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Comparison · Analytics
Highlight vs Keboola
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Highlight and Keboola — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Highlight vs Keboola: at a glance
What is Highlight?
Highlight grew from session replay into SQL-driven observability, then went quiet in August 2025.
Highlight is an open-source observability stack covering session replay, errors, logs, traces and metrics. Its last tagged self-hosted release, docker-v0.5.6, shipped in August 2025 with session-replay performance fixes and session restarts. Nothing has been tagged since.
What is Keboola?
Keboola adds dark mode while it tightens the MCP server and retires idle workspaces.
Keboola's recent releases split between hygiene and AI-agent safety. The MCP server's query_data tool is now read-only, emailing API tokens is being retired, and idle Snowflake and BigQuery workspaces will be deactivated from 9 November. On the user side, data apps start faster on pre-built images, Kai gained shared team memory, and the UI now has dark mode.
Highlight vs Keboola: editorial side-by-side
Highlight
0.0ANALYTICS
Highlight grew from session replay into SQL-driven observability, then went quiet in August 2025.
◆ Current state
Highlight is an open-source observability stack covering session replay, errors, logs, traces and metrics. Its last tagged self-hosted release, docker-v0.5.6, shipped in August 2025 with session-replay performance fixes and session restarts. Nothing has been tagged since.
◆ Where it's heading
Through 2025 the releases added OpenTelemetry metrics ingest, a SQL editor and builder for graphs, SQL alerts and dashboards created from log and trace views. That pushed Highlight from a replay tool toward a general telemetry platform. The cadence then slowed from roughly monthly to a two-month gap before stopping.
◆ Prediction
The entries show no release in more than a year, so the self-hosted line's future is unclear. Any new tag would most likely be maintenance on session replay and OTel ingestion.
Keboola
5.0ANALYTICS
Keboola adds dark mode while it tightens the MCP server and retires idle workspaces.
◆ Current state
Keboola's recent releases split between hygiene and AI-agent safety. The MCP server's query_data tool is now read-only, emailing API tokens is being retired, and idle Snowflake and BigQuery workspaces will be deactivated from 9 November. On the user side, data apps start faster on pre-built images, Kai gained shared team memory, and the UI now has dark mode.
◆ Where it's heading
The platform is limiting what agents and stale resources can do while making its AI assistant and apps quicker to use. The pattern is deliberate cleanup ahead of wider agent usage, not new surface area.
◆ Prediction
Expect more guardrails around the MCP server and Kai, such as tighter scopes or approvals, alongside further deprecation notices with fixed dates.
Alternatives to Highlight and Keboola
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Highlight or Keboola.
OpenReplay
OpenReplay moves its Go backend to pgx v5 and patches vulnerable deps across 1.25–1.27.
Basedash
Basedash automations can now attach scheduled CSV exports to Slack and email.
OpenPanel
OpenPanel tags three more note-free builds in one evening, reaching 3.16.4.
Fulcrum
Fulcrum turns on Insights, its AI assistant for field data, for every customer.
Holistics
Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.
See all Highlight alternatives → · See all Keboola alternatives →
Recent activity from Highlight and Keboola
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoKeboolaSwitch Keboola to Dark Mode
- 3d agoKeboolaUnused Workspaces Will Be Cleaned Up Automatically
- 6d agoKeboolaKeboola MCP Server: query_data Runs Read-Only Queries Only
- 9d agoKeboolaSending API Tokens via Email Will Be Removed on February 4, 2027
- 17d agoKeboolaFaster App Starts by Default
- 22d agoKeboolaKai remembers what matters: shared team memory
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.6: session replay performance and session restarts
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.5: SQL alerts, log downloads, video in replays
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.4: SQL joins and graphed error metrics
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.3: dashboards and alerts from logs and traces
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.2: OTel metrics in the web SDK
- 1y agoHighlightdocker-v0.5.1: SQL editor for graphs and OTel metrics export ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Highlight and Keboola?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Keboola is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Highlight better than Keboola?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Keboola is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Highlight?
Top Highlight alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Highlight alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/highlight for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Keboola?
Top Keboola alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Keboola alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/keboola for the full list with editorial commentary on each.