Data Governance for Teams That Don’t Have Time for Atlan.
Structured data governance without the enterprise-grade complexity or price tag. Import schemas, track ownership, flag PII — all without a data engineering team.
The Problem
Excel is Too Manual. Enterprise Tools are Too Complex.
Your team is growing, compliance questions are landing in your inbox, and you’ve been tracking data ownership in a spreadsheet that was last updated by someone who left two months ago. It’s always stale, nobody trusts it, and every audit starts with a week of detective work.
But the alternative isn’t great either. Atlan, Collibra, and Alation cost $100K+ and take six months to implement. They assume you have a dedicated data governance team and a procurement process. You have a Slack channel and a deadline. You need something in between.
Spreadsheet Chaos
You’re tracking table ownership in Google Sheets. It’s always stale, nobody updates it, and there’s no connection to the actual codebase. Every question starts with “who owns this?” and ends with “I think maybe Sarah?”
Enterprise Sticker Shock
Atlan, Collibra, and Alation assume you have a dedicated data governance team and a six-figure budget. You have neither. You need governance that fits in a startup budget, not an enterprise RFP.
Compliance Pressure
SOC 2, GDPR, or investor due diligence is coming. “Who owns this data?” shouldn’t be a 3-day research project. But right now, it is — because nothing is tracked in a system that anyone trusts.
The Solution
The "Goldilocks" Data Governance Platform
Ludflow sits in the sweet spot. Powerful enough to handle real governance workflows — schema imports, ownership tracking, PII classification, git-style drafts — but simple enough that your first catalog is live in minutes, not months. No data engineering degree required.
Here's what that looks like in practice
FEATURE
Know Who Owns Every Field in Every Table
Import your database schemas from DDL or CSV and Ludflow builds a governed metadata layer on top. Custom columns track ownership, descriptions, PII classification — whatever your team needs.
- Import schemas from DDL files or CSV — auto-creates tables and columns
- Auto-populated "Read By" and "Modified By" columns from analyzed code
- Custom metadata columns: ownership, PII flags, descriptions, cross-references
- Git-style draft workflow with conflict resolution
- Document-column linking with [[field:table.column]] syntax
- Cross-data-source column mapping for tracing data lineage
FEATURE
Your Codebase, Documented Automatically
Connect your GitHub repositories and Ludflow analyzes your code to extract functions, API endpoints, database operations, environment variables, and dependency maps. Get an auto-generated API documentation catalog without writing a single line of JSDoc.
- One-click GitHub OAuth connection — no GitHub App installation required
- Automatic extraction: functions, API endpoints, DB operations, env vars
- Scheduled sync (daily/weekly/monthly) keeps documentation current
- Ask your codebase questions in natural language through unified chat
FEATURE
Built for Teams, Not Solo Note-Takers
Ludflow's collaboration model mirrors how cross-functional teams actually work. Engineers, product managers, and stakeholders all get the access and context they need. Organize docs into folders. Publish documents to make them searchable across the org.
- Organization hierarchy with role-based access
- Publishing workflow: Draft to Published to searchable in RAG
- Google Drive and Notion import — bring existing documentation
- Folder assignments with activity logging for delegation
How It Works
From Zero to Documented in Four Steps
Flag
Tag columns with AI-readiness indicators: PII, sensitivity level, description quality. Ludflow’s custom metadata columns let you define exactly what your LLM pipeline needs to know.
Connect
Link your schema metadata to your codebase. Ludflow’s code scan shows exactly which functions read or modify each column — so your RAG pipeline only indexes what matters.
Index
Publish governed metadata into Ludflow’s semantic search. Your LLM context window gets high-quality, verified data descriptions instead of raw DDL dumps.
Verify
Every metadata change goes through a git-style draft workflow. No one accidentally updates a column description that feeds into your AI pipeline without review.
Who It's For
Built for Every Team That Touches Your Product
Data Leads at Startups
50-200 employees
You inherited a Google Sheet of table owners from the last data hire. Ludflow replaces it with a real catalog that auto-links to your codebase and tracks changes through draft workflows.
Founders Facing Due Diligence
Pre-Series B
Investors are asking about data governance. Show them a governed schema catalog with ownership, PII flags, and audit trails — not a spreadsheet with last-updated dates from six months ago.
Growth Teams Building AI Features
Shipping LLM-powered products
You need to know which columns are safe to feed into your RAG pipeline. Ludflow’s metadata layer tells you exactly what’s PII, what’s verified, and what’s garbage.
Comparison
Why Startups Choose Ludflow Over Enterprise Governance Tools
| Feature | Ludflow | Atlan | Collibra | Google Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schema Import (DDL/CSV) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Manual |
| Auto Code-to-Column Mapping | ✓ | Limited | — | — |
| Custom Metadata Columns | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Git-Style Draft Workflow | ✓ | — | Basic | — |
| PII Classification | Manual | ✓ | ✓ | Manual |
| Setup Time | Minutes | Months | Months | Hours |
| No Data Engineering Team Required | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Free Tier | Free beta | Enterprise | Enterprise | Free |
Schema Import (DDL/CSV)
Auto Code-to-Column Mapping
Custom Metadata Columns
Git-Style Draft Workflow
PII Classification
Setup Time
No Data Engineering Team Required
Free Tier
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Why Teams Trust Ludflow
Built to Keep Everyone on the Same Page
Early Access
Get In Early. Shape the Product.
Ludflow is in private beta. We're onboarding teams who want to solve documentation rot and are willing to share feedback and help shape the product and user experience. Beta access is completely free.
FAQ
Common Questions
Stop Letting Documentation Die on the Vine
Your team's knowledge deserves better than a folder of outdated PDFs and abandoned wiki pages. Ludflow keeps your docs alive, connected, and searchable — automatically.
Early Access
Want to Be the First?
We’re building Ludflow with early users who care about documentation. Request beta access to shape the roadmap and help us build the tool your team actually needs.