Happy Valley

Metabase vs Notch Metrics

Metabase and Notch Metrics are both BI & dashboards tools aimed at small businesses and developers. Notch Metrics costs less, from $9/mo versus $100/mo for Metabase. Only Metabase has a free plan.

Metabase

Open-source BI anyone can use

Notch Metrics

Revenue, MRR and subscriber counts in your MacBook notch

PricingOpen source · $100Paid · $9
Starting price$100/mo$9/mo
Free planYesNo
Free trial14 days7 days
Built forSmall businesses, DevelopersSmall businesses, Developers, Creators, E-commerce
Platformswebmacos
CountryUS · 2015—
Rating——

Choose Metabase if

Startups and mid-size companies wanting quick, affordable BI; developers embedding analytics.

  • Free open-source edition is genuinely usable
  • Easy for non-analysts
  • Wide database support

Look elsewhere if: Enterprises needing advanced modeling and governance (Looker, Power BI).

Choose Notch Metrics if

Solo founders and small teams on Apple silicon Macs who want their revenue and growth numbers one glance away.

  • Keeps key numbers in view without opening a browser tab
  • Native Swift app with no Dock icon, window or menu bar clutter
  • Covers payment, product analytics, traffic and AI spend in one place

Look elsewhere if: Teams that need subscription analytics, cohorts or shared dashboards (ChartMogul, Klipfolio).

Metabase vs Notch Metrics pricing

Metabase

  • Open Source$0Self-hosted, unlimited users
  • Starter$100/mo$90/mo billed annually; 5 users, +$6/user
  • Pro$575/mo$517.50/mo billed annually; 10 users, +$12/user; SSO, embedding
  • EnterpriseCustomFrom $20,000/yr; dedicated success engineer

Notch Metrics

  • Monthly$9/moAll live connectors, custom metrics over MCP, cancel anytime
  • Yearly$49/yrSame features, billed once; about 55% off monthly billing

Metabase · Key features

  • Visual query builder plus native SQL editor
  • Dashboards with filters, drill-through and subscriptions
  • Alerts and scheduled email/Slack reports
  • Models and metrics for governed self-serve
  • Embedding (public, static, interactive SDK)
  • Open source self-hosting or managed cloud

Cons

  • Visualization options are basic
  • Performance depends on your database
  • Advanced permissions need Pro

Notch Metrics · Key features

  • Revenue, MRR and subscriber widgets that expand when you hover the notch
  • 16 live sources including Stripe, Paddle, Polar, RevenueCat and Shopify
  • Widgets in four sizes that can be dragged and resized in the notch
  • Recent-payments feed showing plan and amount beside headline numbers
  • Custom metrics written by Claude Code or another agent over MCP
  • Provider keys encrypted server-side so the Mac never holds them

Cons

  • No free tier; widgets stop updating when the trial ends
  • Only for Apple silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later
  • Several connectors are still marked beta

Metabase vs Notch Metrics: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Metabase or Notch Metrics?

Notch Metrics starts at $9/mo and Metabase at $100/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Metabase and Notch Metrics have a free plan?

Metabase has a free plan. Notch Metrics has no free plan, a 7-day free trial.

Not sure yet?