The Core Difference
LILA connects to your database and returns real data. When you ask “What were my top selling products last month?”, LILA generates SQL, executes it against your live database, and shows you the actual results. Real numbers from your real data.
ChatGPT cannot connect to your database. It can help you write SQL queries if you describe your schema. But you must copy that SQL, paste it into a database tool, run it yourself, and interpret the results. ChatGPT never sees your actual data.
ChatGPT is a SQL writing assistant. LILA is a database query engine.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | LILA | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Database connection | Yes. Connects with read-only access. | No. Cannot connect to databases. |
| Query execution | Yes. Executes SQL and returns results. | No. Only generates SQL code. |
| Returns real data | Yes. Actual data from your database. | No. Only returns SQL code. |
| Technical knowledge needed | None. Ask questions in plain English. | Must know how to run SQL queries. |
| Embeddable widget | Yes. Lives in your dashboard. | No. Separate chat interface. |
| Knows your schema | Yes. Learns your tables automatically. | Only if you describe it each time. |
| For end users | Yes. Designed for business users. | No. Requires technical skills. |
| Copy-paste required | No. Complete workflow in one place. | Yes. Copy SQL, run elsewhere. |
LILA: Ask Questions, Get Answers
LILA is an AI database assistant that connects to your database. When you ask a question, LILA:
- Understands your question in plain English (or 25+ other languages)
- Generates the correct SQL query for your specific schema
- Executes the query against your live database
- Returns the results in a formatted, readable way
Your users never see SQL. They never touch a database tool. They ask a question and get an answer. That is the complete workflow.
LILA is an embeddable widget that lives in your dashboard. Your customers, your operations team, your business users can all ask questions about their data without any technical knowledge.
Example with LILA
User asks: “What were my top 5 products last month?”
LILA returns: A table showing Product Name, Units Sold, Revenue for the top 5 products with actual data from the database.
ChatGPT: Help Writing SQL
ChatGPT is a general-purpose AI assistant. It can help you write SQL queries if you describe your database schema. But the workflow is manual:
- You describe your schema to ChatGPT
- ChatGPT generates SQL code
- You copy the SQL code
- You paste it into a database tool (pgAdmin, MySQL Workbench, DBeaver, etc.)
- You run the query
- You interpret the results
ChatGPT never connects to your database. It never sees your actual data. It cannot tell you if the query worked or if the results make sense.
Example with ChatGPT
User asks: “Write a SQL query for my top 5 products last month. I have a products table and an orders table…”
ChatGPT returns: SQL code that you must copy, paste into a database tool, execute, and interpret yourself.
When to Use LILA vs ChatGPT
Use LILA when:
- You need actual answers from your database
- Business users need data without writing SQL
- You want to embed data access in your application
- Your customers need self-service analytics
- You want a complete query-to-answer workflow
Use ChatGPT when:
- You are learning SQL and want practice writing queries
- You are a developer who wants help with complex SQL syntax
- You already have database tools and just need SQL code
- You want to understand what a query does (explanation)
The Workflow Difference
With LILA (Complete Workflow)
Ask question in your dashboard → Get answer with real data
One step. No copy-paste. No database tools. No SQL knowledge.
With ChatGPT (Partial Workflow)
Describe schema → Get SQL code → Copy SQL → Open database tool → Paste SQL → Run query → Read results → Interpret data
Multiple steps. Requires database access. Requires technical knowledge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can ChatGPT query my database?
No. ChatGPT cannot connect to your database. It can help you write SQL queries if you describe your schema, but you must copy the SQL, paste it into a database tool, run it yourself, and interpret the results. ChatGPT never sees your actual data.
What is the difference between LILA and ChatGPT for database questions?
LILA connects directly to your database with read-only access. When you ask a question, LILA generates SQL, executes it against your live database, and returns real results. ChatGPT can only help you write SQL code. It cannot connect to databases, execute queries, or return actual data from your systems.
Should I use ChatGPT or LILA for business data questions?
Use LILA if you need actual answers from your database. Use ChatGPT if you want help learning SQL or writing queries that you will run yourself. For business users who need data without technical skills, LILA provides complete answers. ChatGPT provides SQL code that still requires database access and technical knowledge to execute.
Can I embed ChatGPT in my application to query databases?
Not directly. ChatGPT does not have database connectivity. You would need to build custom integrations, handle database connections, manage security, and process results. LILA is purpose-built for this use case. It is an embeddable widget that handles database connectivity, query execution, and result formatting out of the box.