Metabase

Overview

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence tool that lets users ask questions of a database with a point-and-click query builder or SQL and share the results as dashboards. The open-source edition is free to self-host with unlimited users and includes more than 20 supported data sources, AI questions on the user’s preferred model and an MCP server.^[16] Paid plans add features such as row- and column-level permissions, SSO, an embedded analytics SDK and white-label analytics.^[16] The Starter plan includes five users with additional users charged per month, while the Pro plan targets organisations that need governance and embedding, and annual billing saves 10%.^[16] Metabase is widely used by start-ups and engineering-led companies that want a quick, inexpensive way to give colleagues access to data. Its limitations are a simpler semantic layer and visualisation range than enterprise suites, and per-user pricing on paid plans counts everyone who signs in.^[16]

What Metabase does

• Free open-source edition
• Point-and-click query builder and SQL
• AI questions and MCP server
• Row- and column-level permissions on Pro
• Embedded analytics
• Cloud or self-hosted

Metabase pricing

Open Source: free, self-hosted. Starter: US$100 per month (US$90 per month billed yearly, US$1,080 per year), first 5 users included, then US$6 per user per month. Pro: US$575 per month (US$517.50 billed yearly, US$6,210 per year). Enterprise: quote. 14-day free trial.

Metabase strengths and limitations

Appears in

• Best Data Visualization Tools in 2026 #12
• Best Business Intelligence Tools in 2026 #10

Metabase alternatives and competitors

Alternatives to Metabase: companies ranked in the same lists.

• Qlik Cloud Analytics
• TTableau
• ZAZoho Analytics
• Microsoft Power BI
• DSData Studio (formerly Looker Studio)
• ThoughtSpot
• Sisense
• Amazon Lex
• Sigma Computing
• Domo
• D3.js
• Google Cloud Conversational Agents (Dialogflow CX)