Comparison
Two platforms you can install on your side. This page compares graal and Dataiku criterion by criterion: what each one publishes, in its own words, dated and sourced.
At a glance
graal
With you: your Kubernetes or OpenShift, on-premises or with the hosting provider of your choice. No third-party service is needed to run it.
Dataiku
Three installations: Dataiku Cloud, hosted by Dataiku; Cloud Stacks, in your cloud tenant; Custom, on your Linux server, “on-premises or on any cloud”.
graal
Two open source products, under the Apache 2.0 license: graal Data Platform and graal Agentic Platform.
Dataiku
Proprietary installed software: “Dataiku’s proprietary installed software product”. It may incorporate third-party open source software.
graal
Annual vendor subscription per vCPU, unlimited users and agents, no usage-based billing.
Dataiku
A subscription defined in the order, with a scope of use (“Scope of Use”) that may limit users, copies or instances. No price list on the pages consulted.
graal
An MCP server drives the Data Platform, under a service account scoped to one project and with human approval. The Agentic Platform puts any agent to work on your processes.
Dataiku
Each project exposes an MCP endpoint, protected by an API key. Cobuild has been generally available since 18 June 2026; Agent Management will be in October 2026.
Criterion by criterion
Every Dataiku cell links to its source and to the date we accessed it. Quotes stay in their original language.
| Criterion | graal | Dataiku |
|---|---|---|
| Where the platform runs | Your Kubernetes or OpenShift: on-premises, in a private cloud or with the hosting provider of your choice. Installed with Helm, without cluster administration rights; offline installation is possible. | Three installations: “Dataiku Cloud”, hosted on Dataiku’s own cloud; “Dataiku Cloud Stacks”, a fully managed setup deployed on AWS, Azure or GCP; “Custom Dataiku”, installed on your Linux server: “This can be deployed either on-premises or on any cloud.” |
| Who operates the control plane | You do. No SaaS and no telemetry: no third-party service is needed to run it. Operations by graal Services is a separate service that you choose. | Dataiku Cloud: “Data and compute are hosted by Dataiku.” Cloud Stacks: “Everything is deployed in your cloud tenant, Dataiku does not have access to your data.” Custom: “install Dataiku DSS on your own Linux server”. |
| Vendor, headquarters, governing law | GRAAL.SYSTEMS SAS, a French-law vendor, Paris. | Dataiku, founded in 2013; its press releases are datelined New York. For a customer in France or continental Europe (excluding the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany), the license terms set French law and the courts of Paris. |
| Software license | Open source, Apache 2.0 license, for the Data Platform and the Agentic Platform alike. | The terms define the software as “the object code form of Dataiku’s proprietary installed software product”. The license is granted “during the Subscription Term to install, copy and use the Software […] on systems under Customer’s control”. “The Software may incorporate third-party open source software”. |
| Open formats | Parquet and Apache Iceberg on your S3 storage, standard SQL with Trino; low-code pipelines exported as Pandas or PySpark code. | “Dataiku can interact with Iceberg catalogs, to read and write Iceberg tables.” Parquet is supported. Delta Lake can be read, with support described as “Experimental”. |
| Published pricing model | Annual vendor subscription per vCPU, unlimited users and agents, no usage-based billing. 8-week pilot; graal Services priced separately. | The subscription and its scope are defined in the order: “Scope of Use” may include “any user, copy, instance or other restrictions”. Agent Management: “Product access is priced per instance annually, with monitoring metered per agent.” No price list on the pages consulted. |
| Generative AI and agents | MCP server built into the Data Platform, one service account per project, per-agent policies, human approval, revocation, audit. LLM gateway and RAG over your documents. Agentic Platform: workflows of agents and people, any agent, measured guarantees. | “You can expose Dataiku agents and tools as MCP tools through a dedicated MCP endpoint.” Each project has its own endpoint; “Authentication is required and is done via API keys” and “Agents and tools run with the permissions of the API key.” Cobuild, “an AI building agent”, is generally available from 18 June 2026; Agent Management, a standalone product, will be in October 2026. |
A cell older than 90 days is re-checked or removed. Has something changed? Write to contact@graal.systems and we will correct it.
When to choose graal
The Data Platform and the Agentic Platform are open source, under the Apache 2.0 license, independent and complementary: each one installs, runs and is bought on its own.
The vendor subscription is computed per vCPU, with unlimited users and agents and no usage-based billing: the bill varies neither with the number of queries nor with the number of people or agents.
The Agentic Platform puts any agent to work (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI…) behind a common protocol, with guarantees that refuse, human approval that requires re-authentication, a budget per run and signed evidence.
The agents of the Agentic Platform operate the Data Platform through its MCP server, under a service account scoped to one project; every call is traced on both sides. Each one remains usable on its own.
When Dataiku suits you
Dataiku describes itself this way: “In a single environment, teams design and operate analytics, machine learning, and AI agents with the transparency, collaboration, and control enterprises require.”
Three installations are documented: Dataiku Cloud, Cloud Stacks and Custom Dataiku.
Cobuild is “an AI building agent that enables any enterprise team to turn a business objective into a governed, production-ready AI project”.
For France and continental Europe (excluding the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany), the license terms set French law and the courts of Paris.
Frequently asked questions
Both install on your side. graal brings together two open source platforms: the Data Platform, from source to model in production, and the Agentic Platform, which puts agents to work under measured guarantees. The 8-week pilot compares on a real use case.
It puts any agent to work behind a common protocol, on workflows of agents and people: software delivery, IT operations, joiners and leavers, data changes. Guarantees refuse what is not compliant, a person approves before any write to a third-party system, and every action leaves evidence.
An annual vendor subscription per vCPU, with unlimited users and agents and no usage-based billing. The amount depends on your vCPU quota and the services you choose: you receive it after a scoping conversation.
Yes, through the Data Platform’s MCP server, under a service account scoped to one project. Sensitive actions wait for a manager’s approval, and every call is visible live and in the audit log.
The 8-week pilot puts graal to the test on your use case, in your infrastructure.