Alternatives to Metabase
Open-source BI platform with a query builder, SQL editor, and embedded analytics.
Metabase ranks #2 of 8 in Business intelligence, with an Alt Score of 89. It is licensed under AGPL, open source with paid hosting from $100/mo and available on the web. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Metabase is an open-source business intelligence platform for querying databases, building dashboards, and self-service data exploration via a visual query builder or SQL editor. The AGPL-licensed Open Source edition is free and self-hosted; paid Starter, Pro, and Enterprise editions add SSO, row-level permissions, embedding, and Git-based content sync on Metabase Cloud or self-hosted.
Teams that want self-service business intelligence: analysts who need a SQL editor, non-technical users who need a no-code query builder, and software companies that need to embed analytics inside their own products.
A free, self-hostable open-source edition with dashboards, alerts, and a Data Studio semantic layer, or a paid Metabase Cloud / self-hosted Pro or Enterprise edition that adds SSO, row- and column-level permissions, embedding, and Git-based content sync.
Metabase connects to databases and data warehouses, lets people build questions with a query builder or SQL editor, assembles them into dashboards, and can schedule alerts and subscriptions; Pro and Enterprise editions add governed embedding, granular permissions, and Remote Sync through Git.
Where Metabase stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Metabase
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Lightdash is a business intelligence platform that reads metrics and dimensions from a connected dbt project (or standalone Lightdash YAML) so teams define logic once and reuse it across dashboards, a.
Apache Superset is an open-source business intelligence web application for data exploration and visualization, developed as an Apache Software Foundation project under the Apache License 2.0.
Power BI is Microsoft's business analytics platform for connecting to data, modeling it into semantic models, and building reports and dashboards shared through the Power BI service, Power BI Desktop,.
Looker is Google Cloud's business intelligence platform for exploring, sharing, and visualizing company data through a governed semantic layer written in LookML.
Sigma is a business intelligence and analytics platform that runs directly on cloud data warehouses such as Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, and Redshift, with no data extracts.
Tableau is a data visualization and business intelligence platform from Salesforce for connecting to data, building interactive dashboards with drag-and-drop tools or custom SQL, and sharing them via.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Business intelligence checklist (16 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Business intelligence checklist | Metabase | Lightdash | Apache Superset | Microsoft Power BI | Looker | Sigma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Open source | ||||||
| SQL editor | ||||||
| No-code query builder | ||||||
| Scheduled report delivery | ||||||
| Embedded analytics | ||||||
| Row-level security | ||||||
| Data alerts | ||||||
| Semantic layer | ||||||
| Git version control | ||||||
| SSO (SAML/OIDC) | ||||||
| Free tier |
Every fact and feature listed for Metabase is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
-
License AGPL verified 2026-08-03https://raw.githubusercontent.com/metabase/metabase/master/LICENSE.txt
-
Pricing model OSS + paid hosting verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/pricing.md
-
Starts at $100/mo verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/pricing.md
-
Platforms Web verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/installation-and-operation/supported-browsers
-
Status active verified 2026-08-03https://github.com/metabase/metabase/releases/tag/v0.63.2
-
Self-hostable Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/start/oss/
-
Open source Yes verified 2026-08-03https://raw.githubusercontent.com/metabase/metabase/master/README.md
-
SQL editor Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/features/sql-editor
-
No-code query builder Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/features/query-builder
-
Scheduled report delivery Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/pricing.md
-
Embedded analytics Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/product/embedded-analytics
-
Row-level security Partial verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/pricing.md
-
Data alerts Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/questions/alerts
-
Semantic layer Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/product/data-studio
-
Git version control Partial verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/installation-and-operation/remote-sync
-
SSO (SAML/OIDC) Partial verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/people-and-groups/authenticating-with-saml
-
Free tier Yes verified 2026-08-03https://www.metabase.com/start/oss/
FAQ
Yes. Apache Superset, Microsoft Power BI and Tableau have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Lightdash, Apache Superset and Redash — every license claim links its source.