Metabase
Self-hostable business intelligence: questions, dashboards, alerts and embeds on the SQL databases you already own.
Business Intelligence
Metabase is a business intelligence application that lets people ask questions and build dashboards on SQL databases by clicking rather than writing SQL, with a SQL editor when they want one, scheduled alerts and subscriptions, and charts or dashboards embedded in another product. It is self-hosted from the official Docker image metabase/metabase or as a standalone JAR on any host with Java installed, and stores its own application data in PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB or the embedded H2 database used for local runs. The Open Source edition is free with unlimited users; outside the top-level enterprise directory its source is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. Paid self-hosted editions start at Pro, listed at 575 USD per month (517.50 USD per month billed yearly) with the first 10 users included and further users at 12 USD per user per month, which adds row and column security, SSO, caching controls and usage analytics. Enterprise is quoted from 20,000 USD per year and adds an air-gapped deployment option, a dedicated success engineer and a 1-day support SLA.
Key features
- Runs from the official Docker image metabase/metabase
- Runs as a standalone JAR on any host with Java installed
- Alerts sent by email, Slack or webhook on a schedule
- Embed dashboards, questions, AI chat or the query builder
- Application database on PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB or H2
- Unlimited questions and dashboards on every plan
- Open SourceFree self-hosted
- LicenceOpen source · AGPL-3.0DeploymentSelf-hosted
- Pro575 USD per instance / month
- LicenceSource availableDeploymentSelf-hosted
- EnterprisePrice on request
- LicenceSource availableDeploymentSelf-hosted
Limits, notes & source
Open Source
- Limits
- Free unlimited users, unlimited questions and dashboards, and 20+ supported data sources. Row and column security, SSO, caching controls and white-labelling are not included.
- Notes
- Rendered on the pricing page only when the deployment switch is set to Self-hosted. Licence read from the repository: LICENSE.txt states that source outside the top-level enterprise directory is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, while that directory falls under the Metabase Commercial License; the binary published at hub.docker.com/metabase/metabase is the AGPL build. GitHub's licence API reports NOASSERTION for the repository as a whole because LICENSE.txt mixes both licences.
Pro
- Limits
- First 10 users included, further users 12 USD per user per month (130 USD per user per year); row and column level permissions, SSO, caching controls, usage analytics and auditing, multi-tenant embedded analytics, white-label ready.
- Notes
- Rendered under both Cloud and Self-hosted deployment, so it is recorded as self-hostable: self-hosting Pro or Enterprise means running the enterprise image (hub.docker.com/metabase/metabase-enterprise) with a licence token. Recorded at the monthly-billing price of 575 USD (517.50 USD per month, 6,210 USD per year, billed yearly). The plan price is not per seat: it includes 10 users and seats are added on top, hence the INSTANCE unit.
Enterprise
- Limits
- All Pro features plus procurement help, a dedicated success engineer, air-gapped deployment (at an additional fee) and a 1-day support SLA.
- Notes
- The pricing page states "Price starts at $20,000 / year" but the plan itself is custom priced, so no amount is recorded here; the floor is quoted in the notes instead of being presented as a list price.
- Starter100 USD per instance / month
- LicenceProprietaryDeploymentManaged cloud available
Limits, notes & source
Starter
- Limits
- First 5 users included, further users 6 USD per user per month (65 USD per user per year); 3-day support by email, support form, Slack or Teams.
- Notes
- The pricing page renders Starter only under the Cloud deployment; no self-hosted Starter exists. Recorded at the monthly-billing price of 100 USD (90 USD per month, 1,080 USD per year, when billed yearly). The licence is the hosting terms listed in the plan comparison row "Cloud: Hosting EULA".
Pros & cons
Metabase replaces
Products this app is built to take over from, with the vendor's own evidence.
Moving your content across: Documented per product: what you do on the side you are leaving, what this app does with the result, and what does not survive the trip. Every step links to the page that documents it.
- CaveatMetabase's Tableau transition guide is a PDF cheat sheet — the page offers only "Download PDF" and documents no importer, so workbooks and dashboards are rebuilt by hand.Source
- ImportMetabase connects to the same database and picks up tables and fields by itself: Looker's Explore becomes the query builder, Looks become questions, folders become collections and tiles become cards.Source
- CaveatThe vendor's guide is a concept map, not a converter: Metabase has no modelling language like LookML, so dimensions, measures and derived tables have to be modelled again by hand.Source
- CaveatMetabase publishes no Looker Studio transition guide at all: its "Transition from other BI tools" index lists only Power BI, Tableau and Looker.Source
- CaveatMetabase's Power BI transition guide is a PDF cheat sheet — the page offers only "Download PDF", and nothing that converts Power BI reports or datasets is documented.Source