Metabase
Dashboard and visual query tool connected to a database, with more than 20 sources, unlimited questions and dashboards in the open edition, queries by click or in SQL, MCP server and AI with the model of your choice. Free Open Source edition to host yourself (unlimited users); cloud: Starter at $100 a month ($90 annually, 5 users, $6 per extra user), Pro at $575 a month (10 users) with row and column permissions, SSO and white label, Enterprise from $20,000 a year. Pay-as-you-go options for AI, transformations and storage. Claims SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1.
For a precise need (three sales indicators drawn from a database, updated every morning), a small custom dashboard is simpler to maintain than a general-purpose tool. What Metabase brings is freedom: anyone on the team builds their own question without writing SQL, across some twenty data sources. If your questions change every week, the open-source tool is much better; if you track five fixed figures, a script and a page are enough.
What you lose
- Building questions by click, without SQL.
- More than 20 data sources already connected.
- Row and column permissions and SSO (Pro plan).
- Support and the managed cloud.
Existing alternatives to Metabase
No free or open-source alternative currently meets our checks (active project under a free licence, free plan read on the vendor’s own site). Rather than invent one, the list stays empty.
What a home-built tool costs once it exists
- Hosting and database: a server cost, and automatic backups you actually test.
- Security and GDPR: dependency updates, an HTTPS certificate, protection of your customers’ data.
- Upkeep time: who fixes the tool on a Saturday night in the middle of service if the server goes down?
The prompt to build it yourself
Build a small management dashboard for my business, replacing a data analysis tool. Context: a restaurant whose till exports a CSV file of sales every night (date, time, item, quantity, amount, payment method). To do: - An automatic import of the CSV every morning into a SQLite database. - A single page with: revenue for the day and the week compared with the same week a month earlier, sales by service (lunch, dinner), top 10 items, average basket, payment breakdown. - Filters by period and by item category. - A CSV export of each table. - A consistency check on import (duplicates, lines with no amount) with an email alert. Out of scope: user-built queries, several data sources, row-level permissions. Stack: Python for the import, a simple web page, SQLite. README: how to run, daily scheduling, backup.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Metabase cost, and what do you really pay for?
- Listed price: free (paid plans from €89.10/month). What the subscription covers and is hard to maintain yourself: Building questions by click, without SQL.; More than 20 data sources already connected.; Row and column permissions and SSO (Pro plan).; Support and the managed cloud..
- Where do you start to build an equivalent of Metabase?
- Copy this page’s prompt into Claude, Codex or Cursor to get a first prototype. Then plan for hosting, data backups and GDPR compliance: that is what costs the most to maintain over time.
How are our verdicts established? Read our detailed methodology ↗
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