Starburst Enterprise Context Layer organizes scattered data into governed, versioned Data Products, with business definitions, access policies and lineage. Each product combines a governed dataset with ownership and related context, and can be discovered in a shared catalog. Policies can include role-based access, column masking and row-level security. Teams can define Data Products in YAML, commit them to git, test changes before merging and roll back when needed; breaking changes are reviewed before release. Automated CI/CD lineage checks verify upstream freshness before a new version is published. A semantic layer translates data into business-ready metrics, dimensions and relationships for BI tools and AI agents. Data Products can be consumed through JDBC or REST, and the platform connects to more than 50 sources, including Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hive, Amazon S3, Snowflake and PostgreSQL. It runs in private cloud, hybrid or on-premises environments and is air-gap ready. Starburst lists a free plan and 30-day trial; paid plans start at $0.50 per credit. The product is aimed at regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, insurance and government, and advertises 24×7 enterprise support.
Who it is for
The Context Layer is aimed at data teams in regulated industries that need governed, versioned Data Products and lineage. It may suit organizations publishing data to BI tools, APIs, AI agents or apps across private cloud, hybrid or on-premises deployments.
What is good
- Data Products include definitions, access policies and lineage.
- YAML definitions can be committed to git and tested.
- Automated checks validate upstream freshness before publishing.
- Supports JDBC and REST consumption.
- Runs in air-gap-ready private cloud, hybrid or on-premises environments.
What to know first
- Paid plans start at $0.50 per credit.
- AIDA token usage is billed separately on Enterprise and Mission-Critical.
- Free plan includes up to three clusters.
Verdict
The Context Layer combines data product governance, version control, lineage checks and a semantic layer. Its deployment options and security controls are relevant to regulated organizations; review per-credit pricing and separately billed AIDA usage where applicable.
Starburst Enterprise Context Layer plans and pricing
All plansCompared on semantic layer software
- Free plan
- Yes
