Metaphor vs Alation

When comparing Metaphor to Alation, Metaphor clearly takes the lead. With powerful features such as Natural Language Search, automatic end to end column level lineage , and AI-Aided Content Generation, Metaphor offers a more agile and modern solution for data management. Alation's reliance on legacy workflows and fixed documentation falls short in today's fast-paced business environment. 

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Search & Discovery

Leave behind the guesswork. Metaphor surfaces social, behavioral and technical signals so that you and your team can easily find and trust your data.
Metaphor
Alation
Keyword & Faceted Search
Advanced Search Operators
Natural Language Search
Natural Language Search External Wiki’s/Glossaries
Search in Slack/Teams
Query Log/Top Queries
AI/Query Explainers

Data Literacy & Enablement

Highly accessible documentation for the business or technical user that stays up-to-date and relevant with minimal effort.
Metaphor
Alation
Multi Purpose Document Center
Fixed Glossaries
AI Aided Content Generation
Document Approvals Workflow
Agile
Legacy

Data Governance

Easy and flexible way to govern your data that scales. Enable your team to work and use the right data with the right signals, applied once and automatically populated everywhere else.
Metaphor
Alation
Governed Tags
(Flat, Hierarchical)
Flexible Contacts (Including Default Slack/Teams Channels)
Fixed Contract Types
Asset Documentation
(Including inputs from multiple individuals)
Customizable Domains
Custom Metadata

Maintenance & Troubleshooting

Maintain data integrity - troubleshoot data issues, analyze the impact of changes, and explore your data lineage.
Metaphor
Alation
Fully Automatic Column Level Lineage
Impact Analysis
(Technical, Business, Behavioral)
Basic Technical
Extensibility
High-Graphql,SQL
Low-Basic API's

Collaboration

Metaphor streamlines data from silos to synergy, boosting your ROI through unified collaboration.
Metaphor
Alation
Social Conversation and Context at Every Level (assets, schemas, domains, etc)
Social Hashtags for Organic Discovery
One Click Summarization of Data Conversations in Slack/Teams
Web Extension for displaying trust signals in Dashboards