dbt (data build tool) is a SQL-first transformation framework that lets analytics engineers write modular SELECT statements, test them, and compile them into the DDL/DML a warehouse executes, covering the transform step of an ELT pipeline. dbt Labs — then called Fishtown Analytics — began building dbt in 2016 and open-sourced dbt Core from the outset under the Apache 2.0 license, later introducing the commercial dbt Cloud product on top of that open-source core in 2018. dbt Core remains free and open source on GitHub, while dbt Cloud adds hosted orchestration, a browser IDE, and governance features as a paid service.
Data Modernization
dbt (data build tool) is a SQL-first transformation framework that lets analytics engineers write modular SELECT statements, test them, and compile them into the DDL/DML a warehouse executes, covering the transform step of an ELT pipeline. dbt Labs — then called Fishtown Analytics — began building dbt in 2016 and open-sourced dbt Core from the outset under the Apache 2.0 license, later introducing the commercial dbt Cloud product on top of that open-source core in 2018. dbt Core remains free and open source on GitHub, while dbt Cloud adds hosted orchestration, a browser IDE, and governance features as a paid service.
