared canvas. Pro is $49 per editor a month; viewers are free.
Who it is for
Count's homepage points to analysts, data teams, researchers and finance teams doing exploratory analysis, research and stakeholder reporting where mistakes are costly. Viewers are free, so it can suit teams where many people read results and few build them.
Strengths
- Count's homepage says the agent flags uncited claims, assumptions and model inferences, and lets teammates comment on results.
- Count lists connectors for BigQuery, Snowflake, PostgreSQL and Databricks, tools such as Slack, Notion, HubSpot and Salesforce, and file uploads (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, CSV, JPG).
- Count says AI clients such as Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor and Gemini can connect through MCP, and lists optional GitHub sync.
- Count's docs and Terms of Use say neither Count nor its AI partners train models on your data, and that AI input and output are your data.
- Count's pricing page lists SSO, unlimited version history and REST APIs for Enterprise, and its Trust Center says paid customers can request a SOC 2 audit report.
Limitations
- Pricing is per editor: Owners, Admins and Editors are billable seats. Viewers and Report Viewers are free. The FAQ says Admins are available on Enterprise.
- The Free plan is capped at 1 project, 3 canvases, 5 users, 1 database or MCP connection and 2 automations, with a daily AI credit limit, limited models and 500MB compute. It has no scheduled reports or version history.
- Count's Terms of Use say subscriptions are fixed-term, paid in advance and auto-renew unless you give notice, and that termination does not entitle you to a refund of prepaid fees. Count's liability for Count AI is capped at $100 USD, and the terms say AI output is not verified by Count.
Hex
Analytics platform for SQL, Python, data apps and AI agents. Free Community plan; Professional is $36 per Editor a month (annual billing not stated).
Who it is for
Hex's pricing page positions Community for hobbyists on small projects, Professional for individuals, Team for collaborating data teams, and Enterprise for organizations that need advanced security and governance. Its workspace roles also include Explorer and Viewer seats so non-authors can ask questions and use shared apps.
Strengths
- Hex lists connections to Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Databricks, Postgres, ClickHouse, MariaDB, Athena, SQL Server, MySQL, Trino and Dremio, plus dbt, Git export to GitHub or GitLab, and Airflow, Dagster and Prefect.
- Hex says people can ask questions in plain language through Hex, Slack or MCP, and lists a CLI and a public API for custom integrations.
- Hex lists a free Community plan and a 14-day Team trial with no payment card required; if nothing is done, the workspace is downgraded to Community.
- Hex says students and educators at universities and bootcamps can get Professional free, and a discounted nonprofit program exists; both are requested by contacting Hex.
- Hex says it is audited annually for SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance; its AI privacy doc says its LLM providers do not train on customer data and run under zero data retention by default.
- Hex's AI privacy doc says Enterprise admins can route AI through their own provider keys (BYOK), in which case AI use does not consume Hex credits, and admins can turn off AI for the whole workspace.
Limitations
- AI use is metered in credits per seat each month: Community 5, Professional 30, Team 40 (Explorer 10 on Team); Enterprise is set on the order form. Monthly grants do not roll over.
- Larger compute is not included on every plan: Professional lists Medium compute, and Team and Enterprise list advanced compute as an add-on. Single-tenant, HIPAA, embedded analytics and custom Docker images are Enterprise add-ons.
- Hex's two pricing pages disagree: the main page says Community has up to 5 published apps and small compute, while the A/B variant says up to 5 notebooks and 4GB RAM. Neither page states annual billing or a refund policy, and Hex may use AI session data to improve its AI features depending on plan (opt out in Settings).
