# dbt

16 Hacker News commenters recommended dbt and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend dbt for building SQL pipelines as a DAG with version control, testing and docs. Critics find its mix of SQL, YAML and Jinja hard to work with.

## Why people recommend it

- Version control, testing and docs (2 comments): "people use dbt etc. to test every little edit of their manually coded delta pipelines, but don't look at IVM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46447169)) "I find it easier to maintain and it helps me with version control, testing, and docs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48397258))
- Structured SQL instead of string manipulation (2 comments): "You should be using dbt instead of string manipulation for serious query building." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49549190)) "you're turning SQL into a proper programming language with just one library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49551944))
- Seen as useful, even necessary (3 comments): "Looker and DBT already mostly or completely solve it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48878019)) "Airflow and dbt serve a real purpose." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46668373)) "without something like dbt" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49561969))

## What people warn about

- Described as a cluster fire (2 comments): "introduced the cluster fire that was DBT" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50215394)) "the cluster fire that was DBT" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50216236))
- Overkill for this use case (2 comments): "layers of abstraction (Airflow, dbt, Snowflake) applied to datasets that often fit entirely in RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46667098)) "considering that dbt is not suiting well this particular use-case" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47948276))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [CyberChef](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cyberchef.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "dbt", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dbt/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).