Metabase
What it is: Open-source BI tool. Simple, fast, no-code dashboards anyone can use.
What It Does Best
Non-technical friendly. Visual query builder. No SQL required. Business users create their own reports.
5-minute setup. Docker container or JAR file. Point at database, start querying.
Embedded analytics. Embed dashboards in your product. White-label options available.
Key Features
Visual query builder: No-code interface for creating reports
SQL editor: Power users can write custom queries
Pulse: Scheduled email/Slack reports with data
Embedding: White-label dashboards in your product
Collections: Organize dashboards and reports into folders
Pricing
Open source: Free (self-hosted)
Cloud: $85/month for 5 users
Enterprise: $500+/month (advanced features)
When to Use It
✅ Small teams need quick BI
✅ Want self-hosted solution
✅ Non-technical users need dashboards
✅ Budget under $1k/month
✅ Need embedded analytics for SaaS product
When NOT to Use It
❌ Need advanced transformations (dbt better)
❌ Very large scale (Tableau/Power BI better)
❌ Complex permission requirements
❌ Enterprise governance needed
❌ Advanced statistical analysis required
Common Use Cases
Startup dashboards: Quick internal BI for growing companies
Embedded analytics: Customer-facing dashboards in SaaS products
Team reporting: Self-service analytics for non-technical teams
Product analytics: User behavior and feature adoption tracking
Operational dashboards: Daily metrics monitoring for operations teams
Metabase vs Alternatives
vs Tableau: Metabase free, simpler; Tableau more powerful, expensive
vs Looker Studio: Metabase self-hosted, more control; Looker Studio cloud-only, free
vs Redash: Metabase better no-code; Redash better for SQL-first teams
Unique Strengths
Truly free: Full-featured open source version, no crippled features
Easy setup: Running in minutes, not days
Non-tech friendly: Best visual query builder among open source BI tools
Embedding: Simple white-label dashboards for SaaS products
Bottom line: Tableau for startups. Gets 80% there at 5% of the cost. Perfect for small teams who need BI yesterday.