Metabase is a bI & dashboards tool for Small businesses and Developers, offered as open source ($100/mo). Founded in United States in 2015. Popular alternatives include Lightdash, Evidence, Apache Superset.
About Metabase
Metabase is the most widely used open-source business intelligence tool, built by a San Francisco-based company founded in 2015. Its core job is to let everyone in a company ask questions of data: non-technical users build queries with a point-and-click builder, analysts write SQL, and teams share the results as dashboards, alerts and scheduled reports.
Metabase connects to Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks and many other databases. Dashboards support filters, drill-through and cross-filtering, and subscriptions deliver them by email or Slack. Models, metrics and segments create a light semantic layer for governed self-service. Embedding ranges from public links and static embeds to an interactive embedding SDK for React, which lets SaaS products offer customer-facing analytics. The open-source edition is free to self-host under the AGPL license; Metabase Cloud (Starter) adds hosting and upgrades, while Pro and Enterprise add SSO, row and column-level permissions, white labeling, advanced embedding and support. Metabot brings natural language questions into the product.
Metabase fits startups and mid-size companies that want useful dashboards quickly and cheaply, and developers embedding analytics. Visualizations are simpler than Tableau or Power BI, query speed depends on your database, and modeling is lighter than Looker or Lightdash. Apache Superset is the other popular open-source option, with more chart types but a steeper learning curve.
Key features of Metabase
- 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
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free open-source edition is genuinely usable
- Easy for non-analysts
- Wide database support
- Embedding is affordable compared with enterprise BI
Cons
- Visualization options are basic
- Performance depends on your database
- Advanced permissions need Pro
- Semantic layer is lighter than Looker or Lightdash
Metabase pricing
Metabase uses a open source model. A 14-day free trial is available.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source | $0 | Self-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 |
| Enterprise | Custom | From $20,000/yr; dedicated success engineer |
Source: www.metabase.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Metabase compares in BI & dashboards
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 16
- Starting price
- $100
- Free alternatives
- 4
0 votes from members
30% above the category median ($77/mo)
Free or open-source tools in BI & dashboards
Metabase ranks #1 of 16 bi & dashboards tools by community votes and is priced above most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Startup dashboards over the production Postgres replica
- 2Embedded customer-facing analytics in a SaaS
- 3Weekly KPI emails to leadership
- 4Self-serve exploration for ops and sales teams
Best for
Startups and mid-size companies wanting quick, affordable BI; developers embedding analytics.
Not ideal for
Enterprises needing advanced modeling and governance (Looker, Power BI).
Integrations
- Postgres
- MySQL
- BigQuery
- Snowflake
- Redshift
- MongoDB
- Slack
- Google Sheets (export)
- Embedding SDK
Our take
Metabase is the first BI tool most companies should install. Self-host for free; move to Pro when you need SSO and embedding.
FAQ
- What is Metabase?
- Metabase is a BI & dashboards tool: Open-source BI anyone can use.
- How much does Metabase cost?
- Metabase is Open source; there is no mandatory paid plan.
- What are the best alternatives to Metabase?
- Community-listed alternatives to Metabase include Lightdash, Evidence, Apache Superset, Zoho Analytics.
- Does Metabase have a free trial?
- Yes, Metabase offers a 14-day free trial.
- What does Metabase integrate with?
- Metabase integrates with Postgres, MySQL, BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, MongoDB and more.
- Which platforms does Metabase support?
- Metabase is available on web.
- Who is Metabase for?
- Startups and mid-size companies wanting quick, affordable BI; developers embedding analytics.
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